ECON 315 SOLUTION

Econ 315

Instructions: In each of the problems listed below you are required to write a report defining the problem and providing alternative solutions. You can use graphs and mathematical models to help you simplify the problems and assist you in making optimal decisions. Make sure that your report is clear, relevant and well organized. The report must be type-written and double-spaced.

1.

You are an aide for the Senate Banking Committee Chairman. He comes to you with a bill that proposes setting limits on what ATM owners can charge non-account holders, over and above what banks charge their own customers. Currently, large banks charge noncustomers an average fee of $1.35 per transaction in addition to the fees the customer’s own bank imposes. The Senator asks you to look at a proposal that would place a $0.50 cap on the fees ATM owners can charge noncustomer for accessing their money. If this legislation is enacted, what would be the likely effects?

2.

Suppose you are an aide to a U.S. Senator who is concerned about the impact of a recently proposed excise tax on the welfare of her constituents. You explained to the Senator that one way of measuring the impact on her constituents is to determine how the tax change affects the level of consumer surplus enjoyed by the constituents. Based on your arguments, you are given the go-ahead to conduct a formal analysis, and obtain the following estimates of demand and supply:  and .

a.

Graph the supply and demand curves.

b.

What are the equilibrium quantity and equilibrium price?

c.

How much consumer surplus exists in this market?

d.

If a $2 excise tax is levied on this good, what will happen to the equilibrium price and quantity?

e.

What will the consumer surplus be after the tax?

3.

You are the manager of a 24-hour copy shop that is closed on Sundays. You lease a building for $2,000 per month and hire three employees who each work eight-hour shifts at a wage of $10.00 per hour. The markets for labor and office space are tight in your area. To acquire the lease and hire workers, you signed contracts requiring you to give 12 months advance notice before abandoning your lease or laying off workers (if you fail to comply, the contracts force you to fully compensate your landlord and workers for the income they otherwise would have earned over the 12-month period). Paper costs you $.02 per sheet. You currently sell 500,000 color copies per year at a price of $.10 per copy and 1,000,000 black and white copies per year at a price of $.05 per copy. Because of your high volume, each of your two copiers has a useful life of only one year. You just received a call from an employee who informs you that your color copier just broke down. The good news is that your black and white copier is brand-new; the bad news is that a new color copier will cost $30,000. Should you purchase a new color copier? Assume that customers who want color copies are unwilling to substitute black and white copies