Xander Harris is considering whether to buy a corn and soybean farm in Iowa. The farm will cost $800,000, and Xander will be able to pay this from profits his recently deceased mother made on the stock market and willed to him. He estimates that if he does not run the farm, and keeps his current job as an economic forecaster, he will be able to earn $40,000 a year. The prevailing interest rate is 9 percent. Xander's only motive is to maximize his income.
a) Should he buy the farm, and become a farmer from an accounting viewpoint if his accountant tells him the annual profit from the farm is likely to be:
i) $160,000?
ii) $100,000?
iii) $50,000?
b) Since he is currently an economist, Xander decides to recalculate the profit figures in a) according to the logic used by economists rather than accountants. What profit figures does he come up with? Do these new figures cause him to change his mind about becoming a farmer?