Measuring the Economy’s Performance For this assignment, you should use the information in the textbook and the information found on the official government website: www.bea.gov/index.htm Based on the information contained in the textbook and on the Web site above, answer the following questions: What does gross domestic product (GDP) tell us? How did GDP change from 2008? What caused these changes? What is real GDP? What was real GDP in 2008 and has it changed since 2008? What was national income (NI) for 2008? What does national income tell us? What is the difference between GDP and NI? How has NI changed since 2008? What caused these changes? What was disposable income (DI) for 2009? What does disposable income consist of? How did DI change from 2008? What caused these changes? Does GDP measure the well-being of society? Why or why not? What was GDP in 2008 (sometimes called GSP) for your state? How does your state rate when compared to other states? Submission Details: Submit a 4 to 6 page Microsoft Word document, using APA style. Name your document SU_ECO2072_W2_ LastName_FirstInitial Submit your document to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned.

Calculate the elasticity for the following questions (USING THE MIDPOINT (AVERAGE) FORMULA) and indicate if the goods are:

1. Inferior,
2. Normal,
3. Complements, or
4. Substitutes

(Please Include The Negative signs in your answers where appropriate and calculate to 2 decimals)

A. The price of gasoline increases from 10 per barrel to 32 per barrel and as a result, the demand per month for new cars changes from 700 to 200.

Part 1: The elasticity is:


Part 2: These goods are: (answer using numbers, 1-4)

B. As a result of a change in income from 1,900 to 3,100 per month, the consumption of good X changes from 300 to 375 units.


Part 3: The elasticity is:



Part 4: Good X is a(an): (answer using numbers, 1-4)


C. As a result of a decrease in the price of good Y from 45 to 17 the demand for good X changes from 200 to 400 units.


Part 5: The elasticity is:



Part 6: These goods are: (answer using numbers, 1-4)


D. As a result of an economic boom in Calgary, the average income increases from 2,200 to 7,800 per month and as a result the demand for new houses increases from 200 to 260 units.


Part 7: The elasticity is:



Part 8: New houses are a(an): (answer using numbers, 1-4)

Paperwork Reduction Act

I. Economic Theories and Principles:

A. Economic Disparities:

Analyze the relationship between the financial well-being of the industry and availability of healthcare, in consideration of market and demand theories.

B. Economic Theories:

What economic theories are most useful when applied to the healthcare industry and why?

C. Use of Economic Principles:

Why do organizations utilize economic principles to guide strategic short-term and long-term decision making?

II. For-Profit and Nonprofit:

A. Financial Differentiation:

What differentiates for-profit and nonprofit healthcare organizations financially?

What characteristics of each type of healthcare organization make the organizations different?

B. Economic Differentiation: What differentiates for-profit and nonprofit healthcare in terms of economic policies and legislation?

What key recent and current economic policies impact each?

III. Policy, Changes, and Disparities:

A. Economic Policy and Disparities in Care:

Using current research and information (within the last five years), analyze the relationship between economic policy and disparities in care. How are they connected? How do they differ?

B. Policy Changes:

What impact do recent legislative changes have on healthcare economic policy in general?

C. Disparities Planning: Why are disparities of care factored into healthcare strategic planning?

Unemployment Question

Assume a city called Macroland, where the total population is 80,000. Of that 50,000 are people between the ages of 18 and 65, and 10,000 below 18 and the rest above 65. In the month of January in Macroland, the number of people in the 18 to 65 years old group that have jobs are 35,000 people, The number in that age group looking for jobs are 7,000 people. Answer all parts to the question for the population between ages of 18 and 65 only. You may type the answer on text if possible or upload a file.

a. How many people are in the labor force?

b. How much is the unemployment rate ?

c. How much is the labor force participation rate?

Now assume in the month of February in Macroland there were some changes in the labor market. Of the people who were employed, 6000 lost their jobs but only 4500 of the 6000 who lost jobs were interested in looking for jobs. Of the people in January who were unemployed, 2000 got jobs, and 800 stopped looking for jobs.

d. Given the changes, what is the labor force of Macroland in February?

e. How much is the unemployment rate in February?

f. How much is the labor force participation rate in February?

g. How many discouraged workers were there for changes between January and February?

In January 2009, Tom Sosa, the purchasing manager, received a telephone call from their Columbus, Indiana, diesel engine supplier informing him that effective June they were no longer producing the D-342 diesel engines at the Columbus plant. The D-342 engine sales were decreasing and would no longer be in their product line. Tom was in shock. He was now forced to deal with the sole supplier of the D-342 located in Portland, Oregon. The most recent price schedule submitted by the Oregon engine supplier is given below:

The prices had been basically the same as the Columbus supplier except that they are F.O.B. Portland. The traffic department informed Tom that the transportation cost per hundredweight is $10 for carload lots of 50,000 pounds. The less than carload rate is $15 per hundredweight. The replenishment cycle normally takes one week.

BACKGROUND

Tom Sosa, the supply manager for MARS, Inc. was contemplating several significant changes in the D-342 diesel engine market. Mr. Sosa was concerned because in its production of the 98-D loader, MARS used 10 diesel engines each working day of the month. (MARS operated on a 20-day-per-month schedule.) Each engine weighs 500 pounds. Engine orders are currently placed every Monday morning. For the past 10 years, the D-342 engines had been produced in only two locations in the United States, one in Columbus, Indiana, and the other in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Sosa felt fortunate that the Columbus producer was located approximately 30 miles from his facility. The Columbus supplier offered just-in-time delivery service at no charge to MARS.

MARS implemented lean manufacturing in 2002. The kanban-controlled JIT production system was implemented based on the premise of minimizing work-in-process inventories (waste) by reducing lot sizes in order to increase production efficiency and product quality.

ACTION TAKEN BY TOM

Mr. Sosa compiled cost and warehouse capacity data on the D-342 engine from the accounting department. See Table C17.1.

Mr. Sosa wonders what effects these new developments will have on his cost structure.

Assignment Questions

  1.  What were MARS’s total costs per year prior to the new price structure when the diesel engine price was $4,800? Was MARS using the EOQ method?

TABLE C17.1
Cost and Warehouse Capacity

2.   With volume discounts and warehouse constraints, what is the best ordering quantity?

In order to meet the rising demand from an increasing global population, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization had estimated that food production would have to increase by 70 percent to cope with demand. Given the finite supply of arable land and water, producing higher yields through increased farm productivity was seen by many as the only viable option. Biotechnology (Biotech) crops offered one means to increase productivity by offering greater yields while potentially using fewer natural resources such as land, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and water. Driven by these opportunities, in 1996, two different biotech seeds- soybean and cotton- were farmed commercially for the first time. Both were developed by Monsanto, a leading global producer of biotech seeds.
Consider the market for cotton seeds in India. Cotton is a neccessary item having few substitutes especially in the Indian weather. With the increasing denmand for cotton, the cotton farmers were keen to buy the biotech seeds. Monsanto , the biotech seed producing company was a pioneer in cotton seed production. It has been doing business in India since 1949. In 2002, Monsanto, through a joint venture, introduced the first in-the-seed cotton trait biotechnology. This trait served to protect cotton crops against potentially devastating pests, thereby reducing the need for pesticides and improving yields. By 2010, over 40 Indian seed companies had begun to offer similar biotechnology cotton seeds, thereby improving the yield of cotton and making the market competitive. Biotech seeds became very popular and became necessary for cotton production. Suppliers of biotech seeds also became sensitive to changes in price of biotech seeds. By April 2010, the governments of three Indian provinces, collectively accounting for 70 percent of cotton production in the country had established a ceiling price that seed companies could charge farmers for biotech cotton seeds. This was a dramatic departure from the free market mechanisms put in place by the central government since the economic reforms launched in 1991. Companies producing biotech seeds were upset with this decision of the government. They did not understand why the government has to step in and bring down prices in such a competitive market.

1. Consider the market for cotton in India. Draw the demand and supply of cotton production in India and comment on the elasticity.

2. What would be the impact on equilibrium price and quantity of cotton due to the introduction of biotech cotton seeds?

3. Why do you think the biotech cotton seeds producing companies are unhappy with the government's decision of price ceiling on biotech cotton seeds? Explain (with the help of a well-labelled diagram, drawn by hand) how a price ceiling impacts production of a commodity.

4. Suppose, instead of price ceiling, the government announced a subsidy on biotech cotton seeds, to help the farmers producing cotton. Explain (with the help of a well-labelled diagram, drawn by hand) how this would impact the market equilibrium price and quantity?

ANSWER ASAP

In order to meet the rising demand from an increasing global population, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization had estimated that food production would have to increase by 70 percent to cope with demand. Given the finite supply of arable land and water, producing higher yields through increased farm productivity was seen by many as the only viable option. Biotechnology (Biotech) crops offered one means to increase productivity by offering greater yields while potentially using fewer natural resources such as land, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and water. Driven by these opportunities, in 1996, two different biotech seeds- soybean and cotton- were farmed commercially for the first time. Both were developed by Monsanto, a leading global producer of biotech seeds.

Consider the market for cotton seeds in India. Cotton is a necessary item having few substitutes especially in the Indian weather. With the increasing demand for cotton, the cotton farmers were keen to buy the biotech seeds. Monsanto , the biotech seed producing company was a pioneer in cotton seed production. It has been doing business in India since 1949. In 2002, Monsanto, through a joint venture, introduced the first in-the-seed cotton trait biotechnology. This trait served to protect cotton crops against potentially devastating pests, thereby reducing the need for pesticides and improving yields. By 2010, over 40 Indian seed companies had begun to offer similar biotechnology cotton seeds, thereby improving the yield of cotton and making the market competitive. Biotech seeds became very popular and became necessary for cotton production. Suppliers of biotech seeds also became sensitive to changes in price of biotech seeds. By April 2010, the governments of three Indian provinces, collectively accounting for 70 percent of cotton production in the country had established a ceiling price that seed companies could charge farmers for biotech cotton seeds. This was a dramatic departure from the free market mechanisms put in place by the central government since the economic reforms launched in 1991. Companies producing biotech seeds were upset with this decision of the government. They did not understand why the government has to step in and bring down prices in such a competitive market. (15marks)

1. Consider the market for cotton in India. Draw the demand and supply of cotton production in India and comment on the elasticity.

2. What would be the impact on equilibrium price and quantity of cotton due to the introduction of biotech cotton seeds?

3. Why do you think the biotech cotton seeds producing companies are unhappy with the government's decision of price ceiling on biotech cotton seeds? Explain (with the help of a well-labelled diagram, drawn by hand) how a price ceiling impacts production of a commodity.

4. Suppose, instead of price ceiling, the government announced a subsidy on biotech cotton seeds, to help the farmers producing cotton. Explain (with the help of a well-labelled diagram, drawn by hand) how this would impact the market equilibrium price and quantity?

Sachs Brands' defined benefit pension plan specifies annual retirement benefits equal to: 1.4% × service years × final year's salary, payable at the end of each year. Angela Davenport was hired by Sachs at the beginning of 2004 and is expected to retire at the end of 2038 after 35 years' service. Her retirement is expected to span 18 years. Davenport's salary is $82,000 at the end of 2018 and the company's actuary projects her salary to be $240,000 at retirement. The actuary's discount rate is 8%. (FV of $1, PV of $1, FVA of $1, PVA of $1, FVAD of $1 and PVAD of $1) (Use appropriate factor(s) from the tables provided.)

At the beginning of 2019, the pension formula was amended to:

1.55% × Service years × Final year's salary

The amendment was made retroactive to apply the increased benefits to prior service years.

Required:

1. What is the company's prior service cost at the beginning of 2019 with respect to Davenport after the amendment described above?
2. Since the amendment occurred at the beginning of 2019, amortization of the prior service cost begins in 2019. What is the prior service cost amortization that would be included in pension expense?
3. What is the service cost for 2019 with respect to Davenport?
4. What is the interest cost for 2019 with respect to Davenport?
5. Calculate pension expense for 2019 with respect to Davenport, assuming plan assets attributable to her of $100,000 and a rate of return (actual and expected) of 10%.

(For all requirements, do not round intermediate calculations. Round your final answers to nearest whole dollar.)

Sachs Brands' defined benefit pension plan specifies annual retirement benefits equal to: 1.4% × service years × final year's salary, payable at the end of each year. Angela Davenport was hired by Sachs at the beginning of 2004 and is expected to retire at the end of 2038 after 35 years' service. Her retirement is expected to span 18 years. Davenport's salary is $82,000 at the end of 2018 and the company's actuary projects her salary to be $240,000 at retirement. The actuary's discount rate is 8%. (FV of $1, PV of $1, FVA of $1, PVA of $1, FVAD of $1 and PVAD of $1) (Use appropriate factor(s) from the tables provided.)

At the beginning of 2019, the pension formula was amended to:

1.55% × Service years × Final year's salary

The amendment was made retroactive to apply the increased benefits to prior service years.

Required:

1. What is the company's prior service cost at the beginning of 2019 with respect to Davenport after the amendment described above?
2. Since the amendment occurred at the beginning of 2019, amortization of the prior service cost begins in 2019. What is the prior service cost amortization that would be included in pension expense?
3. What is the service cost for 2019 with respect to Davenport?
4. What is the interest cost for 2019 with respect to Davenport?
5. Calculate pension expense for 2019 with respect to Davenport, assuming plan assets attributable to her of $100,000 and a rate of return (actual and expected) of 10%.

(For all requirements, do not round intermediate calculations. Round your final answers to nearest whole dollar.)

Sachs Brands' defined benefit pension plan specifies annual retirement benefits equal to: 1.4% × service years × final year's salary, payable at the end of each year. Angela Davenport was hired by Sachs at the beginning of 2004 and is expected to retire at the end of 2038 after 35 years' service. Her retirement is expected to span 18 years. Davenport's salary is $82,000 at the end of 2018 and the company's actuary projects her salary to be $240,000 at retirement. The actuary's discount rate is 8%. (FV of $1, PV of $1, FVA of $1, PVA of $1, FVAD of $1 and PVAD of $1) (Use appropriate factor(s) from the tables provided.)

At the beginning of 2019, the pension formula was amended to:

1.55% × Service years × Final year's salary

The amendment was made retroactive to apply the increased benefits to prior service years.

Required:

1. What is the company's prior service cost at the beginning of 2019 with respect to Davenport after the amendment described above?
2. Since the amendment occurred at the beginning of 2019, amortization of the prior service cost begins in 2019. What is the prior service cost amortization that would be included in pension expense?
3. What is the service cost for 2019 with respect to Davenport?
4. What is the interest cost for 2019 with respect to Davenport?
5. Calculate pension expense for 2019 with respect to Davenport, assuming plan assets attributable to her of $100,000 and a rate of return (actual and expected) of 10%.

(For all requirements, do not round intermediate calculations. Round your final answers to nearest whole dollar.)

Name three characters that vertebrates share with other chordates as well as three characters that evolved as novelties in the ancestors of vertebrates. Discuss the embryonic origin of these vertebrate specific characters and explain which changes in life style they made possible.

What do the arrows in a food web represent? Where are the concentrations of energy in a food web? How is energy lost in a food web? Can a population in a food web be affected if another population that is not directly connected to it changes? How?