This topic contains a solution. Click here to go to the answer

Author Question: Tom and Mary own a perfectly competitive tomato farm. They can hire different numbers of college ... (Read 51 times)

09madisonrousseau09

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 559
Tom and Mary own a perfectly competitive tomato farm. They can hire different numbers of college students to help plant, cultivate, and harvest the tomatoes. The above table gives their marginal product schedule.
 
  a) If the price of a pound of tomatoes is 2 a pound, complete the first value of marginal product column in the table. If Tom and Mary must pay their workers 10 an hour, how many workers do they hire? b) If the price of a pound of tomatoes falls to 1 a pound, complete the second value of marginal product column in the table. If Tom and Mary still must pay their workers 10 an hour, how many workers do they hire? c) When the price of a pound of tomatoes falls, what happens to Tom and Mary's demand for labor curve?

Question 2

Suppose an economics forecaster discovers that on days when the sunspot count is high stock market on the following day is bullish, that is stock market prices edge upwards.
 
  In addition, he also observes that on days with a low sunspot count the following day the stock market tends to be bearish, that is stock market prices tend to fall. The forecaster then concludes that there is a positive relationship between the sunspot count and stock market prices and proceeds to base his investment decisions on this premise. What kind of an error has this forecaster made?



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
Marked as best answer by a Subject Expert

sierrahalpin

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 329
Answer to Question 1

Quantity of labor
(workers) Marginal product
(pounds per hour) Value of marginal product, 2 per pound
(dollars) Value of marginal product, 1 per pound
(dollars)
1 8 16 8
2 10 20 10
3 7 14 7
4 5 10 5
5 4 8 4

a) The completed table is above. Tom and Mary hire 4 workers because that is the number of workers that sets the value of marginal product equal to the wage rate.
b) The completed table is above. Tom and Mary hire 2 workers because that is the number of workers that sets the value of marginal product equal to the wage rate.
c) When the price of a pound of tomatoes falls, Tom and Mary's demand for labor decreases and their demand for labor curve shifts leftward.

Answer to Question 2

The forecaster has fallen into the post hoc fallacy. Simply because one set of events precedes another is not enough to say that one is the cause of the other.





 

Did you know?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released reports detailing the deaths of infants (younger than 1 year of age) who died after being given cold and cough medications. This underscores the importance of educating parents that children younger than 2 years of age should never be given over-the-counter cold and cough medications without consulting their physicians.

Did you know?

Hip fractures are the most serious consequences of osteoporosis. The incidence of hip fractures increases with each decade among patients in their 60s to patients in their 90s for both women and men of all populations. Men and women older than 80 years of age show the highest incidence of hip fractures.

Did you know?

Asthma cases in Americans are about 75% higher today than they were in 1980.

Did you know?

Liver spots have nothing whatsoever to do with the liver. They are a type of freckles commonly seen in older adults who have been out in the sun without sufficient sunscreen.

Did you know?

Certain chemicals, after ingestion, can be converted by the body into cyanide. Most of these chemicals have been removed from the market, but some old nail polish remover, solvents, and plastics manufacturing solutions can contain these substances.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library