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Drawing on Andrew Eschtruth’s lectures, which of the following is true about prospects for Americans’ retirement

Select one:

a. In 2020, Social Security benefit costs will exceed Social Security’s tax revenues and Trust Fund income; that will be the end of Social Security.

b. In 2020, Social Security benefit costs will exceed Social Security’s tax revenues and Trust Fund income; that will statutorily require an increase in the Social Security tax.

c. Over the past generation, Americans have shifted sharply from Defined Benefit Plans to Defined Contribution Plans.  

d. Over the past generation, Americans have shifted sharply from Defined Contribution Plans to Defined Benefit Plans.

The growth and quality of televised sport is a key issue for the majority of professional sport leagues and to a lesser extent college (i.e., football/basketball). Researchers refer to a ‘substitution effect’ and numerous factors that increase the ‘substitution effect’. Please explain what researchers refer to as the ‘substitution effect’ and discuss what factors may influence this effect and how the factors may influence this effect.

Consider the following weekly cost function:

TC = 200 + 120Q - 6Q^2 + 0.2Q^3

a. What are the total fixed costs per week associated with this technology?
a.) 60
b.)120
c.)200
d.) Zero. This is a long-run function

b. What is the number of units of output per week (Qs) that occurs at the end of Stage I
a.) 6
2.) 15
3.) 9
4.) 12

How would each of the following affect the marginal cost function of a bakery (SHIFT UP, SHIFT DOWN or NO EFFECT)

a. An increase in the monthly rent
b. An increase in the minimum wage of bakers
c. A property tax reduction
d. A decrease in the price of flour
e. An increase in the annual insurance premium

"we should continue to strive for the goal of ‘perfect rationality’ and achieving ‘conflict resolutions that meet the needs of parties’ despite the fact that it is considered unattainable or unrealistic." do you agree or disagree? why?

(History of Economic Thought) Questions

1-) What wre the factors that contributed to the decline of the feudal system?

2-) What were the two phases of mercantilism? Give dates for these phases. What was the focus of the economists in these phases?

3-) What are the three classes that we see in the Tableau? Define and explain each briefly.

4-) According to Adam Smith, does the amount of direct and inirect labor used up in the production of a commodity determine the Exchange value of that commodity in all social formation? If not, in which social formations would be direct and indirect labor used up in the production of a commodity would determine its Exchange value?

5-) What is the difference between the ‘market price’ and the ‘natural price’?

1. At the end of the year, a company offered to buy 4,510 units of a product from X Company for $12.00 each instead of the company's regular price of $17.00 each. The following income statement is for the 62,400 units of the product that X Company has already made and sold to its regular customers:

Sales $1,060,800

Cost of goods sold 504,192

Gross margin $556,608

Selling and administrative costs 156,000

Profit $400,608

For the year, fixed cost of goods sold were $122,304, and fixed selling and administrative costs were $78,000. The special order product has some unique features that will require additional material costs of $0.71 per unit and the rental of special equipment for $2,500. Profit on the special order would be?

2. The marketing manager thinks that if X Company accepts the special order, regular customers will be lost unless the selling price for them is reduced by $0.16. The effect of reducing the selling price will be to decrease firm profits by

What kind of profits does a monopolistic competitor make in the long run? Why? Cite your sources.

In passing judgement on whether monopoly power has a pernicious impact on the
economy, what set of factors would you consider? If two reasonably large firms wish
to vertically integrate, should policymakers always err on the side of caution? Discuss
and explain what set of factors they should consider. 2 pages double spaced.

I. Please mark “True” or “False” to the following statements:

(   ) 1. According to CISG, an offer can be withdrawn only when the withdrawal reaches the offeree before the offer.

(   ) 2. According to CISG, an offer must be sufficiently definite. Therefore a proposal for concluding a contract does not constitute an offer if it does not indicate the time of shipment.

(   ) 3. According to CISG, there must be a time of validity in an offer, otherwise the offer is invalid.

(   ) 4.According to CISG, an acceptance can be revoked by the offeree.

(   ) 5. Parties of an international sale of goods have contractual relationship at the time a written contract is signed.

II. Multiple choices: please choose one or more correct answers for each question:       

(   ) 1. According to CISG, the additions or modifications to which of the following terms

in an offer are considered to alter the terms of the offer materially

        A. price                B. payment    C. packing                   D. time and place of delivery

(   ) 2. A sends a proposal to B saying: “we are making you the following offer subject to our final confirmation”. This is

A. an acceptance B. a counter—offer   C. an enquiry   D. an offer     

(   ) 3. According to CISG, to constitute an offer, a proposal must

A. have a validity term for the offeree to make his acceptance

2. be addressed to specific offeree(s)
3. have the intention of the offeror to be bound in case of acceptance
4. all the terms in a contract are included

III. Please answer the following questions

1. According to CISG, list the conditions for a proposal to constitute an offer.
2. 1. List four situations that may terminate an offer.
   2. What is the legal consequence if an offer has terminated?

3. What is a late acceptance? According to CISG, how about the effectiveness of a late acceptance?

IV. Case study

Company L made an offer to company Y on March 15, subject to reply before March 23.

On March 16, Company Y replied “accept your offer if you reduce your price by 5%”. Company L did not reply. On March 20, Company Y emailed company L “accept your offer of March 15 even without 5% price reduction”.

Question: Is there any contractual relationship between these two companies? Briefly explain why.

Explain with a graph the effect of capital flight in a country!

6. Suppose that an owner of a taco food truck uses a truck (K) and her time (L) to make and sell tacos. Her production function is Q= K^.3 * L^.7, where Q is the number of tacos produced per day. Suppose that the rent on the taco food truck is $50 per day and that she wants to produce 500 tacos per day. Use calculus to:
a. derive the demand for labor.
b. show that the demand for labor satisfies the law of demand.

Determine the following situations, and how they affect the marginal cost function of a company? (Up, Down or No effect)
1. Rise in rent

2. Rise in labor wages

3. Property tax reduction

4. Drop at the price of inventory
5. A rise in yearly insurance plan

What are some criteria you can use to evaluate the quality of research?