# Advanced Micro I – Williams Final Edition

1. Which of the following images is a graph of the standard intertemporal 2-period model?

A

B

C

(2014 #1)

2. True or false: Cost curves are monetized reciprocals of product curves? Explain.

(#76, #104, 2014 2.b)

3. Give a brief answer to the following:

Collusions have the natural tendency to break down.

(#40.a)

4. Explain what Hayek might mean when he asserts that: “The most significant fact about the price system is the economy of knowledge with which it operates.”

(#97.a, 2014 #3.b)

5. Is the following statement true or false? Explain.

Price discrimination tends to be more common in the sale of services than in the sale of manufactured goods.

(2014 #3.c)

6. An urban rapid-transit line runs crowded trains (200 passengers per car) at rush hours, but very empty trains (ten passengers per car) at off peak hours. A management consultant makes the following argument: “The cost of running a car for one trip on this line is about $50 regardless of the number of passengers. So the per passenger cost is about 25¢ at rush hour but rises to$5 per passenger in off peak hours. Consequently, we had better discourage off-peak hour business.” Explain the fallacy.

“Commutation tickets” sold by some transit systems (reduced-price, multiple-ride tickets) are predominantly used in rush hours. Are such tickets a good idea?

(#42)

7. The literature on the behavior of the firm poses it as a profit maximizer, a wealth maximizer, a growth maximizer, a sales maximizer, a sales maximizer subject to a prescribed profit rate.

Which of these do you use, why, and how do you manage to allow for these other assertions of firm behavior?

(#45)

8. Give a brief answer to the following:

Laissez-faire capitalism encourages deceitful advertising, dishonesty, and faithlessness.

(#40.c)

9. Give a brief answer to the following:

Cost minimization is the general criterion of economic behavior.*

*Hint: Williams implicitly assumes costs are accounting costs.

(#40.b)

10. Some discount stores advertise that they can sell for less because they buy directly from the factory and sell to the consumer, thus eliminating middlemen. What is the flaw in that reasoning?

(2007 #4.a)