The purchasing agent located a new source of slightly higher-quality plastic, and this material was used during the first week in January. Also, a new manufacturing process was implemented on a trial basis. The new process required a slightly higher level of skilled labor. The higher-quality material has no effect on labor utilization. However, the new manufacturing process was expected to reduce materials usage by 0.25 pound per container. Required: 1. Conceptual Connection: Compute the materials price and usage variances. Assume that the 0.25 pound per container reduction of materials occurred as expected and that the remaining effects are all attributable to the higher-quality material. Would you recommend that the purchasing agent continue to buy this quality, or should the usual quality be purchased

Afreelance​ singer-songwriter is planning the restoration of a recently purchased civil​ war-era farmhouse. while he professes an enjoyment​ of, and talent in the construction​ trades, the theory of comparative advantage implies that a. the value of what he imports​ (in this​ case, professional contractor​ services) must equal the value of what he exports​ (songs). b. he should concentrate on the restoration work since his​ out-of-pocket costs will be much lower than if he hires professionals. c. ​self-sufficiency is​ advantageous, hence he should split his time between music and construction. d. the income lost while away from music will likely exceed the savings realized by doing the work​ himself, thus, he should hire professionals to do the restoration work. e. he ought to do as much of the work himself as possible since imports​ (in this​ case, professional contractor​ services) should always be restricted to those things that cannot be done internall

James albemarle created a trust fund at the beginning of 2016. the income from this fund will go to his son edward. when edward reaches the age of 25, the principal of the fund will be conveyed to united charities of cleveland. mr. albemarle specified that 75 percent of trustee fees are to be paid from principal. terry jones, cpa, is the trustee. james albemarle transferred cash of $500,000, stocks worth $400,000, and rental property valued at $250,000 to the trustee of this fund. immediately invested cash of $360,000 in bonds issued by the u.s. government. commissions of $7,900 are paid on this transaction. incurred permanent repairs of $9,000 so that the property can be rented. payment is made immediately. received dividends of $8,000. of this amount, $3,000 had been declared prior to the creation of the trust fund. paid insurance expense of $4,000 on the rental property. received rental income of $10,000. paid $8,000 from the trust for trustee services rendered. conveyed cash of $7,000 to edward albemarle.

Suppose a firm faces a fixed price of output, 푝푝= 1200. the firm hires workers from a union at a daily wage, 푤푤, to produce output according to the production function 푞푞= 2퐸퐸12. there are 225 workers in the union. any union worker who does not work for this firm is guaranteed to find nonunion employment at a wage of $96 per day. a.what is the firm’s labor demand function? b.if the firm is allowed to choose 푤푤, but then the union decides how many workers to provide (up to 225) at that wage, what wage will the firm set? how many workers will the union provide? what is the firm’s output and profit? what is the total income of the 225 union workers? c.now suppose that the union sets the wage, but the firm decides how many workers to hire at that wage (up to 225). what wage will the union set to maximize the total income of all 225 workers? how many workers will the firm hire? what is the firm’s output and profit? what is the total income of the 225 union workers? [hint: to maximize total income of union, take the first order condition with respect to w and set equal to 0.]