A representative of the American clothing industry recently made the following statement: 'Workers in Asia often work in sweatshop conditions earning only pennies an hour

Positive statements provide quantification and explanations about a phenomenon. Conversely, normative statements are judgments and opinion-based statements. The statement "American workers are more productive and as a result, earn higher wages." is a positive economic statement because it provides an explanation about the relationship that exists between productivity and wage. The statement "In order to preserve the dignity of the American workplace, the government should enact legislation banning imports of low-wage Asian clothing." is a normative statement because it states an opinion, namely that in order to protect workers from exploitation, the government has ban certain products from the market.