The first principle of economics in Chapter 1 is thatpeople face trade-offs. Use a production possibilitiesfrontier to illustrate society’s trade-off between two“goods”—a clean environment and the quantity ofindustrial output. What do you suppose determinesthe shape and position of the frontier? Show whathappens to the frontier if engineers develop anew way of producing electricity that emits fewerpollutants cars. In an hour, Larry can either mow one lawn orwash one car; Moe can either mow one lawn or washtwo cars; and Curly can either mow two lawns orwash one car.a. Calculate how much of each service is producedin the following scenarios, which we label A, B,C, and D:• All three spend all their time mowing lawns. (A)• All three spend all their time washing cars. (B)• All three spend half their time on each activity. (C)• Larry spends half his time on each activity, whileMoe only washes cars and Curly only mowslawns. (D)b. Graph the production possibilities frontier for thiseconomy. Using your answers to part a, identifypoints A, B, C, and D on your graph.c. Explain why the production possibilities frontierhas the shape it does.d. Are any of the allocations calculated in part ainefficient? Explain.
The first principle of economics in Chapter 1 is that
people face trade-offs. Use a production possibilities
frontier to illustrate society’s trade-off between two
“goods”—a clean environment and the quantity of
industrial output. What do you suppose determines
the shape and position of the frontier? Show what
happens to the frontier if engineers develop a
new way of producing electricity that emits fewer
pollutants cars. In an hour, Larry can either mow one lawn or
wash one car; Moe can either mow one lawn or wash
two cars; and Curly can either mow two lawns or
wash one car.
a. Calculate how much of each service is produced
in the following scenarios, which we label A, B,
C, and D:
• All three spend all their time mowing lawns. (A)
• All three spend all their time washing cars. (B)
• All three spend half their time on each activity. (C)
• Larry spends half his time on each activity, while
Moe only washes cars and Curly only mows
lawns. (D)
b. Graph the production possibilities frontier for this
economy. Using your answers to part a, identify
points A, B, C, and D on your graph.
c. Explain why the production possibilities frontier
has the shape it does.
d. Are any of the allocations calculated in part a
inefficient? Explain.
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