3 In seeking to show that population growth threatened to ex

3. In seeking to show that population growth threatened to exhaust the world\'s agricultural resources, the Worldwatch Institute in 1988 pointed out that, for the first time in its history, the United States ate more food than it grew. Why would this not be persuasive evidence that the U.S. had lost the ability to feed itself? Why wasn\'t it feeding itself? Hint: Consider the concept of comparative advantage.

Solution

This can not be pervasive evidence that USA has lost ability to feed itself because usa was producing many agricultural products which it did not eat all. They were exported due to USA having comparative advantage in these goods. Had usa focused only at producing those goods which it require for domestic consumption then it is quite possible that it could feed it\'s people on its own. Further in globalised world each nation specialising on commodities in which each has comparative advantage there are many such cases where country don\'t produce foods that meet its consumption demand. But in such world the overall output is greater than autarky and can feed more people.