possibilities frontier display productive efficiency; that is, it is impossible to use society’s resources to produce

more of one good without decreasing production of the other good. The specific choice along a production

possibilities frontier that reflects the mix of goods society prefers is the choice with allocative efficiency. The

curvature of the PPF is likely to differ by country, which results in different countries having comparative

advantage in different goods. Total production can increase if countries specialize in the goods in which they

have comparative advantage and trade some of their production for the remaining goods.

2.3 Confronting Objections to the Economic Approach

The economic way of thinking provides a useful approach to understanding human behavior. Economists

make the careful distinction between positive statements, which describe the world as it is, and normative
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