In 2014, a major ice storm hit the southeastern U.S. The storm brought down power lines and trees, cutting electricity in many areas, making travel difficult, and slowing down repair crews. Heating homes became a major challenge. The storm created shortages of power generators. As a result, those products sold at prices much higher than normal. These high prices provoked cries of "price gouging" and calls on the government to impose price controls to prevent gouging. While no one likes to pay a higher price than normal for something, consider what would have happened with a price celling. The economic intuition is revealing. Draw a diagram showing the market for generators with an equilibrium price at $250. Now impose a price ceiling at $200 per generator. What would be the impact of the price ceiling on the quantity demanded? On the quantity supplied Who would benefit from the price ceiling and who would be harmed? Let the graph guide your thinking. Don't start with your gut reaction! Did the price ceiling help the people it was designed to help? Explain the economic reasoning behind your analysis.

A firestorm of controversy erupted recently on social media outlets and the national press as three teens died attempting to complete the Monster Challenge, which involves recording a person's mass consumption of energy drinks in a very small window of time. Five others were rushed to the hospital. Deeper investigation by media outlets has shed light on the disturbing number of Americans who are hopelessly addicted to energy drinks.  Lawmakers, including Senator Miller (D-CA), have called for an aggressive tax on energy drinks to stop this scourge that is ravaging the community. The Miller Bill would place a two dollar tax on energy drink tall cans (that on average cost $2.50) in all American markets. Other members of Congress led by Senator Cruz (R-TX), however, believed that tax to be too high, so the Miller Bill was amended to decrease the size of the tax to just one dollar.  Therefore, Senator Miller has asked his team of young, expert economists (that's you all) to project the…

The nature of demand indicates that as the price of a good increases:     suppliers wish to sell less of it.     more of it is produced.     more of it is desired.     buyers desire to purchase less of it.

On April 1, the price of gas at Bob's Corner Station was $4.95 per gallon. On May 1, the price was $5.45 per gallon. On June 1, it was back down to $4.95 per gallon. Between April 1 and May 1, Bob's price increased by or Between May 1 and June 1, Bob's price decreased by or Suppose that at a gas station across the street, prices are always 20% higher than Bob's. In absolute dollar terms, the difference between Bob's prices and the prices across the street is when gas costs $5.45 than when gas costs $4.95. Some economists blame high commodity prices (including the price of gas) on interest rates being too low. Suppose the Fed raises the target for the federal funds rate from 2% to 2.75%. This change of percentage points means that the Fed raised its target by approximately