Question week 1 discussion Opportunity Cost (graded)

Give an example of how the Principle of Opportunity Cost applies to your life. Think of a recent decision you made. It could be a decision as simple as whether to eat out or cook your own dinner, or it could be a decision to quit your job and go back to school. What alternatives did you consider? How did you arrive at your final decision? Did you implicitly weigh marginal cost and marginal benefit? How does the concept of opportunity cost apply to production possibilities curve (PPC) analysis? How can we use PPC analysis to examine what we do?

Think of a business firm you recently visited (such as Walmart, Home Depot, Red Lobster, Barnes & Noble, McDonald’s, etc.). What motivated the producers of all the individual products in the store to make them and offer them for sale? How did the producers decide on the best combinations of resources to use? Who made those resources available, and why? How does the market determine who will get the goods and services? Who decides whether these particular products should continue to be produced and offered for sale? How do these decisions differ between capitalist and socialist systems?

Think about a product that you have purchased recently (e.g. soda, diapers, takeout meals, milk, shoes, manicure/pedicure, video game, etc.). Explain how the law of demand affected your purchase. Give specific examples of how the determinants of demand and supply affect this product (T-I-P-E-N and P-R-E-S-T). What happens to the demand curve and the supply curve when any of these determinants change? Give examples of scenarios that would cause a change in demand versus a movement along the same demand curve and supply curve for this product. Discuss the new equilibrium price and quantity that result from these changes. Can you demonstrate some of these changes graphically?

Think of another good that you have purchased recently (or you could continue with the good you selected in TDA I). Be specific (e.g. is it breakfast cereal in general or Cheerios cereal specifically). If the price of this item increases, how would this affect the quantity of the good that you consume? Is the Demand for this good Price elastic or Price inelastic? Justify your classification by talking about the determinants of elasticity as they apply to this product. Say price is on the rise for this product and you are the manager of a store, would you be thrilled to be selling this product? Under what circumstances would you want to own a business that sells this product? In other words, how does an increase in price for this good affect your Total Revenue? Using specific examples, relate the concepts of Cross Elasticity and Income Elasticity to this product.

Say you are the manager of a perfectly competitive firm selling a product. Your business is making a loss because total revenue is less than total costs. What would you do–shut down or continue to operate? Use hypothetical numbers to explain. Information you need to provide include–state the product you are selling, the price of the product, the quantity of the product you produce, fixed costs, total cost, figure out total revenue, total and average variable costs. Then go ahead and make your decision. Explain carefully why it makes better sense to shut down rather than continue to operate or to continue to operate rather than shut down, as the case may be. How do fixed costs play a role in your analysis? What is the difference between shutting down and going out of business?

Think about a firm that you have done business with recently. What industry does this firm belong to? For example, McDonald’s is a firm in the fast food industry. What market structure would this industry fall under? What are the names of other firms in this industry? Is it monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly, or perfect competition? Justify your classification of the firm. Use the characteristics/features of the different market structure to determine which market structure to classify your chosen firm.

week 4 disussion

Go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis website, www.bea.gov, and access the BEA interactively by selecting “National Accounts” and then “National Income and Product Account Tables.” Select “Frequently Requested NIPA Tables,” and find Table 1.1.1 on GDP. What is the current GDP growth rate for the U.S.? Examine the trend over the past few years. What trends interest you? What stage of the Business Cycle would the U.S. economy be in currently given the trends? Why might GDP not be considered an accurate measure of economic well-being of a country? Identify at least three limitations of GDP as a measure of economic well-being.

Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm, and click on “Employment Situation Summary” to get the most up-to-date summary of unemployment in the U.S. or the “Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted.” What interests or surprises you about the summary table? How does that rate compare with the rate in the previous month or quarter? Discuss the differences in unemployment rates by gender, age, education, etc.

Our website has a team of professional writers who can help you write any of your homework. They will write your papers from scratch. We also have a team of editors just to make sure all papers are of HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE. To make an Order you only need to click Ask A Question and we will direct you to our Order Page at WriteDemy. Then fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.