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Economics Outcome 1

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Assessment task 1 1. SteamScot face a ‘basic economic problem’ what is this ‘problem’ and what is the opportunity cost of the replace and repair programme? The basic economic problem refers to a situation where human wants are unlimited while human resources are finite; it is the economic problem of scarcity of resources. At any one particular time, the resources of the earth are capable of producing a limited number of goods and services, however, human wants exceed limited production possibilities and this gives rise to what is known as the economic problem of scarcity. In the passage ,Steam Scot have a budget of £2.5 million and this can be spent on adding a new route are repairing and replacing existing railways; the choice …show more content…

Calculate, using total revenue, the price elasticity of demand when: a (i) price rises from £4 to £5 (ii) price falls from £4 to £3 I. Elasticity is a measure of the responsiveness of demand to changes in the price of a good or service. In the case of Steam Scot, when the price rises from 4 to 5, demand falls from 60,000 to 40,000 units. The original equilibrium market price of 4 pounds resulted in demand of 60,000 units and this generated revenue of 240,000 pounds. When the prices increased to 5 pounds the resulting demand is 40,000 units, and this generates total revenue of 200,000 pounds. When market price changes from 4 pounds to 5 pounds 40,000 pounds of revenue are lost in this indicates an elastic price elasticity of demand. II. When price falls from 4 pounds to 3 pounds the demand for travel increases to 80,000 units- At the original market price of 4 pounds the demand for travel was 60,000 units generating revenue of 240,000 pounds. When the price is reduced to 3 pounds the resulting demand is 80,000 units and this also generates income of 240,000 pounds. When market price changes and the resulting revenue remains the same it can be said that price elasticity of demand is unitary in

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