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What is an example of a firm which, one might argue, is experiencing either (a) economies of scale, or alternatively

(b) diseconomies of scale. What are the advantages or disadvantages the firm in question seems to receive when its scale of operations increases, what are the effects of these things, and why do you think they occur? Make sure you are explicit in your answer about the time period (short term or long term) during which economies or diseconomies of scale appear, explain what economies or diseconomies of scale are, and suggest a reason why one or another of them might be occurring.

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28 Sep 2019
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Related questions

Hello, could I get some assistance with this question? Thank you.

Read the articles and discuss the problems of Economic Inequality in the U.S.economy, summarize key points and post in the Discussions area:

3) Inequality. On important but irrelevant facts

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/01/inequality-0?zid=293&ah=e50f636873b42369614615ba3c16df4a

Here is the article:

Inequality

On important but irrelevant facts

Should we care more about global or national inequality?

Free exchange

Jan 9th, 2014

by R.A. | LONDON

WRITING on Thomas Piketty's new book, Nicolas Goetzmann notes:

I think that Piketty missed something which might be important: Capital is mobile, workers are not, and in the end, we have this: Gini is reducing on a worldwide basis since 2005.

Scott Sumner adds:

I also like Goetzmann's comment about global Gini coefficients. Liberals should care about global welfare. Are they closet nationalists?

These sorts of remarks are common responses to those pointing out that inequality is soaring across the rich world, and they strike me as very problematic.

It is true, of course, that inequality globally has been falling. And it is absolutely right to say that this trend is hugely important and is contributing to a massive rise in global welfare. We should all be ecstatic about it. But in no way does that development excuse us from caring about and worrying about national income inequality, for a few very important reasons.

The first is that it implies, without ever making an actual argument, that efforts to reduce income inequality within rich economies must necessarily slow reductions in global inequality. Why bring up the global statistic unless you are worried that expressions of concern about national inequality are likely to undermine the global trend? Some egalitarian-minded policies might, of course, but many others would not. I'm not sure why someone would want to stake out the position that subsidized pre-school for disadvantaged children is unnecessary, for example, because global inequality is falling.

Second, while we all should care about welfare globally, we should also recognize that the political salience of the issue is exclusively national. To a first approximation, America's Congress does not care in the least about the status of global inequality. There are no sitting congresspersons from Burundi. National inequality, by contrast, is highly politically relevant. Catch-up in the emerging world has a lot to do with innovation and openness in the rich world. If soaring national inequality undermines political support for policies that facilitate innovation and openness, that's a problem for everyone. It's a pretty basic political economy point that globalization will continue while national polities feel that globalization is broadly in their interest. People who like globalization should therefore be very, very concerned when it doesn't appear to be generating broad-based growth in rich countries.

The third is that inequality is growing within emerging markets. One might be inclined to argue that we shouldn't worry too much about that, since rising inequality is a classic side-effect of rapid development which should go away as emerging economies mature. But one of the most important points in Mr. Piketty's book is that the conventional wisdom that development naturally increases and then reduces inequalities is wrong: the data show that there is no systematic tendency for inequality to fall as an economy matures.

And so we should note that the backlash to globalization and development might well come from within emerging markets, and indeed one would have to be fairly cut-off from the news to miss populist expressions of dissatisfaction across the biggest emerging economies over the past couple of years. What's more, Mr. Piketty's work suggests that as the process of catch-up slows inequality trends within countries will begin to dominate inequality trends across countries, leading global inequality to rise once more.

So yes, global inequality has been falling. That is no reason for people of any ideological persuasion to ignore very worrying trends in national distributions of income and wealth.

Question 3

According to Joseph Schumpeter, the theory of creative destruction describes a process by which

A

some new products unleash a gale of destruction that drive other new products out of the market.
B

new products unleash a gale of destruction that drives old products out of the market.
C

new products are created by the destruction of capital.
D

the creation of new products never involves the destruction of old products.

Question 4

Which of the following countries had the highest GDP per capita in 2012?

A Qatar
B

United States
C

Japan
D

Norway

Question 5

________ save a ________ of their income. This ________ capital in their economy and raises economic growth.

A

Developing countries; large proportion; decreases
B

Developing countries; small proportion; increases
C

High-income countries; large proportion; increases
D

High-income countries; small proportion; increases

Question 6

The demand for loanable funds is determined by the willingness of ________ to borrow money to engage in new investment projects.

A

A

government
B

households
C

banks
D

firms

Question 7

The U.S. economy has been more stable since 1950.

True

False

Question 8

When the economy reaches a trough in a business cycle, which of the following will occur?

A

Income, production, and employment will continue to fall.
B

Income, production, and employment will begin to rise.
C

Income and production will rise, but employment will continue to fall.
D

Employment rises, but income and production will continue to fall.

Question 9

In a closed economy, what is the relationship between saving and investment?

A

Saving is greater than investment.
B

Investment is greater than saving.
C

Investment is equal to saving.
D

Investment may be greater or smaller than saving.

Question 10

The per-worker production function shows the relationship between ________ per hour worked and ________ per hour worked, holding ________ constant.

A

labor; real GDP; technology
B

capital; real GDP; technology
C

labor; capital; real GDP
D

capital; labor; real GDP

Question 11

New growth theory states that increases in ________ capital will result in ________ at the ________ level.

A

knowledge; increasing returns to scale; firm
B

physical; decreasing returns to scale; firm
C

knowledge; decreasing returns to scale; economy
D

knowledge; increasing returns to scale; economy

Question 12

Which of the following is not a reason why the Industrial Revolution occurred when and where it did?

A

The British government was committed to upholding private property rights.
B

The British government was able to eliminate arbitrary increases in taxes.
C

The British government was able to more easily seize wealth.
D

Institutional changes by the British government helped protect wealth.

Question 13

Growth in real GDP per capita for the world economy was greatest during

A

the seventeenth century.
B

the eighteenth century.
C

the nineteenth century.
D

the twentieth century.

Question 14

Which of the following is a normative statement about economic growth?

A

Economic growth is associated with higher labor productivity growth.
B

Economic growth increases GDP per capita.
C

Economic growth hurts developing countries.
D

Foreign direct investment stimulates economic growth.

Question 15

The effect of a recession on a company like Whirlpool Corporation is such that

A

sales decline more sharply for Whirlpool as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.
B

profits fall less sharply as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.
C

the decline in sales is more short-lived as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.
D

there is no difference in the impact of the recession on its profits as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.

Question 16

For the recessions in the United States since the 1950s,

A

cyclical unemployment has been non-existent.
B

unemployment rises on average by about 1.2 percentage points 12 months after a recession begins.
C

unemployment falls on average by 2 percentage points 12 months after a recession begins.
D

unemployment rises on average about 5 percentage points 12 months after a recession begins.

Question 17

You are an economic advisor to the president. You are asked to recommend a policy to promote long-term economic growth in the economy. Which of the following policies would you choose?

A

a reduction in sales taxes
B

an investment tax credit
C

a reduction in taxes on luxury yachts
D

All of these

Question 18

In comparison to a government that runs a balanced budget, when the government runs a budget deficit,

A

the equilibrium interest rate will fall.
B

business investment will fall.
C

household savings will fall.
D

None of these

Question 19

If labor productivity growth slows down in a country, this means that the growth rate in ________ has declined.

A

labor force participation
B

the quantity of goods or services that can be produced by one hour of work
C

the working-age population
D

nominal GDP

Question 20

Policies to promote growth by increasing saving and investment work through

A

decreasing the supply of loanable funds, lowering the interest rate, raising the level of investment in physical capital.
B

increasing the supply of loanable funds, increasing the interest rate, raising the level of investment in physical capital.
C

increasing the supply of loanable funds, lowering the interest rate, lowering the level of investment in physical capital.
D

increasing the supply of loanable funds, lowering the interest rate, raising the level of investment in physical capital.

View the video transcript below and share your thoughts on the economic concepts that you believe are applicable.

Question# 1. Provide a rationale on whether or not a firm has to possess market power in order to raise prices.

How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers

JJ RAMBERG, anchor:

With gas prices soaring and the economy tightening, you may think it’s not possible to charge your customers more. But, it turns out you can successfully raise prices without driving those customers away. Bob Prosen runs the consulting company, Prosen Center for Business. He’s helped business leaders rapidly increase performance, productivity and profits, and he’s also author of the book, “Kiss Theory Goodbye: Five Proven Ways to Get Extraordinary Results in Any Company.” Bob, welcome.

Mr. BOB PROSEN: Thank you.

RAMBERG: So, if you’re going to raise prices on your customers, one of the things you say is don’t surprise them. So, how do you give them warning?

Mr. PROSEN: Well, our customers are very important to us, lets not surprise them. Let’s let them know in advance that prices will increase. But, it’s important to explain to them in their language as to why prices are increasing. For instance, if its fuel surcharges, they’ll understand that. But its important we put it in their language so that they, in turn, can pass that along and plan for it in their own business.

RAMBERG: So, a lot of times when people are paying more, they expect to get more. So, you should communicate increased value I assume. But is saying, um--gas prices are going up for me, is that uh--the same as saying, you’re going to get more for your money?

Mr. PROSEN: No, definitely it’s not. In fact, the equation for value is benefits plus price. So, if prices are going to go up we have to have increased benefits for our customers. So, we can do things like under promise and over deliver. Give them a little bit more. Understand their customer’s customer. So that when we provide our services to them, they’re customized for our customers. They see more value, we understand their business, and therefore they’ll be more appreciative of what we do and less sensitive to price increases.

RAMBERG: That seems to--to follow into your next point, or go right into your next point, which is, track the quality of your products.

Mr. PROSEN: This is absolutely critical, and we can track the quality of our products many ways. Customers call us, complaints, warranty, rework. If we’ll deal with that, capture that, and inside of “Kiss Theory Goodbye” I teach business people how to reduce these problem occurrences and increase the quality of their product. You do it for two reasons: One, customers like us a lot more when things work the way they’re supposed to; and our cost structure goes down therefore maybe we don’t have to increase our prices as much and we can be more competitive.

RAMBERG: And then, also, relationships matter.

Mr. PROSEN: Oh this…

RAMBERG: So, if you have a good relationship, you can do more within that relationship.

Mr. PROSEN: Oh, definitely. People like to do business with people they like. So, lets make sure we stay in touch with our clients. Customize what we touch them with. You know, for instance, when I travel and I deal with business people, I always carry thank you notes in my briefcase. When I’m finished, I send them a note. It’s a rarity these days to even get a thank you note.

RAMBERG: Yeah, it absolutely is. So, about how much can you raise prices by? Can you suddenly figure out that your costs are gone up so much because of energy prices, or food prices, or gas prices, whatever it is, um--and raise it by 50%? Should you do it incrementally? Should you do it all at once? How does it work?

Mr. PROSEN: Yeah, that’s a great question. It depends on what industry you’re in. It depends on what you customers are doing. It depends on a number of things that determine how much, and when, and the frequency of our ability to raise prices. Therefore, what I always recommend to business leaders is work on your cost structure; make sure you’re efficient and effective. Keep your costs as low as you can. Therefore, you can be more competitive on your pricing. Sometimes, you have to pass along the price. Other times, try to absorb what you can through improved efficiencies.

RAMBERG: Should you be looking at your competitors and how much they’re charging?

Mr. PROSEN: Yes, you should absolutely be looking at your competitors. We always want to know what they’re charging. And by the way, we want to differentiate our products and services from our competitors. And, if we can prove a higher value by dealing with us versus our competitor we should be able to articulate that, and we do it based on facts because we know what’s going on in the industry.

RAMBERG: Alright, Bob I know a lot of people are thinking about raising prices so thanks for giving them some tips on how to actually do it.

Mr. PROSEN: My pleasure.

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