Category: economics

Exploring Economic Concepts in the Movie “Unfrosted”

Posted on | by Kelvin

Watch the movie “Unfrosted” currently available on Netflix.

Please keep in mind that you should discuss how the movie uses and illustrates economic ideas; but you are welcome to think also about the literary and cultural aspects of the movie in your assignment so long as you also talk about economics. In addition, you need to put in context the concepts (the movie story takes place in which era?) and discuss whether the market today is the same as that described in the movie (make a case with specific examples and economic concepts).
Cover the topics below.
Part 4: Marketing strategies
Product differentiation strategies
Marketing and Advertising strategies
Means of advertising
Goal of finding new products
Part 5: Product in the market
Non-price competition
Demand and Elasticities
Role of FDA
A brief summary

 

 

A Critical Threat to Business Continuity

Posted on | by Kelvin

 

Choose one of the following possible threats.
Fire
Water
Failure or disruption of service providers
Failure or malfunction of devices or systems
Software vulnerabilities or errors
Abuse of authorization
Attack
Identity theft
Malicious software
Social engineering
Data loss
Loss of integrity of sensitive information.
Find an article that includes an example of this risk.
Discuss what happened.
How did this affect the business and customers?
What could the company do to avoid this risk in the future?

 

 

The Misconception of Simultaneous Increase in Quantity and Decrease in Price of Grapes

Posted on | by Kelvin

Suppose you have a market for grapes that is currently in equilibrium. Thinking of the supply and demand graph for this market, what would have to happen to cause both the equilibrium quantity of grapes in this market to rise and the equilibrium price of grapes in this market to fall? Is this even something that could happen? provide an incorrect response

In your answer, please pay attention to and describe what would have to happen to the supply and demand. (You may of course elaborate with any hypothetical “real life” reasons for any changes in the graph too.)

The American Dream and the Insatiable Pursuit of Wealth: A Critical Analysis

Posted on | by Kelvin

Write a critical thinking paper and consider The American Dream and offer an analysis of a specific aspect of this theme in a specific element of popular culture (for example, The Role of Capitalist individualism on Social Media Influencers. Incorporate and be in discussion with at least 2 peer-reviewed academic articles (this means incorporate quotes and analyze these quotes).

The Theory of Monopoly: A Case Study of Amazon in the E-commerce Industry

Posted on | by Kelvin

 

The term monopoly is very common in regular conversation and in the news. The theory of monopoly we are learning in this chapter, however, makes a specific argument that may or may not not align with how regular people use the term monopoly.
For this assignment, I would like you to pick a company you have seen referred to as a monopoly (either in the news or in conversation) and argue whether it resembles this theory or not.
1.) state what company you picked and specifically what industry they are competing in. If they compete in multiple, pick one.
2.) list the specific explanation for how a pure monopoly forms in our chapter, and the two types of monopoly. (Use the specific vocab for our chapter or you risk a 0 for Al/plagiarism) What does the theory predict about price and quantity in the market in comparison to perfect competition?
3.) Does this company you picked resemble the theory of monopoly firm in our chapter (the exact theoretical definition of monopoly, not the legal or colloquial one)? Specifically, how does it or does it not resemble the theory as you outlined it in 2.)?

Impact of Technological Change in the Gizmo Market

Posted on | by Kelvin

Imagine you are an entrepreneur in the perfectly competitive gizmo market. By hand, draw graphs to illustrate each of the situations below.

1.) First, next to each other, by hand draw the graph of the firm and the graph of the market in long run equilibrium. (Something important I mentioned before should line up!).

For the graph of your firm, include the MR curve, MC curve, and AC curve.
For the whole market graph include the S and D curves.
Do not include any other curves or I will think you plagiarized.

Label all axes.
Indicate the equilibrium price and quantity on the graph of the firm and on the graph of the market.

2.) Now suppose that a new more productive technology is developed for manufacturing gizmos. Draw a new set of graphs that show this change. Graphically show what impact will this have on our gizmo firm in the short run (in terms of the firm’s revenues, costs, and profit.) What curves will move? Label are they making a profit, loss, or breaking even?

3.) Finally, show what would happen in the long term. Draw a final set of graphs to show this. How will the overall gizmo market be affected? What curves will move? What will happen to the firm’s profit/loss in the long run?  Label are they making a profit, loss, or breaking even?

 

 

Understanding Market Efficiency and Externalities in Economics

Posted on | by Kelvin

Discussion on “Consumers, Producers, & Market Efficiency”, and on “Externalities”

1-Explain how buyers’ willingness to pay, consumer surplus, and the demand curve are related.
2- Explain how sellers’ costs, producer surplus, and the supply curve are related.
3- What is efficiency? Do you think it should be the only goal of economic policymakers?
4- Based on your experience and/or observation, give an example of a negative externality and an example of a positive externality, and explain clearly why each is so.
5- Imagine that you are a nonsmoker sharing a room with a smoker. According to the Coase theorem, what determines whether your roommate smokes in the room? Is this outcome efficient? Why? How do you and your roommate reach this solution?
6- According to you, can problems posed by externalities be solved without government intervention? In what specific ways?

The Monopoly Market in Forrest Gump

Posted on | by Kelvin

Watch the video clip from Forrest Gump.

Consider that Forrest’s good luck of “being in the right place at the right time” allowed him to operate as a monopoly. Typically, the fishing industry is a highly competitive industry where economic profits are rarely made in the long run. However, in a twist of fate, Forrest’s boat is the lone survivor after a hurricane washes ashore and destroys all the other shrimp boats.

Consider the barriers to entry facing potential competitors in Forrest’s monopoly market. The more contestable a market, the closer it will be to a perfectly competitive market, whereas the less contestable a market, the closer it will be to a monopoly.

Describe a firm that you believe is a monopolist. Describe the barriers to entry that exist and discuss if they are contestable or not.

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Finerman, W., Starkey, S., Tisch, S. (Producers), & Zemeckis, R. (Director). Forrest Gump [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.