Suppose Russia can produce either 600 pianos or 400 HDTVs,and Italy can produce either 300 pianos or 150 HDTVs.Implicitly,Russia has

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To determine whether a country has an absolute advantage, we must compare the total output of goods and services produced by each country in question. In this case, Russia can produce 600 pianos or 400 HDTVs, while Italy can produce 300 pianos or 150 HDTVs.

Russia has an absolute advantage in pianos (600 > 300), while Italy has an absolute advantage in HDTVs (150 > 400). Therefore, Russia does not have an absolute advantage in HDTVs.

To determine whether a country has a comparative advantage, we must compare the opportunity cost of producing one good versus another. For Russia, the opportunity cost of producing one piano is 2/3 of an HDTV (400/600), while the opportunity cost of producing one HDTV is 1.5 pianos (600/400).

For Italy, the opportunity cost of producing one piano is 1/2 of an HDTV (150/300), while the opportunity cost of producing one HDTV is 2 pianos (300/150).

Based on opportunity cost, we can see that Russia has a comparative advantage in producing HDTVs (its opportunity cost of producing HDTVs is lower), while Italy has a comparative advantage in producing pianos. Hence, the answer is B.

Suppose Russia Can Produce Either 600 Pianos or 400 HDTVs,and