In: Economics
a) What are the paradox of cooperation and rational egoism. Can that be accounted for cooperative behavior or altruistic behavior in a Darwinian setting? How many behavioral patterns may you encounter, If encountered while dealing with two individuals – a donor and a recipient?
b) Connecting with the tragedy of the commons concept, how did the commons start? Why did we move away from enclosures?
c) What is feudalism as a system? Are there spill-over effects of feudalism in other cultures and geographic areas? Does the feudal system relate to the enclosure movement?
In: Economics
What possible defenses are there to the US Sugar policy? Is this a reasonable program to support working farm families - or is it a giant handout to special interests at the expense of 320 million Americans? There are less than 6,000 sugar farms in the US. How can they keep this program running in this way? What are the economic implications of the US sugar program? Finally, what would you do if you were in charge of Farm Policy like this? What would you tell families, or farmers, or food producers? learned this semester about markets, prices, etc.
In: Economics
The demand function for a truckload of firewood in a small town with a college is Q = 200 - 1.5p for non-students and Q = 200 - p for students, where p is the price of firewood, in $/truckload. For the town as a whole, including the students, the slope of the inverse demand curve to the right of the kink is ? A. -1 B. -2 C. -.5 D. -.4
In: Economics
As a political consultant for an aspiring politician, you have been hired to evaluate the following statements that pertain to capital gains and losses. Evaluate the statement and provide at least a one-paragraph explanation of each statement. As you prepare your answer, consider the fact that the aspiring politician does not have much knowledge about taxation.
a. The tax on capital gains is considered a voluntary tax.
b. High-income taxpayers receive the most benefit from preferential treatment for capital gains.
In: Economics
Demand estimation Early in 1993, the Southeastern Transportation Authority (STA), a public agency responsible for serving the commuter rail transportation needs of a large Eastern city, was faced with rising operating deficits on its system. Also, because of a fiscal austerity program at both the federal and state levels, the hope of receiving additional subsidy support was slim. The board of directors of STA asked the system manager to explore alternatives to alleviate the financial plight of the system. The first suggestion made by the manager was to institute a major cutback in service. This cutback would result in no service after 7:00 pm, no service on weekends, and a reduced schedule of service during the midday period Monday through Friday. The board of STA indicated that this alternative was not likely to be politically acceptable and could only be considered as a last resort. The board suggested that because it had been over five years since the last basic fare increase, a fare increase from the current level of $1 to a new level of $1.50 should be considered. Accordingly, the board ordered the manager to conduct a study of the likely impact of this proposed fare hike. The system manager has collected data on important variables thought to have a significant impact on the demand for rides on STA. These data have been collected over the past 24 years and include the following variables. Price per ride (in cents) - This variable is designated P in Table 1. Price is expected to have a negative impact on the demand for rides on the system. Population in the metropolitan area serviced by STA - It is expected that this variable has a positive impact on the demand for rides on the System. This variable is designated T in Table 1. Disposable per capita income - This variable was initially thought to have a positive impact on the demand for rides on STA This variable is designated I in Table 1. Parking rate per hour in the downtown area (in cents) this variable is expected to have a positive impact on demand for rides on the STA. It is designated H in Table Below
Year | Weekly Riders (Y) | Price (P) Per | Population | Income (I) | Parking Rate |
(X1,000) | Ride (Cents) | (T)(x1,000) | (H) (Cents) | ||
1966 | 1200 | 15 | 1800 | 2900 | 50 |
1967 | 1190 | 15 | 1790 | 3100 | 50 |
1968 | 1195 | 15 | 1780 | 3200 | 60 |
1969 | 1110 | 25 | 1778 | 3250 | 60 |
1970 | 1105 | 25 | 1750 | 3275 | 60 |
1971 | 1115 | 25 | 1740 | 3290 | 70 |
1972 | 1130 | 25 | 1725 | 4100 | 75 |
1973 | 1095 | 30 | 1725 | 4300 | 75 |
1974 | 1090 | 30 | 1720 | 4400 | 75 |
1975 | 1087 | 30 | 1705 | 4600 | 80 |
1976 | 1080 | 30 | 1710 | 4815 | 80 |
1977 | 1020 | 40 | 1700 | 5285 | 80 |
1978 | 1010 | 40 | 1695 | 5665 | 85 |
1979 | 1010 | 40 | 1695 | 5800 | 100 |
1980 | 1005 | 40 | 1690 | 5900 | 105 |
1981 | 995 | 40 | 1630 | 5915 | 105 |
1982 | 930 | 75 | 1640 | 6325 | 105 |
1983 | 915 | 75 | 1635 | 6500 | 110 |
1984 | 920 | 75 | 1630 | 6612 | 125 |
1985 | 940 | 75 | 1620 | 5883 | 130 |
1986 | 950 | 75 | 1615 | 7005 | 150 |
1987 | 910 | 100 | 1605 | 7234 | 155 |
1988 | 930 | 100 | 1590 | 7500 | 165 |
1989 | 933 | 100 | 1595 | 7600 | 175 |
1990 | 940 | 100 | 1590 | 7800 | 175 |
1991 | 948 | 100 | 1600 | 8000 | 190 |
1992 | 955 | 100 | 1610 | 8100 | 200 |
9. If the fare is increased to $1.50, what is the expected impact on weekly revenues to the transit system if all other variables remain at their 1992 levels?
In: Economics
In: Economics
Explain permanent decrease in Monetary supply, use graphs from the AA-DD schedule model. (please draw)
in addition, please explain a temporary , one-time decrease in Monetary supply . Also using the aa-dd model. thank you!
In: Economics
Aspartame is a low-calorie, high-intensity sweetener. It was discovered (by accident) by a research scientist at G.D. Searle & Co. who was working on an anti-ulcer drug. Use of aspartame in soft drinks was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1983. Searle extended the original patent to 1987 in Europe and 1992 in the US. In 1985, Monsanto acquired Searle, including the aspartame patent, and began selling the soft- drink version under the brand name “Nutrasweet.” The product had an enormous market as the sweetener in Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, in Europe, Asia, and especially the US (approximately 10 times the size of the European market). In 1986, Holland Sweetener Company (HSC) began building an aspartame plant in anticipation of the patent’s expiration. Analysts estimated that HSC’s capacity was about 5% of the world market. When HSC began selling its own version of aspartame in Europe, Monsanto dropped the price of Nutrasweet from $70 to $22-30 per pound. Since HSC had higher costs (production has a steep learning curve), HSC lost money at the new price and Monsanto had substantially lower profits in Europe. When the US patent expired, Coke and Pepsi signed long-term contracts with Monsanto.
(a) Would you expect a sharp drop in price after a patent
expires?
(b) Who benefited from HSC’s entry?
(c) Why do you think Monsanto triggered a price war in Europe? Do
you think this was a good strategy?
In: Economics
In: Economics
Connecting with the tragedy of the commons concept, how did the commons start? Why did we move away from enclosures?
What is feudalism as a system? Are there spill-over effects of feudalism in other cultures and geographic areas? Does the feudal system relate to the enclosure movement?
In: Economics
The Purchasing procedure of ABC Co. Limited ABC was a medium-sized Hong Kong-based company with two manufacturing plants in China, one in Dongguan and the other in Shanghai with employees of 3,000. The company was manufacturing micro-wave ovens in three different product lines including oven-P, oven-Q & oven-R series. While P & Q models were for its domestic customers, R models were designed for its overseas clients. The three product lines were targeting at different market segments. 40% of their components were nevertheless shared among the three product series and 60% of the components were common to P & Q models. Basically, the components were divided into several categories including the casing, the heater, the glass front door, the electronic control, the magnetron, and the small mechanical and plastic parts. The following was the generic purchasing procedure that ABC was adopting to control its purchasing activities. 1. User department (e.g., Production of oven-Q) issued a Purchase Request (PR) to Purchasing Department for a component W (e.g., light bulb). 2. Purchasing Department negotiated with the supplier about the price of manufacture of W. 3. ABC issued a Purchase Order (PO) to detailing the specification of W and the required receiving date. 4. Upon the receipt of order, Receiving Department checked the material against PO and issue Receiving Report (RR) to Incoming Quality Control (IQC) Department 5. IQC checked in accordance with the testing procedure TEST-W101~108-MILSTD and issued a Testing Report (TR) to Purchasing Department to close the order. 6. Accounting Department issued a cheque to the supplier upon received an invoice from it.
Questions: 1. Identify the potential disconnects of the purchasing procedure
In: Economics
In: Economics
In: Economics
Economic :Describe the Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm – its weaknesses and its strengths.
In: Economics