1. Recently there has been discussion in the news about taxing junk food (soft drinks, for example) in an effort to reduce the incidence of obesity in the U.S. Do you think the demand for junk food is elastic or inelastic with respect to price.
2. Thinking back to the discussion on the state of the macroeconomy, would you describe the economy as booming, recovering, or in recession during the last few years? Why? Use the AD/AS model to illustrate this graphically. Which curve do you think caused the change? Explain your reasoning.
3. Economists have long known that free markets are perfectly efficient. Consider Q1 in the graph, above. How much do consumers value one more unit of output (Q1 + 1)? How much do producers value one more unit of output? Use the concepts of consumer surplus and producer surplus to explain why Q2 is more efficient than Q1. Now use the concept of total economic surplus to explain why the equilibrium quantity is the most efficient. Why would Q4 be less efficient than the equilibrium quantity?