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TED Talk, “India’s Invisible Innovation”

TED Talk, “India’s Invisible Innovation”

Daniel Kevins

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Nirmalya Kumar in the TED Talk, “India’s Invisible Innovation,” uses the term “sinking skill ladder,” to mean:

Question 1 options:

	The fact that, over time, the skill content of jobs has declined even though the average worker is more skilled than in the past.
	The tendency for more-skilled jobs to follow once less skilled jobs have been outsourced to low wage countries.
	The tendency for less-skilled jobs to be outsourced to developing countries while more skilled jobs remain in developed countries.
	The fact that, over time, the labor market will adapt to workers who are less skilled than workers in the past.

Question 2 (0.5 points)

Nirmalya Kumar in the TED Talk, “India’s Invisible Innovation,” defines innovation as:

Question 2 options:

	“The invention of new products for consumers.”
	“Process changes which reduce the cost of production.”
	“Novelty in how value is created.”
	“The invention of new technologies.”

Question 3 (0.5 points)

In the sending country, where migrants originate, labor migration:

Question 3 options:

	Benefits workers who remain at home.
	Harms workers who remain at home.
	Has no negative effects on any part of society.
	Benefits employers.

Question 4 (0.5 points)

Which group is hurt by the migration of skilled labor to the U.S.? Existing, US-based:

Question 4 options:

	Skilled labor.
	Owners of capital.
	Skilled and unskilled labor.
	Unskilled labor.

Question 5 (0.5 points)

A recession in the US will likely:

Question 5 options:

	Cause the level of migration to the US to slow down or reverse.
	Have no effect on the level of migration to the US.
	Cause the level of migration to the US to increase.
	Cause US citizens to apply for visas to work in Mexico.

Question 6 (0.5 points)

McDonalds is able to obtain a dominant position in the fast food industry in every country it enters which suggests that _____ are important in this case.

Question 6 options:

	Oligopolistic rivalry.
	Firm-specific advantages.
	Transfer pricing.
	Local knowledge.

Question 7 (0.5 points)

Transfer pricing is a strategy whereby multinationals:

Question 7 options:

	Conceal profits in a way that is fraudulent.
	Charge discriminatory and higher prices in the US.
	Minimize taxes on profits by optimizing internal prices.
	Redistribute income from workers to shareholders.

Question 8 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Market,” the best way to measure the extent of global financial integration is:

Question 8 options:

	Find the dollar value of international capital imports.
	Find the dollar value of international capital exports.
	Find the number of countries involved in global capital markets.
	Calculate the share of global capital flows as a percent of GDP.

Question 9 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 started in:

Question 9 options:

	Thailand.
	Korea.
	China.
	Taiwan.

Question 10 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” between 1880-1913, foreign capital flowed to _____ to finance the development of ______.

Question 10 options:

	China, Japan and Korea–ports and railroads
	Canada, US and Argentina–ports and railroads
	Canada, US and Argentina–textiles and farming
	China, Japan and Korea–manufacturing industry

Question 11 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” a positive feature of global financial integration is:

Question 11 options:

	The improved ability of governments to tax owners of financial capital.
	Greater opportunities for portfolio diversification.
	The ability of small countries to attract capital flows several times the size of domestic GDP.
	The greater control over the nation’s exchange rate afforded by free flows of financial capital.

Question 12 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” asymmetric information is particularly acute in the area of global capital flows due to the presence of:

Question 12 options:

	The failure of foreign investors to properly research investment opportunities abroad.
	Exchange rate risk.
	The complete lack of legal protections afforded foreign capital by recipient countries.
	Cultural differences between the borrower and the lender.

Question 13 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” during the pre-World War I era, the US dollar was exchangeable for 1/20 oz of gold and the British pound was exchangeable for 1/4 oz of gold, which meant that (ignoring transportation costs for gold) the $/pound (the dollar price of the pound) was:

Question 13 options:

	$5 = 1 pound
	$0.20 = 1 pound
	$4 = 1 pound
	$0.25 = 1 pound.

Question 14 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” one role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the Bretton Woods system was to:

Question 14 options:

	Conduct monetary policy in all countries that were signatories of Bretton Woods.
	Facilitate the development of poor countries.
	Negotiate for the reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade.
	Provide short-term funding to countries with trade deficits.

Question 15 (0.5 points)

According to, “Global Capital Markets,” the Mexican peso crisis of 1995 was caused by:

Question 15 options:

	Excessive caution on the part of Mexican banks which meant that they were unprofitable.
	Opportunistic foreign investors buying the peso once it started to collapse.
	Excessive supervision on the part of the Bank of Mexico (Mexico’s Federal Reserve Bank).
	Lack of experience with risk management on the part of the recently privatized banking system.

Question 16 (0.5 points)

The corporate tax rate was 40% in US prior to The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017when it fell to 21%, and 12.5% in Ireland. A multinational that sources components in the US for use in a manufacturing plant in Ireland will set an internal price for the US-made component that is ___ to make its US branch appear ____ profitable.

Question 16 options:

	Low, less
	Low, more
	High, less
	High, more

Question 17 (0.5 points)

Intel likes to claim that when it is in the US it is a US firm and when it is in Japan it is a Japanese firm. This suggests that Intel is attempting to capture the advantages associated with:

Question 17 options:

	Firm-specific advantages.
	Comparative advantage.
	Local knowledge.
	Internalization advantages.

Question 18 (0.5 points)

Multinational corporations establish branches abroad because:

Question 18 options:

	They wish to get inside the tariff barriers of trading blocs like the European Union.
	All of the other options help to explain why multinational corporations establish overseas branches.
	Resource availability differs between countries.
	They wish to protect their trade secrets.

Question 19 (0.5 points)

An external benefit of migration to US is:

Question 19 options:

	Worse traffic on the roads due to greater numbers of users.
	Higher wages for the migrant.
	Access to interesting new cuisines on the part of locals.
	Greater profits for local companies that employ migrants.

Question 20 (0.5 points)

A resident of France buys a house in Miami. This is a ______ investment.

Question 20 options:

	portfolio
	direct
	money laundering
	illegal

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Daniel Kevins

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