Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson said that comparative advantage is one of the few ideas in economics that is both "true and not obvious." Since it's not obvious, we should practice with it a bit. In each of the following cases below, who has the absolute advantage at each task, and who has the comparative advantage?
a. In 30 minutes, Kana can either make miso soup or she can clean the kitchen. In 15 minutes, Mitchell can make miso soup; it takes Mitchell and hour to clean the kitchen.
b. In one hour, Ethan can bake 20 cookies or lay the drywall for two rooms. In one hour, Sienna can bake 100 cookies or lay the drywall for three rooms.
c. Kara can build two glass sculptures per day or she can design two full-page newspaper advertisements per day. Sara can build one glass sculpture per day or design four full-page newspaper ads per day.
d. Data can write 12 excellent poems per day or solve 100 difficult physics problems per day. Riker can write one excellent poem per day or solve 0.5 difficult physics problems per day.

Paar corporation bought 100 percent of kimmel, inc., on january 1, 2012. on that date, paar’s equipment (10-year life) has a book value of $420,000 but a fair value of $520,000. kimmel has equipment (10-year life) with a book value of $272,000 but a fair value of $400,000. paar uses the equity method to record its investment in kimmel. on december 31, 2014, paar has equipment with a book value of $294,000 but a fair value of $445,200. kimmel has equipment with a book value of $190,400 but a fair value of $357,000. the consolidated balance for the equipment account as of december 31, 2014 is $574,000. what would be the impact on consolidated balance for the equipment account as of december 31, 2014 if the parent had applied the initial value method rather than the equity method? the balance in the consolidated equipment account cannot be determined for the initial value method using the information given. the consolidated equipment account would have a higher reported balance. the consolidated equipment account would have a lower reported balance. no effect: the method the parent uses is for internal reporting purposes only and has no impact on consolidated totals.

Jewelry manufacturers produce a range of products such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches. what fundamental economic question are they addressing by offering this range of items?

As the inventor of hypertension medication, onesure pharmaceuticals (osp) inc. was able to reap the benefits of economies of scale due to a large consumer demand for the drug. even when competitors later developed similar drugs after the expiry of osp's patents, regular users did not want to switch because they were concerned about possible side effects. which of the following benefits does this scenario best illustrate? a. first-mover advantages b. social benefits c. network externalities d. fringe benefits