Instructions
For the following 10 questions, consider an economy which is initially in equilibrium without a tax, with P* of $90 and Q* of 10. Later, a tax is put on the market that changes the quantity to 5, the price paid by buyers to $120 and the price received by sellers to $70. The supply and demand curves are smooth, straight lines, with the vertical intercept for the demand curve at 150 and the vertical intercept for the supply curve at 50.
1. What is consumer surplus before the tax?
2. What is producer surplus before the tax?
3. What is the amount of the tax (per unit)?
4. What is consumer surplus after the tax?
5. What is producer surplus after the tax?
6. What is the tax incidence for buyers (per unit)? Write your answer in absolute value (regardless if it is an increase or a decrease).
7. What is the tax incidence for sellers (per unit)? Write your answer in absolute value (regardless if it is an increase or a decrease).
8. What is the amount of tax revenue?
9. What is the amount of deadweight loss?
10. Which side of the market is more elastic, from your findings, and what does this imply about the slope of the curve?
A. Demand is more elastic than supply and the demand curve is flatter than the supply curve.
B. Demand is more elastic than supply and the demand curve is steeper than the supply curve.
C. Supply is more elastic than demand and the supply curve is flatter than the demand curve.
D. Supply is more elastic than demand and the supply curve is steeper than the demand curve.