Comparative Advantage and the Benefits of Trade
Chapter 2
The good I recently purchased is a sofa set at a price of $ 1500. If I had decided to make the sofa set on my own it would have taken me more than five months due to lack of enough skills in making the product despite the fact that it would cost me about $750 to purchase the required materials. The money used to purchase the product was my saving which I had been saving for two months from my monthly income. From the analysis of the time I would have taken to make the sofa set and the months it took me to save for the money to make purchases it is rational to buy the good since there are three month time that I have to make more saving that can purchase some more goods.
Chapter 3
The price change in the demand for the newspaper due to increase dependency of the internet which has been affected by the increased use of smartphones and tablets. Consequently, it has affected the consumption of print media for both television and radio news.
The Figure showing the effect of increased demand for internet sources decreasing the demand for a printed newspaper
The figure above shows that the increase in demand for internet sources from Q1 to Q0 shift outwards leads to an equivalent increase in supply for internet sources new from P0 to P1 and the vice versa is true.
Chapter 4a
The goods I purchased last year included a top-mounted freezer model, a pair of pants, and a mail delivery service. The highest price I was will to pay for the freezer was $300 but the actual price I paid was $360 making the consumer surplus add up to $60.Additionally, the pair of pant I purchased cost $ 10 but I was able to negotiate to $950 Finally, for mail delivery I paid $ 2.10 since it was a medium mail but I expected to pay $1,80 since I was doing it online making the consumer surplus add up to $0.30.
Chapter 4b
The far I am with the course can be classified as average and to ensure that I attain the targeted grade at the end of the semester several changes are vital. For instance, ensuring proper planning and implementation of the right measures such as frequently revising all the materials given and researching further which will lead to high scoring thus achieving the subordinate categories of scoring higher grade in this course. Putting the above strategy in practice then it will be easy for me to achieve the set goal of attaining a high score.
Chapter 5
A health issue that comes as a result of environmental pollution from emission by a nearby factory which leads to chest pain. Consequently, this impacted me negatively since I had to incur approximately $1000 to completely recover. From this negative externality, the lowest price for compensation I would accept would be $ 2,000 because it took me time without engaging in some activity thus bearing more expenses during that period. The population affected by the externality within the area is approximately two hundred residents that means if the externality creator is to make compensation using my desired rate then a subsidy amount would total up to$ 400,000 which will be agreed on loss to the factory.
Chapter 9
The recently imported product I purchased is an apple at a price of $1.8 per kilogram which makes the consumer surplus price I received for the purchase to be $0.3.The consumer surplus amount I would be willing to give up if the product is produced in America would be approximately $0.15 considering that the product is locally produced and a few expenses are incurred. I would not be willing to give up the consumer surplus amount since the quality of the product imported is more of higher quality as compared to the one locally produced in terms of taste. Once I purchase the imported product from a third world country, I won’t regret knowing that the consumer surplus increases the wage in third world countries because that is the main impact of trade. If I had an opportunity of purchasing the apples directly from the importing country, I would still want to give up the consumer surplus because this is basically the main gain that promotes international trade.
Chapter 10
The going in this course so far is good and due to more exposure to the course and engagement to exercise which has enabled me to gather more information. The grades are according to my expectation which is a good move toward ensuring that I attain the grade I purposed during the start of the course. Just a few improvements in putting more effort to ensure that I capture all the topics in the skill and understand the concept.
Chapter 11
The fixed cost that I have incurred in the last few years is the rent cost. Additionally, the marginal cost I have experienced in the last few years is the cost of purchasing one pant which I incurred $950 which could be cheaper if I had purchased more than one. Finally, the variable cost I have incurred is the freight out cost for the sofa set I purchased.
Chapter 12
Fast-food workers are lowly paid approximately$ 9 per hour. The training that they undergo includes the ability to follow through reading the written instructions as well as follow the safety procedures and effectively take care of the equipment used. Skills in ensuring they prepare a delicious meal and offer quality service to the clients. The job payment should be increased up to $15 since the employers are exposed to risk such as the effect of long hours of getting contact with heat which interfere with the health. If the government would mandate the wage as suggested the workers would be highly protected from the more expensive, they incur seeking medication in case of any case of health issues.
Chapter 13
A business operating in monopolistic competition is a restaurant. There are various assumptions about the monopolistic competition which include a large number of firms whereby each firm has an insignificantly small share of the market. It is more independent thus easy move-in decision making. Additionally, it is free to enter the market since there is no competition. Finally, each firm faces a downward-sloping demand curve due to product differentiation from the competitors. Therefore, a restaurant can differentiate its services by ensuring that they handle the customer well and maybe offering a discount to the customer which will act as an incentive to attract more customers.
Chapter 15a
The service on of my family member received recently in the month is hairdressing from a monopolist. The monopoly exists since the hairdresser was the only one within the city who was able to offer such a specific service. I think that the existence of many customers would have encouraged a fair price for the same service that she received at $ 2000.
Chapter 15b
The effort I put in the course to ensure that I attain a high score as expected is ensuring that I did further research from different materials and the course materials provided to enhance my understanding. From experience, I would consider the course more engaging in real-life practice in comparison to my expectation. For me to attain more score in my course I need to schedule my work and have a time table in the revision to hinder any instance of having more workload t cover in all my classes. Additionally, I would consider allocating more time to the courses that I find more challenging so as to strike a balance in my performance. The best experience that I found more interesting this course is the discussion group which helps me learn from other students thus enhancing an easy understanding of any skill that I missed during the lecture. On the contrary, the use of video discussion did not effectively work for me since there is minimal interaction thus not easy to understand the content.