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the "full costs" of production are captured within the market transaction.
Furthermore, since costs erode profits, the profit-maximizing producer has
an incentive to reduce the amount of polluting residuals released.
Chapter 2: Modeling the Market Process: A Review of the Basics
(7 points)
(1) Page 50 of textbook: 2. (1 point)
In 1995, the Food and Drug Administration published new labeling
standards for bottled water. (The full text of the final rule can be found at
http://cfr.vlex.com/vid/165-110-bottled-water-19705533). Prior to that time,
bottlers could sell regular tap water under a bottled water label. In fact, the
FDA estimated that approximately 25 percent of the supply of bottled water
was nothing more than ordinary tap water. Consider how these tougher
standards eliminated 25 percent of the supply of bottled water. If market
demand is unaffected, what qualitative impact would this labeling change
have on equilibrium price and quantity for bottled water? Support your
answer with a graphical model.
Suggested answer: Given the reduction in the supply of bottled water, the
equilibrium price should rise and the equilibrium quantity should decrease.
[The graph should show a left shift of the market supply curve and the
qualitative effect on equilibrium price and quantity.]
S'
2
S
PE '
PE
D
QE'
QE
Suggested answer:
CS = the area of AEB = x 850 x ($11.50 $ 3.00) = $ 3,612.50
PS = the area of BEC = x 850 x ($3.00 - $0.875) = $ 903.125
Chapter 3: Modeling Market Failure
(7 points)
(1) Page 77 of textbook: 1. (1 point)
Use economic analysis to evaluate the following statement: The only amount
of acceptable pollution is no pollution at all.
Suggested answer: We should recognize the flaw in assuming that the
optimal level of pollution is zero. While this may be the case in certain
instances, it is the exception rather than the rule.
The general solution is that the optimal level of abatement occurs where the
associated marginal social benefit is equal to the marginal social cost. This
optimal level is not necessarily zero.
From a general perspective, abating at the 100 percent level to reduce
pollution to zero involves prohibitive opportunity costs. These include the
forgone production and consumption of any good generating even the
smallest amount of pollution. Given our present technology, a zero-pollution
world would be one without electricity, advanced transportation systems,
and virtually all manufactured products. It makes little sense to argue for the
elimination of all pollution in our environment.
(2) Page 77 of textbook: 3. (both a. and b.)
Assume that a small town uses a referendum to overcome the free-ridership
problem and determine how its residents might value a new water filtration
system for its public water supply. The voting results are aggregated by the
towns two districts, yielding the following demand estimates:
District 1:
Q = 160 20P1
5
District 2:
Q = 60 5P2,
6 + 0.15Q
14
35 percent
the following marginal benefits and costs for this market, where Q is
thousands of pounds and P is price per pound.
MPB = 800 0.5Q
MPC = 20 + 0.3Q
MEB = 0
MEC = 0.4Q
MPC
20 + 0.3Q
780
975 thousand pounds