Who Wins, Who Loses?

Every change in international trade has winners and losers. A trade event falls, with one group in New Zealand (or overseas) named on it. Before it lands, say whether that group is better off or worse off: press ← or → (or 1 and 2), or tap a button under the game.

• Core: better off or worse off.
• Advanced: after a right answer the card stops and shows three reasons: pick the one that explains why this group gains or loses (1–3). The wrong ones are the reasons for other groups.

A quick answer scores more, plus a bonus for a streak. A wrong answer, a wrong reason, or a card that lands costs a life and says why: you start with 5. Every 6 right answers is a new level, and the cards fall faster. At the end you see what to look at again.

How to work it out

• Follow the price. A tariff or quota raises the NZ price of an import: buyers lose, NZ producers competing with imports gain. Removing one does the opposite. A subsidy lowers NZ producers' costs, so they supply more at the world price; the government pays for it.
• Who collects? A tariff brings the government revenue; removing it loses that revenue.
• The exchange rate. A depreciation helps those who earn foreign currency (exporters, tourism operators) and hurts those who spend it (importers, consumers of imports, New Zealanders travelling overseas). An appreciation does the opposite.
• New Zealand as a price taker. When the world price of an export rises, NZ producers get the higher price, and NZ shoppers pay more for it too; when it falls, the reverse. A drought cuts what farmers have to sell, at the same world price.
• Workers follow their firms. When an industry sells more, it needs more workers (labour is a derived demand).

For the exam, a group being "better off" is only the start: explain the mechanism (the price, the quantity, then revenue, profit, jobs or living standards), and compare the groups to say who gains or loses more. The events are made-up scenarios, not news.

Objective: NCEA Level 2 Economics 91223 — explain the impacts of changes in international trade (protection, free trade agreements, exchange rate changes and world price changes) on various groups in New Zealand society.