ECON 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Demand Curve, Deadweight Loss, Market Distortion

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skywildebeest541

22 Dec 2020

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Document Summary

Cost is more than just the money paid to the government. It is also the inefficiency, missed opportunities, because the tax discouraged the mutually beneficial transactions. Excise tax = price paid by consumer price paid by producer. Fall in consumer/producer surplus = sum of rectangle and triangle. Revenue government collects = tax per unit sold * quantity sold. = to the area of a rectangle quantity with tax * height of tax. Government gains part of what consumers and producers lose from an excise tax. Government does not gain the other part of what consumers and producers lose from an excise tax. Represents total loss to society because of the tax. If the excise tax somehow didn"t reduce the quantity bought and sold in the market, deadweight loss from the tax would be zero. Tax simply shifts surplus straight from consumers and producers to the government.

Related Questions

The market for packets of cigarettes has been described by the following supply and demand functions:

Supply: P = 10 + 4Q Demand: P = 100 - 5Q where P is the price in dollars and Q is the quantity of packets of cigarettes per month (in thousands).

Part A) Construct a graph of supply and demand for this market showing all intercepts. What are the equilibrium prices and quantities? Show these on your graph.

Part B) At the market equilibrium price, what would be the total monthly revenue?

Part C) Calculate consumer surplus at the market equilibrium and indicate this surplus as an area on your diagram.

Part D) Calculate producer surplus at the market equilibrium and indicate this surplus as an area on your diagram.

Part E) Assume that a per-unit tax of $9.00 per packet of cigarettes is imposed by the government on the suppliers of cigarettes. Depict this on your demand and supply diagram. (Hint: the new tax inclusive supply function will be: P = 19 + 4Q). What is the new market equilibrium quantity? What price will consumers now pay and what price will suppliers now receive?

Part F) How much is the government revenue from the tax on suppliers?

Part G) Calculate consumer surplus and producer surplus after the imposition of the tax and any deadweight loss associated with the tax. Indicate these surplus and tax revenue areas on your diagram. Explain what the deadweight loss represents.

Part H) Now assume that instead of imposing a per-unit tax of $9.00 per pack on the suppliers of cigarettes the government decides to apply the same per-unit tax of $9.00 on consumers. Depict this on your demand and supply diagram. (Hint: the new tax inclusive demand function will be: P = 91 - 5Q) What is the new market equilibrium quantity? What price will consumers now pay and what price will suppliers now receive? (5 marks)

Part I) How much is the government revenue from the tax on consumers? (1 mark)

Part J) Who bears the greatest burden of the tax in each case, producers or consumers? Does your answer depend on whether the tax is levied on producers or consumers?

I am really having difficulty understanding Part J - can that please be answered with some detail?

carminewildebeest911

Under a binding price ceiling, what does the change in consumer surplus represent?
A) The gain in surplus for those buyers who can still purchase the product at the lower price.
B) The loss in surplus for those buyers who previously purchased some units of the good at the higher price, but these units are no longer produced at the lower price.
C) The loss in surplus for those buyers who would like the purchase the excess demand created by the price ceiling policy.
D) Both A and B are correct.
E) Both A and C are correct.

When the market price is held above the competitive level, the deadweight loss is composed of:

A) producer surplus losses associated with units that used to be traded on the market but are no longer exchanged.

B) consumer surplus losses associated with units that used to be traded on the market but are no longer exchanged.
C) producer and consumer surplus losses associated with units that used to be traded on the market but are no longer exchanged.
D) There is no deadweight loss if the government uses a price floor policy to increase the price.

Compared to a tariff, an import quota, which restricts imports to the same amount as the tariff, will leave the country as a whole
A) worse off than a comparable tariff.
B) not as bad off as a comparable tariff.

C) about the same as a comparable tariff.

D) Any of the above can be true.

What is the welfare impact of a subsidy policy?
A) Producer surplus increases, consumer surplus declines, and total welfare declines.
B) Producer and consumer surplus increase, and these gains are larger than the government cost.

C) Producer and consumer surplus increase, and these gains are smaller than the government cost.

D) Producer surplus increases, consumer surplus declines, and total welfare increases due to the subsidy program.

Why is there a deadweight loss associated with subsidy payments?
A) There is no deadweight loss from a subsidy.
B) Quantity supplied is less than the equilibrium amount, so consumers and producers lose surplus value on those units that are no longer produced.
C) Quantity supplied exceeds the equilibrium amount, and consumer willingness to pay for these additional units is smaller than the marginal cost of producing them.
D) The subsidy payment does not distort quantities in the market, but the government cost exceeds consumer willingness to pay for the quantity demanded.