Devry ECON312 2022 January Week 3 Discussion Latest

ECON312 Principles of Economics

Week 3 Discussion

Market Structure and Profit Maximization

In these discussions, exploration is encouraged! Tie your responses to the lesson, readings, and concepts being covered this week.

Each week you must post three times (details below).

Discussion Requirements:

Frequency: Make three posts during the week, with each post submitted on a different date (three separate days), with the first post made no later than Wednesday 11:59 p.m. MT.

Initial Post (20 points): Provide a 200 words or less comprehensive response to your choice of any of the questions below. Make sure to copy and paste the question above your response so the reader knows which question you are answering. The copy/pasted question text/title is excluded from the word count.

Response Posts (5 points each): Provide two separate high-quality responses (more than just "I agree", etc.) to any of your peers' Initial Posts and/or to instructor posts.

Multimedia Responses:

Rather than just posting text, any post can be submitted as a multimedia piece that accompanies a short description in the post's comment area. This multimedia piece could be an attached narrated PowerPoint file, a linked or embedded Kaltura video, an audio-only podcast-style response, or another similar type of multimedia presentation.

1. Concepts of Cost

1. Use an appropriate example from your experience to distinguish between accounting profit, economic profit, and normal profit. Based on your analysis, does accounting profit or economic profit determine how entrepreneurs allocate resources between different business ventures? Please explain based on your example.

2. Market Structure: Pricing

2. Your uncle has just purchased a wheat farm and wants your advice on how he should price his product. Explain to your uncle the characteristics of the market structure under which his farm falls and how this will help him to determine the price and quantity of the wheat he will produce.

3. Market Structure: Barriers to Entry

3. Barriers to entry are an important characteristic of market structures. Discuss the major barriers and how these can foster a monopoly or an oligopoly. How do these barriers give rise to monopolies that are considered socially justifiable?

4. Market Structure: Characteristics

4. You have been retained as a consultant by a small firm that is opening a neighborhood Mexican restaurant in a suburban community. Explain to the owners the basic characteristics of the market structure they are operating in and how they should differentiate their restaurant from others in the area?

5. Current Event: COVID-19 and Its Economic Impact

5. The economic fallout from COVID-19 has been devastating and the end is not in sight. When we shopped in the past, it was easy to find items such as toilet paper, cleansers, and so on. Shoppers in 2020 rarely or inconsistently can find these items. In your opinion, why is it so hard now? Are there any steps that can be taken to alleviate these shortages? Respond to these questions by submitting a one- to two-slide narrated PowerPoint file or a short video.