To determine the correct answer, we need to compare the opportunity costs of producing apples for both the American and Brazilian workers.
-
American Worker:
- Producing 20 pairs of shoes costs the worker the opportunity to produce 100 apples.
- Thus, the opportunity cost of producing 1 pair of shoes is 5 apples (100 apples / 20 shoes).
- Conversely, the opportunity cost of producing 1 apple is 0.2 pairs of shoes (20 shoes / 100 apples).
-
Brazilian Worker:
- Producing 10 pairs of shoes costs the worker the opportunity to produce 20 apples.
- Thus, the opportunity cost of producing 1 pair of shoes is 2 apples (20 apples / 10 shoes).
- Conversely, the opportunity cost of producing 1 apple is 0.5 pairs of shoes (10 shoes / 20 apples).
Now, we compare the opportunity costs:
- For the American worker, producing apples has a higher opportunity cost (0.2 pairs of shoes per apple) compared to the Brazilian worker (0.5 pairs of shoes per apple).
- Therefore, the American worker has a lower opportunity cost for producing apples.
Since the American worker can produce apples at a lower opportunity cost than the Brazilian worker, the United States has a comparative advantage in the production of apples.
So, the correct answer is: A. comparative disadvantage
(Note: The initial question stated that the United States has a comparative disadvantage, but based on the analysis, the United States has a comparative advantage in apples, thus the phrasing may contain an error.)