Is it possible to decrease inflation without causing a recession and its concomitant increase in unemployment? the orthodox answer is “no.” whether they support the “inertia” theory of inflation (that today's inflation rate is caused by yesterday's inflation, the state of the economic cycle, and external influences such as import prices) or the “rational expectations” theory (that inflation is caused by workers' and employers' expectations, coupled with a lack of credible monetary and fiscal policies), most economists agree that tight monetary and fiscal policies, which cause recessions, are necessary to decelerate inflation.

You are an employee of an u.s. firm that produces personal computers in thailand and then exports them to the united states and other countries for sale. the personal computers were originally produced in thailand to take advantage of relatively low labor costs and a skilled workforce. other possible locations considered at that time were malaysia and hong kong. the u.s. government decides to impose punitive 100% ad valorem tariffs on imports of computers from thailand to punish the country for administrative trade barriers that restrict u.s. exports to thailand. how do you think your firm should respond? what does this tell you about the use of targeted trade barriers?