Barayuga, Anabel2014-09-262014-09-262014-09-26http://hdl.handle.net/10125/33710Imagine that each of the 50 states in America were individual countries. Suppose that a toy company in California had to pay tariffs on the goods it exported to the other states. To make matters worse, what if each state had different regulatory requirements for children's toys with respect to paint content, size, and safety? As costly as it may be, the toy company would have to alter and modify its toys to the specific requirements of each state if it wanted to market its products. This is exactly the scenario in Europe but on a much larger scale involving all industries. Consequently, inefficient trading has resulted. If the European countries are not competitive on their own soil, they cannot be expected to compete successfully overseas. Beyond a country's borders and beyond its continent is a huge global market. To be a successful player in this market today, a state has to be big, resourceful, and competitive. In this light, the European countries (except for the United Kingdom and Germany) have been at a disadvantage. Their economies are small and inefficient. To overcome these particular shortcomings, 12 European countries have decided to join forces to compete against the likes of Japan and the United States. Together the 12 countries are known as the European Community (EC) and they are becoming a formidable force in the world economy. The EC makes up the world's largest trading partner with an aggregate population of 320 million people - surpassing that of the United States, Japan, or the Soviet Union.51 pagesAll UHM Honors Projects are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.Term Project