Ecological economist A. Treehugger is concerned about the significant amount of sulfur dioxide emissions associated with the production of electricity. Sulfur dioxide can result in acid rain that is harmful to human and environmental health. Price Social Marginal Costs External Costs = $0.04 $0.20 Private Marginal Costs $0.17- $0.16 'Demand 1,000 3,000 Quantity (kWh)

Use a graph to illustrate the quantity of pollution that would be emitted (a) after a corrective tax has been imposed and (b) after tradable pollution permits have been imposed. Could these two quantities ever be equivalent?

Principles of Microeconomics Prof. Pinyuan Dong Due October 12, 2022 Problem Set 2 A. Suppose the demand and supply for the market of cigarettes in a city is given by QD = 400-50P, Qs = 50P. 1. Graph the demand and supply curves. What is the market equilibrium price and quantity? 2. The city council wants to discourage smoking. If the socially optimal demand for cigarettes is QD 200-50P, what can the city council do to achieve the socially optimal demand? 3. What is the quantity of cigarette sold after the government takes appropriate actions? How much do consumers pay and how much do producers get? Is the government action effective in its objective of discouraging cigarette consumption? B. Suppose the local gas station in a small town sells regular gasoline at $4/gallon. The gas station sells 100 gallons in a day. Due to global gas prices, it increased the price to $5/gallon. The next day, the gas station is only selling 90 gallons a day 1. Using these two points, calculate the price…

Price $40 Marginal Social Cost $36 $32 Supply/ Marginal Private Cost $28 $24 $20 $16 $12 $8 $4 Demand 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Quantity 1) Does the above diagram depict a positive externality or a negative externality? 2) What is the market quantity and price? 3) What is the socially optimal quantity? 4) What is the socially optimal price? 5) At the socially optimal price and quantity, what is the consumer surplus? 6) At the socially optimal price and quantity, what is the producer surplus? Remember, producers care about their private costs.| Next, suppose that the government steps in to mandate the socially optimal quantity, but does not allow the price to rise. 7) What is the consumer surplus? 8) What is the producer surplus?