I'd Like to Buy Beijing a Coke...

After an evening of exploring Beijing (featuring an impressive student-organized, nine-taxi caravan for transportation), the group was back in the classroom on the morning of Wednesday, May 11 to investigate issues concerning international trade.  During our group discussion yesterday, expanding free trade was the leading vote-getter as a solution for poverty, so the students had a sense for its importance even prior to delving deeper into the issue.  After understanding the nature of trade, comparative advantage, and the importance of outsourcing both for the outsourcing country and the country outsourced to, we then broke into groups and brainstormed why protectionist trade policies emerge if free trade is such a positive force in overall terms for the world.  The students had wrapped up another productive day in the classroom before breaking for lunch at a handful of nearby restaurants serving traditional Chinese fare.

After lunch, the group reconvened and boarded a bus for a trip to visit the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Beijing.  And what’s better than seeing outsourcing and comparative advantage in action?  With the morning’s lessons on full display in front of them, the students enjoyed the sheer magnitude of Coca-Cola’s production to the tune of 66,000 cans of soda per hour—about 18 per second.

Now that the company visit has concluded, the students are again free to roam the town and to experience everything Beijing has to offer. Tomorrow is another full day.  The morning’s lecture concerns international finance, exchange rates and the balance of payments, and Professor Ma Zhong will treat the students to a lecture titled “China’s Banking System and Exchange Rate Policy” in the afternoon.  The day concludes with a dinner of roast duck at the world-famous Quan Ju De restaurant!  There’s a bit more information about the restaurant at the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanjude

Best,

Professor Ryan