develop a new way of producing electricity that emits fewer pollutants.

4. An economy consists of three workers: Larry, Moe, and Curly. Each works ten hours a day and can produce two services: mowing lawns and washing cars. In an hour, Larry can either mow one lawn or wash one car; Moe can either mow one lawn or wash two cars; and Curly can either mow two lawns or wash one car. a. Calculate how much of each service is produced under the following circumstances, which we label A, B, C, and D: ? All three spend all their time mowing lawns. (A)

? All three spend all their time washing cars. (B)

? All three spend half their time on each activity. (C)

? Larry spends half his time on each activity, while Moe only washes cars and Curly only mows lawns. (D)

b. Graph the production possibilities frontier for this economy. Using your answers to part (a), identify points A, B, C, and D on your graph.

c. Explain why the production possibilities frontier has the shape it does.

d. Are any of the allocations calculated in part (a) inefficient? Explain.

5. Classify the following topics as relating to microeconomics or macroeconomics. a. a family‘s decision about how much income to save

b. the effect of government regulations on auto emissions

c. the impact of higher national saving on economic growth

d. a firm‘s decision about how many workers to hire

e. the relationship between the inflation rate and changes in the quantity of money 6. Classify each of the following statements as positive or normative. Explain.

a. Society faces a short-run trade-off between

inflation and unemployment.

b. A reduction in the rate of money growth will reduce the rate of inflation.

c. The Federal Reserve should reduce the rate of money growth.

d. Society ought to require welfare recipients to look for jobs.

e. Lower tax rates encourage more work and more saving.

7. If you were president, would you be more interested in your economic advisers‘ positive views or their normative views? Why? 1. Maria can read 20 pages of economics in an hour. She can also read 50 pages of sociology in an hour. She spends 5 hours per day studying. a. Draw Maria‘s production possibilities frontier for reading economics and sociology. b. What is Maria‘s opportunity cost of reading 100 pages of sociology?

2. American and Japanese workers can each produce 4 cars a year. An American worker can produce 10 tons of grain a year, whereas a Japanese worker can produce 5 tons of grain a year. To keep things simple, assume that each country has 100 million workers.

a. For this situation, construct a table analogous to the table in Figure 1.

b. Graph the production possibilities frontier of the American and Japanese economies. c. For the United States, what is the opportunity cost of a car? Of grain? For Japan, what is the opportunity cost of a car? Of grain? Put this information in a table analogous to Table 1. d. Which country has an absolute advantage in producing cars? In producing grain?

e. Which country has a comparative advantage in producing cars? In producing grain? f. Without trade, half of each country‘s workers produce cars and half produce grain. What quantities of cars and grain does each country produce?

g. Starting from a position without trade, give an example in which trade makes each country better off.

3. Pat and Kris are roommates. They spend most of their time studying (of course), but they leave some time for their favorite activities: making pizza and brewing root beer. Pat takes 4 hours to brew a gallon of root beer and 2 hours to make a pizza. Kris takes 6 hours to brew a gallon of root beer and 4 hours to make a pizza. a. What is each roommate‘s opportunity cost of making a pizza? Who has the absolute advantage in making pizza? Who has the comparative advantage in making pizza? b. If Pat and Kris trade foods with each other, who will trade away pizza in exchange for root beer?

c. The price of pizza can be expressed in terms of gallons of root beer. What is the highest price at which pizza can be traded that would make both roommates better off? What is the lowest price? Explain.

4. Suppose that there are 10 million workers in Canada and that each of these workers can produce either 2 cars or 30 bushels of wheat in a year. a. What is the opportunity cost of producing a car in Canada? What is the opportunity cost of producing a bushel of wheat in Canada? Explain the relationship between the opportunity costs of the two goods.

b. Draw Canada‘s production possibilities frontier. If Canada chooses to consume 10 million cars, how much wheat can it consume without trade? Label this point on the production possibilities frontier.

c. Now suppose that the United States offers to buy 10 million cars from Canada in exchange for 20 bushels of wheat per car. If Canada continues to consume 10 million cars, how much wheat does this deal allow Canada to consume? Label this point on your diagram. Should Canada accept the deal?

5. England and Scotland both produce scones and sweaters. Suppose that an English worker can produce 50 scones per hour or 1 sweater per hour. Suppose that a Scottish worker can produce 40 scones per hour or 2 sweaters per hour.

a. Which country has the absolute advantage in the production of each good? Which country has the comparative advantage?

b. If England and Scotland decide to trade, which commodity will Scotland trade to England? Explain.

c. If a Scottish worker could produce only 1 sweater per hour, would Scotland still gain from trade? Would England still gain from trade? Explain.

6. The following table describes the production possibilities of two cities in the country of Baseballia:

Pairs of Red Socks Pairs of White Socks per Worker per Hour per Worker per Hour

Boston 3 3 Chicago 2 1

a. Without trade, what is the price of white socks (in terms of red socks) in Boston? What is the price in Chicago?

b. Which city has an absolute advantage in the production of each color sock? Which city has a comparative advantage in the production of each color sock?

c. If the cities trade with each other, which color sock will each export?

d. What is the range of prices at which trade can occur?

7. Suppose that in a year an American worker can produce 100 shirts or 20 computers, while a Chinese worker can produce 100 shirts or 10 computers.

a. Graph the production possibilities curve for the two countries. Suppose that without trade the workers in each country spend half their time producing each good. Identify this point in your graph.

b. If these countries were open to trade, which country would export shirts? Give a specific numerical example and show it on your graph. Which country would benefit from trade? Explain.

c. Explain at what price of computers (in terms of shirts) the two countries might trade. d. Suppose that China catches up with