On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University Stadium in Houston, Texas, in which he appealed for support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s program to land humans on the Moon. The following passage is an excerpt from Kennedy’s speech. Read the passage carefully. Compose a thesis statement you might use for an essay analyzing the rhetorical choices Kennedy makes to accomplish his purpose. Then select at least four pieces of evidence from the passage and explain how they support your thesis.

In your response you should do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a claim that establishes a line of reasoning.
• Select and use evidence to develop and support your line of reasoning.
• Explain the relationship between the evidence and your thesis.

No man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come, but condense, if you will, the 50,000 years of man’s recorded history in a time span of but a half-century. Stated in these terms, we know very little about the first 40 years, except at the end of them advanced man had learned to use the skins of animals to cover them. Then about 10 years ago, under this standard, man emerged from his caves to construct other kinds of shelter. Only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels. Christianity began less than two years ago. The printing press came this year, and then less than two months ago, during this whole 50-year span of human history, the steam engine provided a new source of power.

Newton explored the meaning of gravity. Last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available. Only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power, and now if America’s new spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.

This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers. Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward.

So it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait. But this city of Houston, this State of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward—and so will space.

William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.

If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space.

Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it—we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.

Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world’s leading space-faring nation.

We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say the we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.

Economic growth will:

Group of answer choices

Shift PPF left

Shift PPF right

Cause movement along PPF

Decrease production

Flag this Question

Question 171 pts

What annual growth rate is needed for a country to double its output in 14 years?

Group of answer choices

7

2

5

10

Flag this Question

Question 181 pts

Which of the following is NOT a phase of the business cycle?

Group of answer choices

Recession

Base

Expansion

Peak

Flag this Question

Question 191 pts

Two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country's GDP is a:

Group of answer choices

Business Cycle

Great Recession

Recession

Depression

Flag this Question

Question 201 pts

Unemployment rate is defined as ________

Group of answer choices

Unemployed divided by the total population

Unemployed divided by the labor force

Unemployed divided by the labor participation

Labor force divided by the total population

Flag this Question

Question 211 pts

The type of unemployment caused by workers voluntarily changing jobs and by temporary layoffs is:

Group of answer choices

Frictional Unemployment

Structural Unemployment

Structural Unemployment

Burdensome Unemployment

Flag this Question

Question 221 pts

Unemployment of workers whose skills are not demanded by employers, who lack sufficient skill to obtain employment, or who cannot easily move to locations where jobs are available is:

Group of answer choices

Structural Unemployment

Frictional Unemployment

Cyclical Unemployment

Burdensome Unemployment

Flag this Question

Question 231 pts

Natural rate of unemployment is define as ________

Group of answer choices

Cyclical unemployment

Frictional unemployment plus structural unemployment

Seasonal unemployment plus cyclical unemployment

Zero unemployment

Flag this Question

Question 241 pts

The generalization that any 1% point rise in the unemployment rate above the natural rate of unemployment is associated with a rise in the negative GDP gap by 2% of potential GDP is known as:

Group of answer choices

Keynes’ law

GDP Gap

Economic growth

Okun’s law

Flag this Question

Question 251 pts

The index that measures the prices of a fixed market basket of 300 goods and services is:

Group of answer choices

Purchase Price Index

Consumer Price Index

Consumer Sales Index

Consumer Base Index

Flag this Question

Question 261 pts

If the CPI was 314 in 2015 and 335 in 2016, what is the rate of inflation?

Group of answer choices

4.28%

3.14%

5.53%

6.69%

Flag this Question

Question 271 pts

Cost-push inflation occurs when there is ___________.

Group of answer choices

Excess inventory

Increases in the price level resulting from an increase in resource costs and hence in per-unit production costs; inflation caused by reduction in aggregate supply

Increases in the price level resulting from increases in aggregate demand

A trade deficit

Flag this Question

Question 281 pts

Demand-pull inflation occurs when there is ___________.

Group of answer choices

Increases in the price level resulting from an increase in resource costs and hence in per-unit production costs; inflation caused by reduction in aggregate supply

Excess inventory

Excess inventory

Increases in the price level resulting from increases in aggregate demand

Flag this Question

Question 291 pts

_________ inflation reduces real output.

Group of answer choices

Cost-push

Demand-pull

Core

Core

Flag this Question

Question 301 pts

Core inflation ___________.

Group of answer choices

excludes certain items that face volatile price movements, such as energy and food products.

Is the natural rate of inflation

Is measured every two years.

Is cost-pull plus demand-pull inflation

Flag this Question

Question 311 pts

Nominal Interest Rate = Real Interest Rate + _____________.

Group of answer choices

Inflation

Taxes

GDP Deflator

Price Index

Flag this Question

Question 321 pts

The minimum level of consumption that would still exist even if a consumer had absolutely no income is:

Group of answer choices

Autonomous Consumption

Dissaving

Consumption Schedule

Consumption Schedule

Flag this Question

Question 331 pts

Consumption shifters include:

Group of answer choices

Interest Rates

Expectations

Borrowing

All of the other answers

Wealth and Disposable Income

Flag this Question

Question 341 pts

Levi’s is deciding whether to buy a jean rivet press machine for $1000. The company expects the machine to have a 1-year life. The machine is expected to contribute $1220 to the year’s net revenue. What is the expected rate of return?

Group of answer choices

33%

20%

22%

44%

Flag this Question

Question 351 pts

A construction firm is deciding which projects to invest in. It is deciding among five projects. The firm expects a real interest rate of 6%. Given the table, the construction firm will invest in:

Group of answer choices

Projects A & B

Projects A, C, D

Projects B & E

Projects B & D

Flag this Question

Question 361 pts

If MPS = 0.25, then the multiplier is:

Group of answer choices

1

2

3

4

Hello, I need this is C++. Thank you! (1B)

Write a Fraction class whose objects will represent Fractions.

Note: this is the first part of a multi-part assignment. For this week you should not simplify (reduce) fractions, you should not use "const," and all of your code should be in a single file. In this single file, the class declaration will come first, followed by the definitions of the class member functions, followed by the client program.

You must provide the following member functions:

1. A set() operation that takes two integer arguments, a numerator and a denominator, and sets the calling object accordingly.
2. Arithmetic operations that add, subtract, multiply, and divide Fractions. These should be implemented as value returning functions that return a Fraction object. They should be named addedTo, subtract, multipliedBy, and dividedBy. In these functions you will need to declare a local "Fraction" variable, assign to it the result of the mathematical operation, and then return it.
3. A boolean operation named isEqualTo that compares two Fraction objects for equality. Since you aren't reducing your Fractions, you'll need to do this by cross-multiplying. A little review: if numerator1 * denominator2 equals denominator1 * numerator2, then the Fractions are equal.
4. An output operation named print that displays the value of a Fraction object on the screen in the form numerator/denominator.

Your class should have exactly two data members, one to represent the numerator of the Fraction being represented, and one to represent the denominator of the Fraction being represented.

Here's a hint for how you will set up your arithmetic operation functions: You need two Fractions. One is the parameter, one is the calling object. The function multiplies the calling object times the parameter and returns the result. In some ways it is similar to the comesBefore() function from the lesson. That function also needs two Fractions, and one is the calling object and one is the parameter.

When adding or subtracting Fractions, remember that you must first find the common denominator. The easy way to do this is to multiply the denominators together and use that product as the common denominator.

I am providing a client program for you below. You should copy and paste this and use it as your client program. The output that should be produced when the provided client program is run with your class is also given below, so that you can check your results.

I strongly suggest that you design your class incrementally. For example, you should first implement only the set function and the output function, and then test what you have so far. Once this code has been thoroughly debugged, you should add additional member functions, testing each one thoroughly as it is added. You might do this by creating your own client program to test the code at each stage; however, it would probably be better to use the provided client program and comment out code that relates to member functions that you have not yet implemented.

As you can see from the sample output given below, you are not required to reduce Fractions or change improper Fractions into mixed numbers for printing. Just print it as an improper Fraction. You are also not required to deal with negative numbers, either in the numerator or the denominator.

Here is the client program.

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

Fraction f1;

Fraction f2;

Fraction result;

f1.set(9, 8);

f2.set(2, 3);

cout<<"\nArithmetic operations with fraction objects stored in the results class object\n";

cout<<"------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n";

cout << "The product of ";

f1.print();

cout << " and ";

f2.print();

cout << " is ";

result = f1.multipliedBy(f2);

result.print();

cout << endl;

cout << "The quotient of ";

f1.print();

cout << " and ";

f2.print();

cout << " is ";

result = f1.dividedBy(f2);

result.print();

cout << endl;

cout << "The sum of ";

f1.print();

cout << " and ";

f2.print();

cout << " is ";

result = f1.addedTo(f2);

result.print();

cout << endl;

cout << "The difference of ";

f1.print();

cout << " and ";

f2.print();

cout << " is ";

result = f1.subtract(f2);

result.print();

cout << endl;

if (f1.isEqualTo(f2)){

cout << "The two Fractions are equal." << endl;

} else {

cout << "The two Fractions are not equal." << endl;

}

cout<<"\n---------------------------------------------------------\n";

cout<<"\nFraction class implementation test now successfully concluded\n";

// system ("PAUSE");

return 0;

}

This client should produce the output shown here:

C++ CLASS SINGLE-FILE PROJECT Client.cpp - testing a Fraction class implementation

----------------------------------------------------

Arithmetic operations with Fraction objects stored in the result class object

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The product of 9/8 and 2/3 is 18/24

The quotient of 9/8 and 2/3 is 27/16

The sum of 9/8 and 2/3 is 43/24

The difference of 9/8 and 2/3 is 11/24

The two Fractions are not equal.

---------------------------------------------------------

Fraction class implementation test now successfully concluded

Process returned 0 (0x0) execution time : 10.546 s Press any key to continue.

C++...This program is broken down into phases for your convenience only. Please turn in only the final phase. Before turning in your program, please make sure that it does something reasonable if the user enters a negative number the first time.

Phase I: Write a program for a theater that will keep track of how many people in each of 5 age categories attended a particular movie. Use the 5 age categories listed below in the sample screen output. The user will enter a number of ages, entering a negative number when there are no more ages to enter. Your program will then report on how many people in each age group attended. Sample screen output:

    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 34    
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 16
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 68
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 53
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 39
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 23
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 21
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): -1

    age 0  to 18: 1
    age 19 to 30: 2
    age 31 to 40: 2
    age 41 to 60: 1
    over 60: 1

Phase II: Modify your program so that, in addition to the report that the program currently produces, it also gives the average age of the people in attendance, the age of the oldest person in attendance, and the age of the youngest person in attendance. Sample screen output:

 
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 34    
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 16
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 68
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 53
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 39
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 23
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 21
    Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): -1

    age 0  to 18: 1
    age 19 to 30: 2
    age 31 to 40: 2
    age 41 to 60: 1
    over 60: 1

    The average age was 36.
    The youngest person in attendance was 16.
    The oldest person in attendance was 68.

Phase III: Modify your program so that it also asks each attendee for a theater concession stand purchase. The attendee must make a selection based on the following choices …

1 - Soft Drink (such as Coca Cola, ICCEE, Mineral Water etc...)

2 - Popcorn

3 - Nachos       

4 - Soft drink & Popcorn

5 - Soft drink & Nachos

6 - Organic and Gluten-free snacks       

7 – None

The program output should now also provide a theater concession stand sales summary with a count of each category purchased.

Note: Include a validation routine to ensure that a correct choice is input for each attendee.

Check the sample screen output below for the final formatted display of theater statistics.

 
  ==========================
  THEATER STATS PROGRAM
  ==========================

Movie theater snacks available for purchase
==========================================
1 - Soft Drink (such as Coca Cola, ICCEE, Mineral Water etc...)
2 - Popcorn
3 - Nachos
4 - Soft drink & Popcorn
5 - Soft drink & Nachos
6 - Organic and Gluten-free snacks
7 - None
==========================================

Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 34
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):4
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 16
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):5
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 68
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):12
Invalid selection, please choose from 1 - 7
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):6
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 53
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):6
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 39
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):1
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 23
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):2
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 21
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):3
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): 21
Movie theater snack purchased. (Select items 1 - 7):4
--------------------------
Enter age of attendee (-1 to quit): -1

==================================
  THEATER STATS PROGRAM RESULTS
==================================

age 0  to 18:    1
age 19 to 30:    3
age 31 to 40:    2
age 41 to 60:    1
over 60:         1

The average age was 34
The youngest person in attendance was 16
The oldest person in attendance was 68

Theater Concession Stand sales
==================================
Soft Drink (such as Coca Cola, ICCEE, Mineral Water etc.): 1
Popcorn: 1
Nachos: 1
Soft drink & Popcorn: 2
Soft drink & Nachos: 1
Organic and Gluten-free snacks: 2

Process returned 0 (0x0)   execution time : 169.589 s
Press any key to continue. 

C# Only

Create a class named Customer that implements IComparable interface.

Create 3 Customer class fields: Customer number, customer name, and amount due. Create automatic accessors for each field.

Create an Customer class constructor that takes parameters for all of the class fields and assigns the passed values through the accessors.

Create a default, no-argument Customer class constructor that will take no parameters and will cause default values of (9, "ZZZ", 0) to be sent to the 3-argument constructor.

Create an (override) Equals() method that determines two Customers are equal if they have the same Customer number.

Create an (override) GetHashCode() method that returns the Customer number.

Create an (override) ToString() method that returns a string containing the general Customer information (eg: CreditCustomer 1 russell AmountDue is $4,311.00 Interest rate is 0.01). Display the dollar amounts in currency format.

Implement CompareTo to compare object customer numbers for >, <, == to implement sorting for the array of objects.

Create a CreditCustomer class that derives from Customer and implements IComparable interface.

Create a class variable named Rate using an automatic accessor.

Create an CreditCustomer class constructor that takes parameters for the Customer class fields customer number, name, amount, and rate percent that sets the Rate CreditCustomer variable to the rate percentage. Pass the id number, name and amount back to the base Customer class constructor.

Create a default, no-argument CreditCustomer class constructor that will take no parameters and will cause default values of (0, "", 0, 0) to be sent to the 4-argument CreditCustomer constructor.

Create an (override) ToString() method that returns a string containing the general Customer information (eg: CreditCustomer 1 russell AmountDue is $4,311.00 Interest rate is 0.01 Monthly payment is $179.63). Display the dollar amounts in currency format.

Implement CompareTo to compare CreditCustomer objects based on customer numbers for >, <, == to implement sorting for the array of objects.

In Main:

Create an array of five CreditCustomer objects.

Prompt the user for values for each of the five Customer object; do NOT allow duplicate Customer numbers and force the user to reenter the Customer when a duplicate Customer number is entered.

CreditCustomer objects should be sorted by Customer number before they are displayed.

When the five valid Customers have been entered, display them all, display a total amount due for all Customers, display the same information again with the monthly payment for each customer. See the input/output example shown below.

Create a static GetPaymentAmounts method that will have the current Credit customer object as a parameter and returns a double value type. Each CreditCustomer monthly payment will be 1/24 of the balance (amount due). The computed monthly individual customer payment will be returned for each CreditCustomer object in the object array.

Internal Documentation.

Note that you will be overriding three object methods in the Customer class and one in the CreditCustomer class. Don't forget about IComparable.

An example of program output might look like this:

Enter customer number 3
Enter name johnson
Enter amount due 1244.50
Enter interest rate .10
Enter customer number 2
Enter name jensen
Enter amount due 543.21
Enter interest rate .15
Enter customer number 2
Sorry, the customer number 2 is a duplicate.
Please reenter 5
Enter name swenson
Enter amount due 6454.00
Enter interest rate .11
Enter customer number 1
Enter name olson
Enter amount due 435.44
Enter interest rate .20
Enter customer number 4
Enter name olafson
Enter amount due 583.88
Enter interest rate .25

Summary:

CreditCustomer 1 olson AmountDue is $435.44 Interest rate is 0.2
CreditCustomer 2 jensen AmountDue is $543.21 Interest rate is 0.15
CreditCustomer 3 johnson AmountDue is $1,244.50 Interest rate is 0.1
CreditCustomer 4 olafson AmountDue is $583.88 Interest rate is 0.25
CreditCustomer 5 swenson AmountDue is $6,454.00 Interest rate is 0.11

AmountDue for all Customers is $9,261.03

Payment Information:

CreditCustomer 1 olson AmountDue is $435.44 Interest rate is 0.2
Monthly payment is $18.14
CreditCustomer 2 jensen AmountDue is $543.21 Interest rate is 0.15
Monthly payment is $22.63
CreditCustomer 3 johnson AmountDue is $1,244.50 Interest rate is 0.1
Monthly payment is $51.85
CreditCustomer 4 olafson AmountDue is $583.88 Interest rate is 0.25
Monthly payment is $24.33
CreditCustomer 5 swenson AmountDue is $6,454.00 Interest rate is 0.11
Monthly payment is $268.92
Press any key to continue . . .

Declaring a child class:

public class Fiction : Book //for extending classes, you must use a single colon between the derived class name and its base class name
{
private:
//put your private data members here!
public:
//put your public methods here!
}

NOTE: when you instantiate an object of Fiction child class, you will inherit all the data members and methods of the Book class

In the ZZZZ Best case, explain the kinds of evidence that the auditors gathered and how the auditors failed. just write one or two paragraph to support

ZZZZ Best Case

On May 19, 1987, a short article in the Wall Street Journal reported that ZZZZ Best Company, Inc., of Reseda, California, had signed a contract for a $13.8 million insurance restoration project. This project was just the most recent of a series of large restoration jobs obtained by ZZZZ Best (pronounced “zee best”). Located in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, ZZZZ Best had begun operations in the fall of 1982 as a small door-to-door carpet cleaning operation. Under the direction of Barry Minkow, the extroverted 16-year-old who founded the company and initially operated it out of his parents’ garage, ZZZZ Best experienced explosive growth in both revenues and profits during the first several years of its existence. In the three-year period from 1984 to 1987, the company’s net income surged from less than $200,000 to more than $5 million on revenues of $50 million.

When ZZZZ Best went public in 1986, Minkow and several of his close associates became multimillionaires overnight. By the late spring of 1987, the market value of Minkow’s stock in the company exceeded $100 million, while the total market value of ZZZZ Best surpassed $200 million. The youngest chief executive officer in the nation enjoyed the “good life”, which included an elegant home in an exclusive suburb of Los Angeles and a fire-engine red Ferrari. Minkow’s charm and entrepreneurial genius made him a sought-after commodity on the television talk show circuit and caused the print and visual media to tout him as an example of what America’s youth could attain if they would only apply themselves. During an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in April 1987, Minkow exhorted his peers with evangelistic zeal to “Think big, be big” and encouraged them to adopt his personal motto, “The sky is the limit.”

Less than two years after appearing on Oprah, Barry Minkow began serving a 25-year sentence. Tried and convicted on 57 counts of securities fraud, Minkow had been exposed as a fast-talking con artist who swindled his closest friends and Wall Street out of millions of dollars. Federal prosecutors estimate that, at a minimum, Minkow cost investors and creditors $100 million. The company that Minkow founded was, in fact, an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The reported profits of the firm were nonexistent and the large restoration contracts, imaginary. As one journalist reported, rather than building a corporation, Minkow created a hologram of a corporation. In July 1987, just three months after the company’s stock reached a market value of $220 million, an auction of its assets netted only $62,000.

Unlike most financial frauds, the ZZZZ Best scam was perpetrated under the watchful eye of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC, a large and reputable West Coast law firm that served as the company’s general counsel, a prominent Wall Street brokerage firm, and an international public accounting firm all failed to uncover Minkow’s daring scheme. Ultimately, the persistence of an indignant homemaker who had been bilked out of a few hundred dollars by ZZZZ Best resulted in Minkow being exposed as a fraud.

How a teenage flimflam artist could make a mockery of the complex regulatory structure that oversees the U.S. securities markets was the central question posed by a congressional subcommittee that investigated the ZZZZ Best debacle. That subcommittee was headed by Representative John D. Dingell, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Throughout the investigation, Representative Dingell and his colleagues focused on the role the company’s independent auditors played in the ZZZZ Best scandal.

The ZZZZ Best prospectus told the public that revenues and earnings from insurance restoration contracts were skyrocketing but did not reveal that the contracts were completely fictitious. Where were the independent auditors and the other that are paid to alert the public to fraud and deceit?

Like many other daring financial frauds, the ZZZZ Best scandal caused Congress to reexamine the maze of rules that regulated financial reporting and served as the foundation of the U.S. system of corporate oversight. However, Daniel Akst, a reported for The Wall Street Journal who documented the rise and fall of Barry Minkow, suggested that another ZZZZ Best was inevitable. “Changing the accounting rules and securities laws will help, but every now and then a Barry Minkow will come along, and ZZZZ Best will happen again. Such frauds are in the natural order of things, I suspect, as old and enduring as human needs.”

The Early History of ZZZZ Best Company

Barry Minkow was introduced to the carpet cleaning industry at the age of 12 by his mother, who helped make ends meet by working as a telephone solicitor for a small carpet cleaning firm. Although the great majority of companies in the carpet cleaning industry are legitimate, the nature of the business attracts a disproportionate number of shady characters. There are essentially no barriers to entry: no licensing requirements, no apprenticeships to be served, and only a minimal amount of start-up capital is needed. A 16-year-old youth with a driver’s license can easily become what industry insiders refer to as a “rug sucker,” which is exactly what Minkow did when he founded ZZZZ Best Company.

Minkow quickly learned that carpet cleaning was a difficult way to earn a livelihood. Customer complaints, ruthless competition, bad checks, and nagging vendors demanding payment complicated the young entrepreneur’s life. Within months of striking out on his own, Minkow faced the ultimate nemesis of the small business person: a shortage of working capital. Because of his age and the fact that ZZZZ Best was only marginally profitable, local banks refused to loan him money. Ever resourceful, the brassy teenager came up with his own innovative ways to finance his business: check kiting, credit card forgeries, and staging of thefts to fleece his insurance company. Minkow’s age and personal charm allowed him to escape unscathed from his early brushes with the law that resulted from his creative financing methods. The ease with which the “system” could be beaten encouraged him to exploit it on a broader scale.

Throughout his tenure with ZZZZ Best, Minkow recognized the benefits of having an extensive social network of friends and acquaintances. Many of these relationships he developed and cultivated at a Los Angeles health club. After becoming a friend of Tom Padgett, an insurance claims adjuster, Minkow devised a scheme to exploit that friendship. Minkow promised to pay Padgett $100 per week if he would simply confirm over the telephone to banks and any other interested third parties that ZZZZ Best was the recipient of occasional insurance restoration contracts. Ostensibly, Minkow had obtained these contracts to clean and do minor remodeling on properties damaged by fire, storm, or other catastrophes. Minkow convinced the gullible Padgett that the sole purpose of the confirmations was to allow ZZZZ Best to circumvent much of the bureaucratic red tape in the insurance industry.

From this modest beginning, the ZZZZ Best fraud blossomed. Initially, Minkow used the phony insurance restoration contracts to generate the paper profits and revenues he needed to convince bankers to loan him money. Minkow’s phony financial statements served their purpose, and he expanded his operations by opening several carpet cleaning outlets across San Fernando Valley. Minkow soon realized that there was no need to tie his future to the cutthroat carpet cleaning industry when he could literally dictate the size and profitability of his insurance restoration “business.” Within a short period of time, insurance restoration, rather than carpet cleaning became the major source of revenue appearing on ZZZZ Best’s income statements.

Minkow’s “the sky is the limit” philosophy drove him to be even more innovative. The charming young entrepreneur began using his bogus financial statements to entice wealthy individuals in his ever-expanding social network to invest in ZZZZ Best. Eventually, Minkow recognized that the ultimate scam would be to take his company public, a move that would allow him to tap the bank accounts of unsuspecting investors nationwide.

Going Public with ZZZZ Best

Minkow’s decision to take ZZZZ Best public meant that he could no longer completely control his firm’s financial disclosures. Registering with the SEC required auditors, investment bankers, and outside attorneys to peruse ZZZZ Best’s periodic financial statements.

ZZZZ Best was firm subjected to a full-scope independent audit for the 12 months ended April 30, 1986. George Greenspan, the sole practitioner who performed that audit, confirmed the existence of ZZZZ Best’s major insurance restoration contracts by contacting Tom Padgett. Padgett served as the principal officer of Interstate Appraisal Services, which reportedly contracted the jobs out to ZZZZ Best. By this time, Padgett was an active and willing participant in Minkow’s fraudulent schemes. Minkow established Interstate Appraisal Services and Assured Property Management for the sole purpose of generating fake insurance restoration contracts for ZZZZ Best.

In testimony before the congressional subcommittee that investigated the ZZZZ Best scandal, Greenspan insisted that he had properly audited Minkow’s company. Greenspan testified that while planning the 1986 audit he had performed various analytic procedures to identify unusual relationships with ZZZZ Best’s financial data. These procedures allegedly included comparing ZZZZ Best’s key financial ratios with industry norms. Regarding the insurance contracts, Greenspan testified that he had obtained and reviewed copies of all key documents pertaining to those jobs. However, Greenspan admitted that he had not inspected any of the insurance restoration sites.

Congressman Lent: Mr. Greenspan, I am interested in the SEC Form S-1 that ZZZZ Best Company filed with the SEC….You say in that report that you made your examination in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and accordingly included such tests of the accounting records and other auditing procedures as we consider necessary in the circumstances….You don’t say in that statement that you made any on-site inspections.

Mr. Greenspan: It’s not required. Sometimes you do; sometimes you don’t. I was satisfied that these jobs existed and I was satisfied from at least six different sources, including payment for the job. What could you want better than that?

Congressman Lent: Your position is that you are an honest and reputable accountant.

Mr. Greenspan: Yes, sir.

Congressman Lent: You were as much a victim as some of the investors in this company?

Mr. Greenspan: I was a victim all right….I am as much aghast as anyone. And every night I sit down and say, why didn’t I detect this damned fraud.

Retention of Ernst & Whinney by ZZZZ Best

Shortly after Greenspan completed his audit of ZZZZ Best’s financial statements for fiscal 1986, which ended April 30, 1986, Minkow dismissed him and retained Ernst & Whinney to perform the following year’s audit. Apparently, ZZZZ Best’s investment banker insisted that Minkow obtained a Big Eight accounting firm to enhance the credibility of the company’s financial statements. At approximately the same time, and for the same reason, Minkow retained a high-profile Los Angeles law firm to represent ZZZZ Best as its legal counsel.

The congressional subcommittee asked Greenspan what information he provided to Ernst & Whinney regarding his former client. In particular, the subcommittee wanted to know whether Greenspan discussed the insurance restoration contacts with the new auditors.

Congressman Wyden: Mr. Greenspan, in September 1986 Ernst & Whinney came on as the new independent accountant for ZZZZ Best. What did you communicate to Ernst & Whinney with respect to the restoration contracts?

Mr. Greenspan: Nothing. I did—there was nothing because they never got in touch with me. It’s protocol for the new accountant to get in touch with the old accountant. They never got in touch with me, and its still a mystery to me.

Representatives of Ernst & Whinney later testified that they did, in fact, communicate with Greenspan prior to accepting ZZZZ Best as an audit client. However, Ernst & Whinney did not comment on the nature or content of that communication. (Greenspan was not recalled to rebut Ernst & Whinney’s testimony on this issue.)

The engagement letter was signed by Ernst & Whinney and Barry Minkow in September 1986. The engagement letter outlined four services that the audit firm intended to provide ZZZZ Best: a review of the company’s financial statements for the three-month period ending July 31, 1986; assistance in the preparation of a registration statement to be filed with the SEC; a comfort letter to be submitted to ZZZZ Best’s underwriters; and a full-scope audit for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1987. Ernst & Whinney completed the review, provided the comfort letter to ZZZZ Best’s underwriters, and apparently assisted the company in preparing the registration statement for the SEC; however, Ernst & Whinney never completed the 1987 audit. The audit firm resigned on June 2, 1987, amid growing concerns that ZZZZ Best’s financial statements were grossly misstated.

The congressional subcommittee investigating the ZZZZ Best fraud questioned Ernst & Whinney representatives at length regarding the bogus insurance restoration contracts—contracts that accounted for 90 percent of ZZZZ Best’s reported profits. Congressional testimony disclosed that Ernst & Whinney repeatedly insisted on visiting several of the largest of these contract sites, and that Minkow and his associated attempted to discourage such visits. Eventually, Minkow realized that the auditors would not relent and agreed to allow them to visit certain of the restoration sites, knowing full well that none of the sites actually existed.

To convince Ernst & Whinney that the insurance restoration contracts were authentic, Minkow plotted and carried out a series of sting operations that collectively cost millions of dollars. In the late fall of 1986, Larry Gray, the engagement audit partner for ZZZZ Best, told client personnel that he wanted to inspect a restoration site in Sacramento on which ZZZZ Best had reported obtaining a multimillion-dollar contract. Minkow sent two of his subordinates to Sacramento to find a large building under construction or renovation that would provide a plausible site for a restoration contract. Gray had visited Sacramento a few weeks earlier to search for the site that Minkow had refused to divulge. As chance would have it, the building chosen by the ZZZZ Best conspirators was the same one Gray had identified as the most likely site of the insurance restoration project.

Minkow’s two confederates posed as leasing agents of a property management firm and convinced the supervisor of the construction site to provide keys to the building one weekend on the pretext that a large, prospective tenant wished to tour the facility. Prior to the arrival of Larry Gray and an attorney representing ZZZZ Best’s law firm, Minkow’s subordinates visited the site and placed placards on the walls at conspicuous locations indicating that ZZZZ Best was the contractor for the building renovation. No details were overlooked by the two co-conspirators. They even paid the building’s security officer to greet the visitors and demonstrate that he was aware in advance of their tour of the site and its purpose. Although the building had not been damaged and instead was simply in the process of being completed, the sting operation went off as planned.

Congressional investigators quizzed Gray regarding the measures he took to confirm that ZZZZ Best had a restoration contract on the Sacramento building. They were particularly concerned that he never discovered the building had not suffered several million dollars in damages a few months earlier, as claimed by ZZZZ Best personnel.

Congressman Lent: Did you check the building permit or construction permit?

Mr. Gray: No, sir. That wouldn’t be necessary to accomplish what I was setting out to accomplish.

Congressman Lent: And you did not check with the building’s owners to see if an insurance claim had been filed?

Mr. Gray: Same answer. It wasn’t necessary. I had seen the paperwork internally of our client, the support for a great amount of detail. So, I had no need to ask—to pursue that.

Congressman Lent: You understand that what you saw was not anything that was real in any sense of the word?....You are saying you were duped, are you not?

Mr. Gray: Absolutely.

Before allowing Ernst & Whinney auditors to visit a bogus restoration project, Minkow insisted that the firm sign a standard confidentiality agreement. Members of the congressional subcommittee were troubled by the following stipulation of the confidentiality agreement: “We will not make any follow-up telephone calls to any contractors, insurance companies, the building owner, or other individuals involved in the restoration contract.” This restriction effectively precluded the auditors from corroborating the insurance restoration contracts with independent third parties.

Resignation of Ernst & Whinney

Ernst & Whinney resigned as ZZZZ Best’s auditor on June 2, 1987, following a series of disturbing events that caused the firm to question Barry Minkow’s integrity. First, Ernst & Whinney was alarmed by a Los Angeles Times article in mid-May 1987 that revealed that Minkow had been involved in a string of credit card forgeries as a teenager. Second on May 28, 1987, ZZZZ Best issued a press release, without consulting or notifying Ernst & Whinney, that reported record profits and revenues. Minkow intended this press release to restore investors’ confidence in the company—confidence that had been shaken by the damaging Los Angeles Times story. Third, and most important, on May 29, Ernst & Whinney auditors discovered evidence supporting allegations made several weeks earlier by a third-party informant that ZZZZ Best’s insurance restoration business was fictitious.

The informant had contacted Ernst & Whinney in April 1987 and asked for $25,000 in exchange for information proving that one of the firm’s clients was engaging in a massive fraud. Ernst & Whinney refused to pay the sum, and the individual recanted shortly thereafter, but not until the firm determined that the allegation involved ZZZZ Best. (Congressional testimony disclosed that the individual recanted because of a bribe paid to him by Minkow.) Despite the retraction, Ernst & Whinney questioned Minkow and ZZZZ Best’s board of directors regarding the matter. Minkow insisted that he did not know the individual who had made the allegation. On May 29, 1987, however, Ernst & Whinney auditors discovered several cancelled checks that Minkow had personally written to the informant several months earlier.

Because ZZZZ best was a public company, the resignation of its independent auditor had to be reported to the SEC in an 8-K filing. This requirement alerts investors and creditors of circumstances that may have let to the change in auditors. At the time, SEC registrants were allowed 15 days to file an 8-K auditor change announcement. After waiting the maximum permissible time, ZZZZ Best reported the change in auditors but, despite Ernst & Whinney’s insistence, made no mention in the 8-K of the fraud allegation that had been subsequently recanted.

The SEC requires a former audit firm to prepare a letter to be filed as an exhibit to its former client’s 8-K auditor change pronouncement. That exhibit letter must comment on the 8-K’s accuracy and completeness. In 1987, formed audit firms had 30 days to file an exhibit letter, which was the length of time Ernst & Whinney waited before submitting its exhibit letter to the SEC. In that letter, Ernst & Whinney revealed that ZZZZ Best’s insurance contract might be fraudulent.

The congressional subcommittee was alarmed that 45 days had passed before the charges of fraudulent misrepresentations in ZZZZ Best’s financial statements were disclosed by the public. By the time the SEC released Ernst & Whinney’s exhibit letter to the public, ZZZZ Best had filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. During the period that elapsed between Ernst & Whinney’s resignation and the public release of the 8-K exhibit letter, ZZZZ Best obtained significant financing from several parties, including $1 million from one of Minkow’s close friends. These parties never recovered the funds invested in, or loaned to, ZZZZ Best. As a direct result of the ZZZZ Best debacle, the SEC shortened the length of time that registrants and their former auditors may wait before filing auditor change documents.

The congressional subcommittee also quizzed Ernst & Whinney representatives regarding the information they disclosed to Price Waterhouse, the audit firm that Minkow retained to replace Ernst & Whinney. Congressman Wyden wanted to know whether Ernst & Whinney had candidly discussed its concerns regarding Minkow’s integrity with Price Waterhouse.

Congressman Wyden: I am going to insert into the record at this point a memo entitled “Discussion with successor auditor,” written by Mr. Gray and dated June 9, 1987. Regarding a June 4 meeting, Mr. Gray, with Dan Lyle of Price Waterhouse concerning the integrity of ZZZZ Best’s management, you stated that you had no reportable disagreements and no reservations about management integrity pending the results of a board of directors investigation. Then you went on to say that you resigned because, and I quote here: “We came to a conclusion that we didn’t want to become associated with the financial statements.”   Is that correct?

Mr. Gray: That is correct.

Mr. Wyden: …Mr. Gray, you told the committee staff on May 29, 1987, that when you uncovered evidence to support allegations of fraud that you decided to pack up your workpapers and leave the ZZZZ Best audit site. How did your leaving without telling anybody except the ZZZZ Best management and board of directors the reasons for leaving help the public and investors?

A final twist to the ZZZZ Best scandal was an anonymous letter Ernst & Whinney received one week after the firm resigned as ZZZZ Best’s auditor. At that time, no one other than Ernst & Whinney and ZZZZ Best’s officers was aware of the firm’s resignation. The letter contained several allegations suggesting that ZZZZ Best’s financial statements were fraudulent. According to the congressional testimony, Ernst & Whinney forwarded this letter to the SEC on June 17, 1987.

Collapse of ZZZZ Best

The Los Angeles Times article published in mid-May 1987 that disparaged Barry Minkow ultimately doomed the young entrepreneur and his company. Several years earlier, a homemaker had fallen victim to Minkow’s credit card forgeries. Minkow had added a fraudulent charge to a credit card slip the woman had used to make a payment on her account. Despite her persistence, Minkow avoided repaying the small amount. The woman never forgot the insult and tracked down, and kept a record of, individuals who had been similarly harmed by Minkow. At the urging of this woman, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times investigated her allegations. The woman’s diary became the basis for the Los Angeles Times article that, for the first time, cast doubt on the integrity of the “boy wonder” that was the talk of Wall Street.

The newspaper article triggered a chain of events that caused ZZZZ Best to collapse and disappear less than three months later. First, a small brokerage firm specializing in newly registered companies with suspicious earnings histories began short-selling ZZZZ Best stock, forcing the stock’s price into a tailspin. Second, Ernst & Whinney, ZZZZ Best’s law firm, and ZZZZ Best’s investment banker began giving more credence to the allegations and rumors of financial wrongdoing by Minkow and his associates. Third, and most important, the article panicked Minkow and compelled him to make several daring moves that cost him even more credibility. The most critical mistake was his issuance of the May 28, 1987, press release that boldly reported record profits and revenues for his firm.

EPILOGUE

Among the parties most vilified for their role in the ZZZZ Best scandal was Ernst & Whinney. The transcripts of the congressional testimony focusing on the ZZZZ Best fraud included a list of 10 “red flags” that the audit firm had allegedly overlooked while examining ZZZZ Best’s financial statements. Ernst & Whinney officials flatly rejected assertions that their firm was even partially to blame for the ZZZZ Best fiasco. In his congressional testimony, Leroy Gardner, the West Coast director of accounting and auditing for Ernst & Whinney, maintained that when all of the facts were revealed, his firm would be totally vindicated:

The ZZZZ Best situation proves at least one thing: a well-orchestrated fraud will often succeed even against careful, honest, hard-working people…The facts that have begun to emerge establish that Minkow, along with confederates both inside and outside ZZZZ Best went to extraordinary lengths to deceive Ernst & Whinney. For example, Thomas Padgett, an alleged conspirator, revealed in a recent televised interview that Minkow spent $4 million to deceive Ernst & Whinney during a visit to one of ZZZZ Best’s job sites….Ernst & Whinney never misled investors about the reliability of ZZZZ Best’s financial statements. Ernst & Whinney never even issued an audit opinion for ZZZZ Best….We are not part of the problem in this case. We were part of the solution.

In one of the largest civil suits stemming from the ZZZZ Best fraud, a court ruled that Ernst & Whinney was not liable to a large California bank that had extended ZZZZ Best a multimillion-dollar loan in 1986. The bank alleged that in granting the loan, it had relied upon the review report issued by Ernst & Whinney on ZZZZ Best’s financial statements for the three-month period ending July 31, 1986. However, an appellate judge ruled that the bank was not justified in relying on the review report since Ernst & Whinney had expressly stated in the report that it was not issuing an opinion on the ZZZZ Best financial statements. “Ernst, because it issued only a review report, specifically declined to express an opinion on ZZZZ Best’s financial statements. The report expressly disclaimed any right to rely on its content.”

In the late 1980s, ZZZZ Best’s former stock-holders filed a class-action lawsuit against Ernst & Whinney, ZZZZ Best’s former law firm, and ZZZZ Best’s former investment banker. An Internet publication reported in March 1996 that this lawsuit had been settled privately. The defendants reportedly paid the former ZZZZ Best stockholders $35 million. However the contribution of each defendant to the settlement pool was not disclosed.

Barry Minkow was released from prison in late 1994. Minkow secured the reduction in his 25-year prison sentence for “good behavior and efforts to improve himself.” These efforts included earning by correspondence bachelor’s and master’s degrees in religion from Liberty University. Shortly after being paroled, Minkow married a young woman introduced to him by a fellow inmate. That inmate was a former subordinate of Charles Keating, the principal architect of the massive Lincoln Savings and Loan fraud.

In early 1995, Minkow began serving as the associate pastor of an evangelical church in a community near his hometown of Reseda. Two years later, Minkow was appointed the senior pastor of a large nondenominational church in San Diego. Besides his pastoral duties, Minkow serves as the spokesperson for an Internet company, the Fraud Discovery Institute, which markets various fraud prevention and detection services.

Minkow regularly presents lectures and seminars across the United States that focus on his “experience” with corporate fraud. He has spoken to groups of CPAs, educational institutions, and, most notably, the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia. Minkow, who typically delivers his lectures while dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, often chastises he accountants and auditors in his audience. During one presentation, Minkow noted that, “CPAs are creatures of habit. You’re interested in making tick marks and footnotes, not in thinking outside the box.” Minkow also chides auditors for being overly willing to accept weak forms of audit evidence, such as client representations. He warns auditors “Don’t give up objectivity for convenience.”

Journalists frequently interview Minkow and ask for his views on corporate fraud and related issues. In January 2005, Minkow gave the following response when he was asked by CFO Magazine whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 would likely serve to mitigate or deter corporate fraud: “Let me tell you why this legislation is brilliant. Sarbox hit a common denominator of corporate fraud: bypassing systems of internal control. I would not have been able to perpetrate the ZZZZ Best fraud if I had not been able to bypass the internal controls.”

Ten Red Flags that ZZZZ Best’s Auditors Allegedly Overlooked.

1. The amounts called for by the insurance restoration contracts were unrealistically large.

2. The number of multimillion dollar insurance restoration contracts reportedly obtained by ZZZZ Best exceeded the number available nationwide during the relevant time period.

3. The purported contracts failed to identify the insured parties, the insurance companies, or the locations of the jobs.

4. The contracts consisted of a single page which failed to contain details and specifications of the work to be done, such as the square yardage of carpet to be replaced, which were usual and customary in the restoration business.

5. Virtually all of the insurance restoration contracts were with the same party.

6. A large proportion of the ZZZZ Best insurance restoration contracts occurred immediately and opportunistically, prior to a planned offering of stock.

7. The purported contracts provided for payments to ZZZZ Best or Minkow alone rather than to the insured or jointly with ZZZZ Best and the insured, contrary to the practice of the industry.

8. The purported contracts provided for payments by the insurance adjustor contrary to normal practice in the industry under which payments are customarily made by the insurance company directly to its insured or jointly to its insured and the restorer.

9. ZZZZ Best’s purported gross profit margins for its restoration business were greatly in excess of the normal profit margin for the restoration industry.

10. The internal controls at ZZZZ Best were grossly inadequate.

1. The perfectly competitive firm's demand curve is horizontal at the market price.

True

False

2. In perfect competition, the market price is established at the intersection of the market demand and market supply curves in the industry and the individual firms are "price takers" of that market price.

True

False

3. The perfectly competitive firm will continue to produce in the "short-run" if the price in the market is below their average total cost but above their average variable cost.

True

False

4. The theory of the perfect competitive firm provides a complete and accurate description of most real world firms existing today.

True

False

5. If a firm is earning ECONOMIC PROFIT, they must be producing at an output level where the price is above their average total cost.

True

False

6. We can be sure that the perfectly competitive firm, producing an output level where "price = marginal cost" is earning a normal profit, even in the short-run.

True

False

7. Public franchises, patents, and copyright laws are examples of legal barriers to entry in monopoly models and are the source of monopoly power.

True

False

8. In general, monopoly may exist because one firm has the exclusive ownership of a scarce resource such as bauxite, an essential element in the production of aluminum.

True

False

9. The monopolist is a "price maker" and must lower price to sell an additional unit of its product.

True

False

10. In monopoly theory, a price maker is a person who actively seeks out the best price for a product that he or she wisher to buy.

True

False

11. As a price maker, a rational monopolist can charge whatever price it wants to charge and sell the same amount by virtue of it's monopoly power and position.

True

False

12. A monopolist is always assured of positive economic profits given its control over price.

True

False

13. For the monopolist, the marginal revenue curve lies above their demand curve in graphic illustration of their cost and revenue structure.

True

False

14. The monopolist faces a "horizontal" demand curve.

True

False

15. The monopolist can sell all it can produce at the market established price.

True

False

16. The marginal revenue curve of the monopolist lies below its demand curve.

True

False

17. The monopolist, by definition, is a "price taker."

True

False

18. In theory of monopoly, the monopoly firm is the industry.

True

False

19. To maximize profits, a single-price monopolist will produce where Marginal costs = Marginal revenue: establishing a price that is greater than their marginal cost.

True

False

20. As a consequence of the perfectly competitive firm producing the quantity of output at which: price equals marginal revenue and marginal cost, it will achieve "allocative efficiency" in the deployment of societies scarce resources.

True

False

21. In the "long-run," the perfect competitive achieves technical efficiency and the firm will produce at: P = ATC = LRATC, assuring the consumer that the good or service is provided at the lowest possible price--given a constant state of technology.

True

False

22. Monopoly is never preferable to perfect competitive industry structures.

True

False

23. A cost that is incurred when an actual monetary payment is made by the firm is an "explicit (accounting) cost"--such as the payment of an electric bill or mortgage.

True

False

24. A firm is said to earn "normal profit" when it generates enough revenue to exactly cover its explicit and implicit cost(s) of production.

True

False

25. The MP or MPP (marginal product or marginal physical product) curve rises as the marginal cost curve falls in the area (range) of production subject to "increasing marginal returns."

True

False

26. In the short run, FC ("fixed cost") do not change as the output quantity increases.

True

False

27. In the short run, AFC ("average fixed cost") do not change as the output quantity increases.

True

False

28. As the output quantity continues to increase--moving to the right on the "X" (quantity of production) axis, the average variable cost curve gets closer to the average total cost curve in vertical analysis--reflecting change in the magnitude of the firm's "average fixed cost"--which necessarily, by definition, must continually decrease.

True

False

29. The AVC (average variable cost) equals VC (total variable cost) divided by the level of output (quantity) or "Q." Alternately: AVC = VC / Q.

True

False

30. The "onset of diminishing returns to productivity" causes the marginal product curve to peek and the marginal cost curve to bottom out.

True

False

31. The marginal cost curve, the average total cost curve, and the average variable cost curve are typically "U-shaped" ultimately due to the law of diminishing returns.

True

False

32. The LRATC (long run average total cost) curve is an historic envelop of the developing companies historic ATC curves--generally illustrating initial scale economies followed by constant return to scale and eventually diseconomies of scale (resulting from managerial inefficiency from BIGNESS or bureaucracy.)

True

False

33. Evolving "technology" does not and cannot affect the position of the LRATC curve.

True

False

34. In the long run

there can be no variable costs

all costs are fixed costs

none of these answers are correct

all costs are variable costs

35. If the AVC (average variable cost curve) is falling,

The MC curve must be above it at the level of output under consideration.

The MC curve must be below it at the level of output under consideration.

The MC curve is necessarily rising at the level of output under consideration

The MC curve is necessarily falling at the level of output under consideration.

36. The average-margin rule states that if the marginal magnitude (value) is

greater than the average magnitude, the average magnitude falls.

Rising, the average magnitude is necessarily above it.

Falling, the average magnitude is necessarily below it.

less than the average magnitude (value), the average magnitude falls.

37. The law of diminishing marginal returns to productivity holds for a situation in which

some inputs are variable and at least one input is fixed.

all inputs are variable.

all inputs are fixed.

none of these answers is correct.

38. Long run equilibrium for a perfectly competitive firm occurs when

P > MC > NROI > ATC

MC = MR = P > ATC

P = MC = MR = ATC = LRATC

M = MR = AFC = ATC

39. Which of the following is NOT considered a barrier to entry?

Diseconomies of scale

Government Licenses

Scale Economies

Control over essential resources

Patents

40. The "regulated monopolist" (natural monopoly) will be regulated to where

P = MR

P = AVC

P = MC

P = ATC

1. The perfectly competitive firm's demand curve is horizontal at the market price.

True

False

2. In perfect competition, the market price is established at the intersection of the market demand and market supply curves in the industry and the individual firms are "price takers" of that market price.

True

False

3. The perfectly competitive firm will continue to produce in the "short-run" if the price in the market is below their average total cost but above their average variable cost.

True

False

4. The theory of the perfect competitive firm provides a complete and accurate description of most real world firms existing today.

True

False

5. If a firm is earning ECONOMIC PROFIT, they must be producing at an output level where the price is above their average total cost.

True

False

6. We can be sure that the perfectly competitive firm, producing an output level where "price = marginal cost" is earning a normal profit, even in the short-run.

True

False

7. Public franchises, patents, and copyright laws are examples of legal barriers to entry in monopoly models and are the source of monopoly power.

True

False

8. In general, monopoly may exist because one firm has the exclusive ownership of a scarce resource such as bauxite, an essential element in the production of aluminum.

True

False

9. The monopolist is a "price maker" and must lower price to sell an additional unit of its product.

True

False

10. In monopoly theory, a price maker is a person who actively seeks out the best price for a product that he or she wisher to buy.

True

False

11. As a price maker, a rational monopolist can charge whatever price it wants to charge and sell the same amount by virtue of it's monopoly power and position.

True

False

12. A monopolist is always assured of positive economic profits given its control over price.

True

False

13. For the monopolist, the marginal revenue curve lies above their demand curve in graphic illustration of their cost and revenue structure.

True

False

14. The monopolist faces a "horizontal" demand curve.

True

False

15. The monopolist can sell all it can produce at the market established price.

True

False

16. The marginal revenue curve of the monopolist lies below its demand curve.

True

False

17. The monopolist, by definition, is a "price taker."

True

False

18. In theory of monopoly, the monopoly firm is the industry.

True

False

19. To maximize profits, a single-price monopolist will produce where Marginal costs = Marginal revenue: establishing a price that is greater than their marginal cost.

True

False

20. As a consequence of the perfectly competitive firm producing the quantity of output at which: price equals marginal revenue and marginal cost, it will achieve "allocative efficiency" in the deployment of societies scarce resources.

True

False

21. In the "long-run," the perfect competitive achieves technical efficiency and the firm will produce at: P = ATC = LRATC, assuring the consumer that the good or service is provided at the lowest possible price--given a constant state of technology.

True

False

22. Monopoly is never preferable to perfect competitive industry structures.

True

False

23. A cost that is incurred when an actual monetary payment is made by the firm is an "explicit (accounting) cost"--such as the payment of an electric bill or mortgage.

True

False

24. A firm is said to earn "normal profit" when it generates enough revenue to exactly cover its explicit and implicit cost(s) of production.

True

False

25. The MP or MPP (marginal product or marginal physical product) curve rises as the marginal cost curve falls in the area (range) of production subject to "increasing marginal returns."

True

False

26. In the short run, FC ("fixed cost") do not change as the output quantity increases.

True

False

27. In the short run, AFC ("average fixed cost") do not change as the output quantity increases.

True

False

28. As the output quantity continues to increase--moving to the right on the "X" (quantity of production) axis, the average variable cost curve gets closer to the average total cost curve in vertical analysis--reflecting change in the magnitude of the firm's "average fixed cost"--which necessarily, by definition, must continually decrease.

True

False

29. The AVC (average variable cost) equals VC (total variable cost) divided by the level of output (quantity) or "Q." Alternately: AVC = VC / Q.

True

False

30. The "onset of diminishing returns to productivity" causes the marginal product curve to peek and the marginal cost curve to bottom out.

True

False

31. The marginal cost curve, the average total cost curve, and the average variable cost curve are typically "U-shaped" ultimately due to the law of diminishing returns.

True

False

32. The LRATC (long run average total cost) curve is an historic envelop of the developing companies historic ATC curves--generally illustrating initial scale economies followed by constant return to scale and eventually diseconomies of scale (resulting from managerial inefficiency from BIGNESS or bureaucracy.)

True

False

33. Evolving "technology" does not and cannot affect the position of the LRATC curve.

True

False

34. In the long run

there can be no variable costs

all costs are fixed costs

none of these answers are correct

all costs are variable costs

35. If the AVC (average variable cost curve) is falling,

The MC curve must be above it at the level of output under consideration.

The MC curve must be below it at the level of output under consideration.

The MC curve is necessarily rising at the level of output under consideration

The MC curve is necessarily falling at the level of output under consideration.

36. The average-margin rule states that if the marginal magnitude (value) is

greater than the average magnitude, the average magnitude falls.

Rising, the average magnitude is necessarily above it.

Falling, the average magnitude is necessarily below it.

less than the average magnitude (value), the average magnitude falls.

37. The law of diminishing marginal returns to productivity holds for a situation in which

some inputs are variable and at least one input is fixed.

all inputs are variable.

all inputs are fixed.

none of these answers is correct.

38. Long run equilibrium for a perfectly competitive firm occurs when

P > MC > NROI > ATC

MC = MR = P > ATC

P = MC = MR = ATC = LRATC

M = MR = AFC = ATC

39. Which of the following is NOT considered a barrier to entry?

Diseconomies of scale

Government Licenses

Scale Economies

Control over essential resources

Patents

40. The "regulated monopolist" (natural monopoly) will be regulated to where

P = MR

P = AVC

P = MC

P = ATC

Summary

Lewis wants you to write another script that shows a table of events at the Lyman Hall Theater over the next two weeks from the current date. He has already created three arrays for use with the script:

• The eventDates array containing a list of dates and times at which theater events are scheduled.
• The eventDescriptions array containing the description of those events.
• The eventPrices array containing the admission prices of those events.

Lewis has already written the page content and provided style sheets for use with the page. Your job will be to write a script that selects the events that occur in the two-week window from the current date and display them in the web page.

A preview of the home page is shown above.

The style sheets and graphic files have already been created for you. Your job is to write the HTML markup.

Instructions

This Review Assignment contains interactive instructions that you can complete to ensure you've completed the instruction correctly.

After reading each instruction thoroughly, perform the requested change in the code editor to the right. You can use the Build Website button to refresh your website preview at any point and view a full-page version of your website by clicking the arrow in the top right corner of your website preview.

After you've completed an instruction, click the corresponding check box in your list of instructions. This will trigger simulated tests of your website to ensure that you successfully completed the instruction.

Click Next Step to get started!

Setup

Enter your name and the date in the comment section of lht_events.html and lht_table.js.

Link JS Files

Open the lht_events.html file and directly above the closing </head> tag, insert script elements that link the page to the lht_list.js and lht_table.js files in that order. Defer the loading and running of both script files until after the page has loaded.

You will not be tested on this instruction, but you should still complete this step.

Event List

Scroll down the document and directly after the closing </article> tag insert a div element with the ID eventList. It is within this element that you will write the HTML code for the table of upcoming theater events.
(Hint : Be sure to review this file and all the support files, noting especially the names of variables that you will be using in the code you create.)

Variables

Go to the lht_table.js file and below the comment section, declare a variable named thisDay containing the date August 30, 2018. You will use this date to test your script.

Create a variable named tableHTML that will contain the HTML code of the events table. Add the text of the following HTML code to the initial value of the variable:

<table id='eventTable'>
<caption>Upcoming Events</caption>
<tr><th>Date</th><th>Event</th><th>Price</th></tr>

Lewis only wants the page to list events occurring within 14 days after the current date. Declare a variable named endDate that contains a Date object that is 14 days after the date stored in the thisDay variable.

(Hint : Use the new Date() object constructor and insert a time value that is equal to thisDay.getTime() + 14 x 24 x 60 x 60 x 1000.)

For Loop

Create a for loop that loops through the length of the eventDates array. Use i as the counter variable.

Within the for loop insert the following commands in a command block:

• Declare a variable named eventDate containing a Date object with the date stored in the i entry in the eventDates array.
• Declare a variable named eventDay that stores the text of the eventDate date using the toDateString() method.
• Declare a variable named eventTime that stores the text of the eventDate time using the toLocaleTimeString() method.
• Insert an if statement that has a conditional expression that tests whether thisDay is ≤ eventDate and eventDate ≤ endDate. If so, the event falls within the two-week window that Lewis has requested and the script should add the following HTML code text to the value of the tableHTML variable.

<tr>
<td>  eventDay  @  eventTime  </td>
<td>  description  </td> 
<td>  price  </td>
</tr> 

• Where eventDay is the value of the eventDay variable, eventTime is the value of the eventTime variable, description is the i entry in the eventDescriptions array, and price is the i entry in the eventPrices array.

HTML Table Code

After the for loop, add the text of the HTML code </table> to the value of the tableHTML variable.

Insert the value of the tableHTML variable into the inner HTML of the page element with the ID eventList.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<!--

New Perspectives on HTML5 and CSS3, 7th Edition

Tutorial 10

Review Assignment

Lyman Hall Theater Upcoming Events

Author:

Date:

Filename: lht_events.html

-->

<meta charset="utf-8" />

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />

<title>Upcoming Events at the Lyman Hall Theater</title>

<link href="lht_reset.css" rel="stylesheet" />

<link href="lht_styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />

<link href="lht_events.css" rel="stylesheet" />

</head>

<body>

<header>

<img src="lht_logo2.png" alt="The Lyman Hall Theater" id="logoimg" />

<nav> <a id="navicon" href="#"><img src="lht_navicon2.png" alt="" /></a>

<ul>

<li><a href="#">home</a></li>

<li><a href="#">events</a></li>

<li><a href="#">box office</a></li>

<li><a href="#">facilities</a></li>

<li><a href="#">directions</a></li>

<li><a href="#">contact</a></li>

</ul>

</nav>

</header>

<section>

<article>

<h1>At the Theater</h1>

<p>Great shows are coming to the Lyman Hall Theater in the upcoming weeks.

The Broadway Touring Company of <a href="#">Cabaret</a> arrives for four

performances, featuring Tony-award winning actress Kayla

James. Tickets are limited, so be sure to <a href="#">order

online</a> and by calling the LHT boxoffice.

</p>

<p>Enjoy a stunning multimedia event with Edward Lee's <a href="#">Visions

of Light and Dreams</a> featuring sound, video, and interactive

demonstrations of the latest innovations in film and theater.

</p>

<p>If music is more your passion, LHT welcomes the popular group

<a href="#">San Diego Blues</a>. Want an evening of laughs?

Get your tickets now for <a href="#">Gerry Jones</a> and his

one-person show, <a href="#">Exit Stage Left</a>.

</p>

<p>For an inexpensive night out, be sure to check out LHT's

<a href="#">Classic Cinema</a> and for a delicious Sunday

brunch, join us for <a href="#">Classics Brunch</a>.

</p>

</article>

</section>

<footer>

<nav>

<ul>

<li><a href="#">Staff</a></li>

<li><a href="#">Employment Info</a></li>

<li><a href="#">Directions &amp; Parking</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="#">Box Office</a></li>

<li><a href="#">Group Rates</a></li>

<li><a href="#">Events</a></li>

</ul>

</nav>

<section>

The Lyman Hall Theater<br />

414 Leeward Drive<br />

Brookhaven, GA 30319<br />

Office: (404) 555 - 4140

</section>

</footer>

</body>

</html>