1) After considering the situation of market power for my software and how it changed after the introduction of competitors, consider situations of natural disasters and how governments respond to shortages resulting from them.

Read this article; what is the most likely way that anti-gouging laws potentially can increase social welfare?

Select one:

a. Penalties assessed on price gougers can be redistributed to victims or the area at large that was affected by the natural disaster. In that sense, the government wants more illegal price gouging to occur so it can prosecute and raise more revenue in fines and redistribute to voters.

b. Legislators and regulators benefit by making pronouncements against price gougers, knowing the public holds such a low opinion of them (the gougers, not the politicians :) . The public sees swift action against profiteers, and legislators/regulators enhance their standing in the public eye.

c. They increase the deadweight loss for those companies who practice price gouging. The laws raise these companies' costs so that it is no longer profitable for the companies to set price according to MR=MCMR=MC.

d. They encourage businesses to refrain from price gouging since it will negatively affect their reputations and future profitability.

2. In contrast, read this blog post; according to the post, why might price gouging increase social welfare?

Select one:

a. Price gouging will reveal the motives of greedy sellers, and thus overall supply will be reduced, which benefits consumer welfare.

b. The price can increase so high that the extra profits by "gougers" far exceeds the harm to consumers who are gouged.

c. The high price can increase consumer surplus enough that it is greater than producer surplus; since there are more consumers than producers in society, the benefit to consumers should outweigh the harm to producers.

d. While the reputation effect may be true, the high price will encourage outside suppliers to come to the affected area and will mitigate the shortage.

Article:

Charging flood victims $30 for a case of water or $10 for a gallon of gas doesn’t sit right.

And a majority of states, including Texas, have laws against price gouging. The state attorney general has threatened to prosecute people who jack up their prices in the wake of the flooding caused by Harvey. He said his office has received hundreds of reports of profiteering.

But most economists think those high prices can actually benefit communities during a crisis. Sky-high prices are the market at work, the basic laws of supply and demand in action.

“Price gouging laws stand in the way of the normal workings of competitive markets,” explained Michael Salinger, an economics professor at Boston University and former director of the Bureau of Economics at the Federal Trade Commission.

To make his point, Salinger recounted a "Dennis the Menace" cartoon he remembers from his childhood.

Dennis asked his father what causes tides. “The moon”, his father answered. Dennis offered up another explanation, that the tides were caused a big whale in the ocean. When the whale swishes his tail one way, the tide goes in, and when he swishes his tail the other way, the tide goes out.

“You don’t really believe that?” asked the father. “No,” said Dennis, “but it makes a lot more sense than the moon.”

Salinger said letting the markets work, allowing price hikes during disasters is the moon answer. It isn’t intuitive, he said, but it’s right.

There are a couple of reasons economists don’t like laws against price gouging.

On the demand side, laws that keep prices artificially low can encourage overbuying. They benefit the people who get to the store first.

“If prices don’t rise,” explained Texas Tech economics professor Michael Giberson, “they just get plenty.”

If water is cheap, I might be tempted to buy as much as I can jam in my car — just in case. If, on the other hand, prices shoot up, Giberson said, “it encourages consumers to be a little more careful in using the goods.”

There’s also a supply-side argument that economists make.

“When the price of vital goods go up in an area affected by an emergency, that sends a signal by areas not affected by the emergency to bring more,” explained Matt Zwolinski, director of the University of San Diego’s Center for Ethics, Economics, and Public Policy.

Zwolinski argues that the practice of price gouging can actually be admirable from a purely moral perspective: “It allocates goods and services in a way that best meets human needs.”

But, as with so much of economics, there is disagreement.

What are economists missing when they make these arguments?

“They are misunderstanding that if you make people mad, you pay a price,” said Richard Thaler, an economist at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Thaler co-wrote a well-known paper on price gouging that looked at what people think is fair.

It begins with the following scenario: A hardware store has been selling snow shovels for $15, and the morning after a blizzard, it raises the price to $20.

Thaler and his colleagues asked people if they thought that was fair.

“And people hate it,” he said. “They all think that’s a terrible idea.”

Thaler argued that any business that wants to still be in business tomorrow shouldn’t raise prices, because when it's time to rebuild, no one is going to want to buy new flooring from the guy that sold them the generator for double the normal rate.

Businesses and economists should pay more attention to our shared social values, argued Thaler. “During a time of crisis, it’s a time for all of us to pitch in, it’s not a time for us to grab.”

We have to think beyond the laws of supply and demand, he said, beyond pure economics.

Auditing the Revenue Process

You have been assigned to the first audit of the Black Clover company for the year ending March 31, 2019. Accounts receivable were confirmed on December 31, 2018, and at that date, the receivables consisted of approximately 200 accounts with balances totaling $956,750. Fifty of these accounts, with balances totaling $650,725, were selected for confirmation. All but 10 of the confirmation requests have been returned; 24 were returned without any exceptions, 6 had minor differences that have been cleared satisfactorily, and 10 confirmations had the following information and comments:

1. We are sorry, but we cannot answer your request for confirmation of our account as the Kingdom Company uses an accounts payable voucher system and can only confirm individual invoices.
2. The balance of $1,050 was paid on December 28, 2018.
3. The balance of $7,750 was paid on January 5, 2019.
4. The balance of $2,975 was paid on December 13, 2018.
5. We do not owe you anything on December 31, 2018, as the goods, represented by your invoice date December 30, 2018, number 25050, in the amount of $11,550, were received on January 5, 2019, on FOB destination terms.
6. An advance payment of $2,500 made by us in November 2018 should cover the two invoices totaling $1,350 shown on the statement attached.
7. This confirmation was returned as undeliverable by the post office.
8. We are contesting the propriety of this $12,525 charge. We think the charge is excessive.
9. We do not owe this balance as our agreement with the company allows us to return any unsold goods without penalty. Amount okay. As the goods have been shipped to us on consignment, we will remit payment upon selling the goods.
10. Your credit memo dated December 5, 2018, in the amount of $440 cancels the balance above.

Required

1. Indicate which of these confirmation responses likely represent timing differences
2. Which of the 10 confirmation repossess likely represents a misstatement? Explain why the response indicates a misstatement.
3. For each of the 10 confirmation responses, indicate the procedures you would perform to determine whether the exception is a misstatement or has been appropriately recorded by the client.

WXY Inc. declared a dividend on July 27, 2004 to be payable on September 10, 2004. The list of shareholders who would be entitled to this dividend would be prepared on August 10, 2004.

a) Identify the key dates involved with dividend payment (4 points)

b) If Tom bought some shares on August 7, 2004, would he have received the dividend declared for this period? If not, who would receive it? (3 points)

c) You buy a share of stock before the ex‐dividend date for US$15. The dividend declared is US$1.50 per share. Ignoring the effect of taxes, does the value of your investment increase after the ex‐dividend date? Does it decrease? Why? Why not? (3 points)

1. Please use Excel. For each state and Washington DC, the percentage of people without health insurance was determined. Given the data set below create the following using spreadsheet software. Use 5-20 classes with a "nice" class width when creating the distribution tables.

a. Grouped frequency distribution (table)

b. Grouped relative frequency distribution (table)

c. frequency histogram (graph)

d. relative frequency histogram (graph)

Percentage of people without health insurance for each state and Washington DC

15.2, 9.4, 25.4, 21.9, 20.8, 15.5, 18.9, 13.7, 13.5, 16.5, 21.1, 14, 9.3, 13.3, 22.9, 17.9, 24.5, 8.8, 20.9, 11.6, 11.8, 13.8, 7.1, 14, 10, 17.4, 14.6, 18.9, 21.2, 10.5, 10.4, 12.3, 17.9, 6.6, 10.2, 18.8, 27.7, 12.3, 10.5, 19.6, 12.2, 15.9, 13.3, 17.2, 8.9, 15.6, 9.2, 11.5, 10.1, 11.8, 11.8

2. A survey of 50 college students was conducted to determine how much weekly income they earned from employment. Using the data set below, complete the following.

a. Find the 5 number summary of the data set.

Min=

Q1=

Median=

Q3=

Max=

b. Create a box-plot for the data set using any software.

c. Identify any outliers. List the individual numbers that are outliers for this data set. If there are multiple outliers, separate them by commas.

d. Give a possible explanation as to why the individual (or individuals) from part c might have a number (or numbers) that are so high (or so low).

e. Interpret yourself as a percentile in the data set. First estimate your weekly income from employment (If you are not employed then use 0). Then find the percentile for your income using the sample data below. Then interpret the percentile using the definition and writing a complete sentence

Amount of money earned weekly from employment (Enter 0 if not employed)

0, 244, 1277, 83, 719, 479, 375, 0, 0,671, 262, 521, 567, 159, 0, 0, 347, 203, 454, 95, 0, 476, 310, 0, 367, 82, 331, 149, 67, 736, 635, 100, 527, 547, 316, 579, 281, 0, 389, 300, 0, 650, 0, 188, 0, 289, 628, 403, 0, 181

How would you respond to this post?

The first thought of current leaders may have us thinking about the politicians, high-earning Chief Executive Officers, philanthropists, or athletes. However, there are leaders in every organization and around in every aspect of existence. Leadership is an extremely complex topic, some have defined it as an impact connection among leaders and followers who plan realistic vicissitudes in results that replicate their collective drives (Hourston, 2013). However, an uncomplicated description is the one that likened leadership to the art of inspiring a group of individuals to behave toward attaining a shared objective. In an organization, leadership can denote guiding employees and coworkers with an approach that satisfies the company's requirements. Effective leadership is founded on ideas that will not be realized if not appropriately communicated to people in a technique that stimulate them to take the initiatives the leaders want. Thus, the leader represents the stimulus and executor of accomplishment. Leadership, though, necessitates qualities that go beyond managerial responsibilities. Some people are inherently gifted with further leadership capabilities than others, however, anybody can develop leadership skills through the improvement process (Warrick, 2016). Record is filled up with great leaders who had no prior leadership skills but who in the period of a disaster took up the initiatives to make changes and influenced people to adhere to their proposed strategy. These are assumed to have leadership personalities and potentials that aided them to succeed in such leadership roles. My definition of leadership is the ability of a person in a group possessing a blend of disposition and skills to direct others. These leadership skills can be developed through a continuous progression of self-learning, teaching, training, and practice (Nichols, 2017). While leadership can be learned, the aptitudes and knowledge administered could be inclined by a person’s qualities like principles, standards, morals, charisma, and environment. Walt Disney arose from a simple background whose mother was a homemaker and his businessman father failed at many of the business strategies. His father disapproved of his imaginative inclinations and vigorously prevented his involvement in such proceedings. I learned from his resilience and initiatives for action at 29, Walt thrived with the Mickey Mouse initiative. He developed, through persistence and spent ten years educating and utilizing his leadership skills after an initial unsuccessful business effort. He came out as a successful innovator in the field of animation and eventually transformed the entertainment industry. Also, John D. Rockefeller Sr., notwithstanding his lineage, established the “Standard Oil”, the biggest oil refiner in the world, in the turn of the twentieth century. Rockefeller built his massive wealth gradually and consciously through his experience of accomplishment and disappointment and not a prearranged conventional distinctive leadership skill. Several businesses are looking to develop the develop leadership skills of their employees which is not a solitary action but a set of events that characteristically happen progressively (Nichols, 2017). These leadership development events will, in the long run, advance the leadership capability of the employees in the organization.

Frank Pulley was the General Manager of Fred Arnold’s, “Arnold’s Moving and Storage”, a family-owned business. He had been with the company since he got out of high school. He worked summers and vacations to make money during his college years. The company had grown as did Frank. When Frank graduated from college with his degree in business management, he was given the job of Office Accounts Manager. He managed the money for the business. During the evening, Frank went to school and received his MBA in Finance. By then, Arnold’s had expanded to include long distance moving as well as office moves in the Mid-Atlantic area. The company was making over $3,000,000 in sales and was growing at a rate of 8% -10 % a year. Competition was strong in the Mid-Atlantic region so Fred wanted to expand southward. About this time, Fred’s son decided it was time to come back into the business. He had been working in IT in Miami. He liked Miami and felt he could work from there and bring the business down the Eastern Seaboard.

Frank had been with the business for 12 years now and felt that with Fred’s son now back in the business, it might be time to leave. Fred saw Frank at lunch one day shortly after Frank started looking for a new job. “Frank, I just heard that you are looking for a senior management position. In fact, I had to hear it from Janice Jeppy of all people. I ran into her at the bank. She says you applied to Jeppy Movers for a job and was wondering why you would want to switch moving companies. I am wondering too. Don’t you want to stay with us?”

Frank was surprised. The thought had never occurred to him. He assumed that Mr. Arnold’s son and daughter would take over the business. Both of Fred’s children had been working in the business since they were in high school. “I don’t want to leave Mr. Arnold,” Frank replied, “but I assumed that with Frank back in the business, he would take over. I just couldn’t see where there was room for advancement.” Fred was afraid this is what the boy would say. His son was bright and showed promise, but Fred knew they needed experienced people like Frank to keep the company moving forward. Frank was great support for the business and would be the best support that he and his son could have. Fred wondered how he could keep Frank in the business. “Come see me tomorrow at 10 a.m., Frank and we will talk. I can’t let you go to Jeppy Movers, can I”?

What Can Fred Arnold do to keep Frank now and in the future? Include in the discussion how the growth of the company will affect Fred’s ideas.

Also, address succession and Frank’s role in the business going forward.

• A portfolio is an individual investor’s choices of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other types of investment. Pretend that you face these six choices for investments:
  1. a stock that has appreciated in value by 25% in each of the past 5 years and pays no dividends;
  2. a stock that has appreciated by 5% in each of the past 5 years and pays an 8% dividend each year;
  3. a bond that returns 5% each year;
  4. a mutual fund of international stocks that has appreciated by as much as 45% but depreciated by as much as 30% during the past 10 years;
  5. a mutual fund of US consumer products company stocks that has consistently appreciated by 12% for the past 5 years;
  6. a mutual fund of bonds that has consistently appreciated by 7% for the past 10 years.
• Choose three of these investments for your portfolio. What are your investment objectives? Why did you choose those three?
• Provide rationale and examples to support your thoughts.

In 750-1,000 words, propose a health policy change (that is currently a bill, a law, or may not exist at all) at the state or federal level that you believe needs to change and why.

The policy must not be a clinical care policy for individual care. The policy involved may include public or community health, legislative or regulatory, professional organization (nursing-oriented), advanced nursing practice, health plan, or hospital plan.

Include a specific section for the exact wording for the bill or change in wording of the law.

Include the plan for the implementation of your policy development, to lobbying for passage, to next steps after passage.

Discuss who would be the champion for the bill/law change from your state advocates (legislators, federal legislators, local or national state nursing organizations). Are these individuals also influential in making changes occur? Did you vote for the individual in office that you want to help you make this change?

What is the total tax due for 2020, for Stuart, assuming that he earned 20,000 in wages, earned 24,000 in self-employment income from his first business, had a loss of 10,000 from his second business, received 3,000 of interest income, and had 5,100 in nonqualified dividend income?

There are new kinds of summer campus sprouting up for kids, with names like Camp Millionaire, MoolahU, and WhizBizKids. Rather than teaching basketball or camping skills, the camps appeal to parents who want to teach their children the basics of money management, or support budding Warren Buffetts and Steve Jobses who show an interest in business. The programs teach everything from basic financial concepts to how to launch a startup. The general idea for these campus is to teach kids early about money, investing and entrepreneurship. At MoolahU, a startup camp that launched in Austin, Texas in 2005, young business minds ages 7 to 17 collaborate for a week to develop a business idea and prototype product, and get a loan from a "barracuda tank" of local business experts-who include established businesspeople and entrepreneurs. From there, they sell their product, repay their borrowed money with interest and take turns occupying different leadership roles in their business. MoolahU's 3,000 alums can stay engaged beyond summer through a school-year apprentice program. At Camp Millionaire, youngsters learn that money can be earned through a salaried job or "made" by creating a business or income stream that delivers returns or passive income (rent, licensing fees, royalties, etc).