1. Elements of the Hershey Company’s strategy have evolved in meaningful ways since the company’s founding as an American chocolate manufacturer in 1900. After reviewing the company’s history at and the links at the company’s investor relations site, prepare a one- to two-page report that discusses how its strategy has evolved. Your report should also assess how well Hershey’s strategy passes the three tests of a winning strategy.

Explain crowding out of investment via increased government spending using both the AD-AS framework and closed-economy loanable funds simultaneously, drawing both the short-run and long-run equilibria.?

Sylvia’s utility function over waffle fries, F, and frozen yogurt, Y is given by U = 2 ∗ F ∗ Y. Her marginal utility from waffle fries is MUF = 2Y, and her marginal utility from frozen yogurt is MUY = 2F. A pack of frozen waffle fries sells for $4. The price of a cup of frozen yogurt is $6. Sylvia has budget of $120 to allocate to these items each month.

d) If Sylvia maximizes her utility, how much of each food should she consume? Solve for her optimal bundle. Show how to determine this bundle on a diagram using indifference curves and a budget line.

e) Briefly explain if each of the four conditions of the utility maximizing behavior is satisfied with the bundle you have obtained in (d).

f) Now suppose that Sylvia’s monthly waffle fries and frozen yogurt is $180? Solve for her optimal bundle. Show how to determine this bundle on a diagram using indifference curves and a budget line

SOMEONE PREVIOUSLY ANSWERED QUESTION D, BUT I NEED HELP WITH QUESTION E AND F, THE LINK TO ANSWER D: https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/sylvia-s-utility-function-waffle-fries-f-frozen-yogurt-y-given-u-2-f-y-marginal-utility-wa-q50865827?trackid=KtTaoYDi

Saudi Arabia steps up oil price war with big production increase
Saudi Arabia has intensified the oil price war by ordering its state-owned producer, Saudi Aramco, to raise the maximum production rate to record highs of 13m barrels a day.
The world’s most profitable company told the Saudi stock exchange on Wednesday that it would increase how much oil it can comfortably pump per day by 1m barrels to its highest rate ever.
The state order to raise Aramco’s “maximum sustainable capacity” comes after the kingdom launched a price war on rival petro-nations by vowing to raise its production by a quarter from last month despite an oil demand slowdown because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Saudi government plans to raise its national oil production to an average of 12.3m barrels a day from next month, up sharply from less than 10m barrels in recent months, in an attempt to corner the global market.

(source:oilprice.com)
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is understood to be anxious to defend its market dominance against a rising tide of oil production in the US and Russia after talks to agree new limits on global production fell apart over the weekend.
Moscow refused to cooperate with an OPEC plan to curtail oil production in line with a global demand slowdown, which is expected to wipe out forecasts for demand growth in 2020.
In response, the Saudis have offered discount rates to key buyers, in direct competition with Russia, which plans to raise its own production by 300,000 barrels a day.
The collapse of Opec’s talks with major producers outside the cartel, known as Opec+, marks an end to an almost four-year alliance established in the wake of the 2016 oil price crash to shore up market prices by limiting new supply into the market.
Russia’s energy minister, Alexander Novak, has not ruled out further talks with Opec to help stabilise the oil market. But both sides of the price standoff are adamant that they are prepared to weather a prolonged price rout.
Saudi Arabia has some of the lowest production costs in the world, meaning Aramco could withstand low prices far better than other big oil companies. However, the Saudi economy relies more heavily on oil revenues than most countries and reportedly requires prices of about $50-$60 (£38-£46) a barrel to support its state coffers.
In Russia, production costs are higher but its economy is more diverse and arguably more resilient to another oil market downturn.
The oil price war was ignited this week by the steepest price crash since 1991, which drove prices down to four-year lows of about $35 a barrel on Monday and sparked fears of an extended oil market downturn in 2020.
The price shock has wiped billions from the market value of oil companies this week, forcing down the share price of big firms including Shell and BP by about 20%, and raising concern over their dividends.
Analysts at Rystad Energy have warned that oil prices in the $30 territory could spell trouble for oilfield service companies too as big producers cut their spending on new projects. This spending could fall by $100bn in 2020 and a further $150bn next year, Rystad said.
The geopolitical spat has also compounded fears of a global economic slowdown, which accelerated this year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus
(Adapted from the Guardian Wed 11 Mar 2020)

Questions
.
1) What has happened to the price of oil since the beginning of January 2020? According to the article which country, Russia or Saudi Arabia, is in a better position to sustain prices at this low level for the longest period of time? Justify your answer.


2) According to the article why has Saudi Arabia decided to increase oil production to record levels at this time?

3) Using demand and supply diagrams examine the most likely causes for the fall in the price of oil since the beginning of January 2020.   
4) What is a cartel and how does it influence the price and output of oil. In your answer you should refer to the type of market structure normally associated with a cartel and the features which help or hinder collusion.

5) Why are some of the members of OPEC and other oil producers increasing production even though the price elasticity of oil is relatively inelastic?

Need detailed explanation. I have the answer

5. Suppose there are two firms, Boors and Cudweiser, each selling nonalcoholic beer. Suppose Boors and Cudweiser are not viewed as perfect substitutes but rather demand for Boors is QB = 5000 − 1000PB + 100PC and demand for Cudweiser is QC = 3000 − 1500PC + 100PB. For simplicity, assume zero marginal costs. Which is the more preferred beer?

a. Boor's b. Cudweiser c. they are equally preferred d. neither are preferred

Explain the relationship between elasticity and total revenue for all three categories of elasticity

Identify and discuss three controversial employee-management issues.

Explain why each of the following statements is true, false, or uncertain. You are expected to use graphs, math, and/or specific examples to support your arguments. a. In the Ricardian model, if Home is much larger than Foreigh, it is possible that only Foreign experiences gains from the opening of trade between the two countries. b. If two countries have exactly the same increasing-cost PPFs, mutually beneficial trade is possible as long as residents in the two countries have different tastes and preferences.

How does welfare work in Pennsylvania?

The tax rate cuts was supposed to reduce tax burden on both the Harley-Davidson plant and consumer, led to an opportunity to close the business.

Directions: Analyze and responses by Providing the following answer to the questions below on the impact supply and demand of tax rate cut on the Harley-Davidson plant.

:

• explanation the immediate initial impact of corporate tax cut as it affects the law of supply and demand curve for Harley-Davidson plant.

• Investigate and explain the direction of the shift in Harley-Davidson plant supply curve and demand curve.

• Give an exclamation on how the effects of the shift on the equilibrium price and quantity for Harley-Davidson plant?

Harley-Davidson is a Case Study in How the Trump-GOP Tax Law is Failing American Workers — But It’s not Alone

After big tax-rate cut, Harley shut a Kansas City plant—costing 800 local jobs—rewarded shareholders with $700 million in stock buybacks and opened a new facility in Thailand. But the motorcycle maker’s corporate-tax-cut story is not unique.

Washington, D.C. – Iconic motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson’s response to the new Republican tax law—cutting jobs, rewarding shareholders, and moving production offshore—perfectly illustrates the law’s failure to deliver as promised for American workers. With the media attention here and here on the closure of Harley’s Kansas City plant just weeks after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law, we encourage you to use this opportunity to assess for your readers how other corporations in Missouri and across the nation have used their tax cuts, and the broader impact of the TCJA on Missouri families.

A Tax Law That Was Supposed to Generate Jobs Costs Kansas City 800 of Them

Harley-Davidson opened its manufacturing facility in Kansas City in 1997 after state and local governments offered it tens of millions of dollars in tax credits and other incentives. Just 20 years later—and just weeks after President Trump and Republicans in Congress enacted tax cuts they claimed would create many jobs—Harley announced it was closing its plant near the Kansas City airport, shifting production to York, Pennsylvania. Even after accounting for the new hires there, 350 net jobs were lost.

During the debate leading up to the new tax law, House Speaker Paul Ryan used Harley-Davidson as an example of the kind of corporation that would benefit—specifically allowing it, in Ryan’s words, to “keep jobs here in America.” Earlier, President Trump claimed that the GOP tax plan (along with a tougher trade stance and other policy changes) would allow companies like Harley to “create more jobs and more factories in the United States.”

Last year Harley announced it was opening a new manufacturing plant in Thailand. Though the company denies it, a union representing Harley workers see a clear connection between the Kansas City plant closing and the new operation in Asia.

As Harley Workers Lose Jobs, Shareholders Rewarded with Stock Buyback & Higher Dividend

Less than a week after announcing the Kansas City plant closure, Harley said it would buy back nearly $700 million of stock, plus raise its dividend. (The value of the buyback is based on the stock’s closing price on the day of the announcement.)

Stock buybacks overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, since rich people own most corporate stock: the wealthiest 10% of American households own 84% of all shares, the top 1% own 40%.

Other Examples of Missouri Workers Losing Out After Corporate Tax Cut

Harley Davidson is not alone among corporations doing little or nothing for their workers, or even laying them off, after enactment of a tax law that was sold as a boon to the middle class. Many are also using their tax-cut savings to richly reward wealthy stockholders. Here’s how some Missouri-headquartered companies have responded to the TCJA, as reported in the Americans for Tax Fairness “Trump Tax Cut Truths” website:

Express Scripts Holdings is estimated to save $864 million from the new tax law this year alone. That’s 43 times more than the $20 million the St. Louis-based pharmacy benefits manager is sharing with its employees through one-time bonuses. Just a few days before final passage of the tax law—when passage was all but guaranteed—the company announced it would buy back $3.3 billion worth of its own stock—165 times more than the worker bonuses. (The value of the buyback is based on the stock’s closing price on the day of the announcement.) This April, Express Scripts laid off nearly 500 workers at its Columbus, OH, facility.

Great Southern Bancorp spent more than 20 times as much on its shareholders through stock buybacks than the Springfield bank did on its workers through one-time bonuses—$25.4 million vs. $1.2 million.

The Kansas City Southern railroad and Commerce Bancshares are each sharing only about 7% of their 2018 tax cut with workers through one-time bonuses. In the case of KCS it’s a $96.5 million tax cut vs. $7.1 million in one-time bonuses and $43.6 million in tax cuts vs. $3.4 million in one-time bonuses for Commerce Bancshares.

The following Missouri businesses are collectively spending over $2.7 billion in stock buybacks, but nothing on workers’ pay: Edgewell Personal Care, O’Reilly Automotive, Olin, Peabody Energy, Perficient, UMB Financial.

Agribusiness giant Conagra and outsourcing-service provider Convergys, based out of state, are together eliminating over 600 Missouri jobs, in Arnold and Trenton.

Shareholders and Not Workers Are the Big Winners from New Tax Law

Despite all the publicity last winter about tax-cut-related bonuses, the reality is only 4.2% of American workers have received any kind of bonus or wage hike tied to the new tax law, with the great majority of those being one-time bonuses rather than permanent pay hikes.

Companies have received 11 times more in tax cuts than they have paid out to workers ($76 billion vs. $6.9 billion) and spent 65 times as much on stock buybacks as on employee pay hikes ($450 billion vs. $6.9 billion).

In Missouri, the richest 1% (taxpayers making at least $500,000) will get a tax cut of nearly $49,000 in 2019 on average, while the bottom 60% (those making less than $63,000) will only get $370, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Nationwide, 83% of the tax cuts will go to the richest 1% once the law is fully implemented, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center.

Harley’s Thailand Move Is the Kind of Corporate Offshoring the New Tax Law Will Encourage

Republicans claimed the new international rules in their tax law would end offshore profit shifting, discourage corporate outsourcing and keep jobs here in America.

In fact, the new law:

Won’t end profit shifting, since offshore profits will be taxed at much lower rates as domestic profits;

Loses revenue from the combined corporate international provisions, once temporary revenues are excluded; and

Creates new loopholes that will make it advantageous for corporations to move their factories and equipment—and jobs—to foreign countries.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that before the tax law was passed the United States was losing about $300 billion in taxes each year due to corporations shifting their profits offshore—mostly to tax havens. The new tax law, because it left loopholes in place and created new ones, only reduced that annual loss to $230 billion a year (p. 127).

Under the new tax law profits made or shifted offshore by American companies are now taxed at about half the domestic tax rate. And the way the new tax on foreign profits is calculated, multinationals have even more incentives to shift real plant and equipment offshore—anywhere, that is, but here in America.

TCJA Boosts Big Corporations While Doing Nothing for True Small Businesses

The law’s new pass-through deduction has been sold as a “small business” tax cut, but most of the benefits flow to wealthy business owners (such as President Trump whose company is made up of about 500 pass-through businesses). According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in 2024 over three-fifths of the benefits will go to the wealthiest 1% of pass-through business owners, while just 4% will go to the bottom two-thirds, made up of the solo practitioners and proprietors of Main Street shops that truly personify “small business.”

Workers Will Also Suffer from Loss of Public Services Caused by the Tax Law

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the TCJA will increase the federal debt by $1.9 trillion over 10 years, including economic effects and increased interest costs. This huge increase in debt jeopardizes funding for health, retirement, educational and other public services the American people depend on to get by and get ahead. President Trump has already proposed $1.7 trillion in spending cuts to Social Security disability insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, housing assistance, tuition aid and dozens of other important programs.

Conclusion

Harley-Davidson’s actions in response to the new tax law—which privilege wealthy stockholders over average workers—are merely an especially egregious example of how major corporations are responding to the TCJA. We urge you to assess this larger story for your readers.

(this is what I have )

The supply side drives economic growth the supply side focuses in creating better climate for the business. The immediate initial impact of corporate tax cut as it affects the law of supply and demand curve at Harley Davison supply curve Government Policy changed moving production offshore failing on keeping jobs in America.   After closing a plant production shifted to York, Pennsylvania even after accounting for new hires there. Harley-Davidson took its tax cut, closed a factory, and rewarded shareholders

The direction of the shift in Harley Davison plant supply quantity demanded will increase and quantity supplied will decrease with employment loss, plant closes and goes off shore with affect. The demand will increase with the new tax law allowing Americans to keep jobs here. The GOP tax plain would allow companies to create more jobs with more factories in the United States.

The shift in equilibrium price and quantity will decrease and price will change for Harley Davidson plant facing rising costs from new tariffs, will begin shifting the production of motorcycles heading for Europe from the U.S. A decrease in the price of a good will result in mire being supplied an increase in quantity demanded an increase in supply an increase in demand.

Which of the following decisions would entail the greater opportunity cost: allocating a square block in the heart of New York City for a surface parking lot or allocating a square block at the edge of a typical suburb for such a lot? Explain.

1. Indicate whether each of the following statements applies to microeconomics or macroeconomics: LO1.3
   1. The unemployment rate in the United States was 5.1% in September 2015.
   2. A U.S. software firm discharged 15 workers last month and transferred the work to India.
   3. An unexpected freeze in central Florida reduced the citrus crop and caused the price of oranges to rise.
   4. U.S. output, adjusted for inflation, increased by 2.4% in 2014.
   5. Last week Wells Fargo Bank lowered its interest rate on business loans by one-half of 1 percentage point.
   6. The consumer price index rose by 0.2% from August 2014 to August 2015.
2. What are economic resources? What categories do economists use to classify them? Why are resources also called factors of production? Why are they called inputs? LO1.4

Explain how (if at all) each of the following events affects the location of a country’s production possibilities curve: LO1.5

1. The quality of education increases.
2. The number of unemployed workers increases.
3. A new technique improves the efficiency of extracting copper from ore.
4. A devastating earthquake destroys numerous production facilities.

- 4. What is cultural relativism in ethics? Explain this idea, and its major drawbacks.