How does free trade benefit businesses? For example, how does it encourage
investment?

Alandowner entered into a written agreement with a real estate broker whereby the broker would receive a commission of 10% of the sale price if he procured a "ready, willing, and able buyer" for the landowner's property and if the sale actually proceeded through closing. the broker found a buyer who agreed in writing to buy the property from the landowner for $100,000, the landowner's asking price. the buyer put up $6,000 as a down payment. the agreement between the landowner and the buyer contained a liquidated damages clause providing that, if the buyer defaulted by failing to tender the balance due of $94,000 at the closing date, damages would be 10% of the purchase price. the landowner included that clause because she was counting on using the proceeds of the sale for a business venture that would likely net her at least $10,000. the buyer became seriously ill and defaulted. when he recovered, he demanded that the landowner return his $6,000, and the landowner refused. the broker also demanded the $6,000 from the landowner and was refused. the broker and the buyer filed separate suits against the landowner, with the buyer pleading impossibility of performance. the two cases are consolidated into a single case. how should the court rule as to the disposition of the $6,000?

Dahlia enterprises needs someone to supply it with 127,000 cartons of machine screws per year to support its manufacturing needs over the next five years, and you’ve decided to bid on the contract. it will cost you $940,000 to install the equipment necessary to start production; you’ll depreciate this cost straight-line to zero over the project’s life. you estimate that in five years, this equipment can be salvaged for $77,000. your fixed production costs will be $332,000 per year, and your variable production costs should be $11.00 per carton. you also need an initial investment in net working capital of $82,000. if your tax rate is 30 percent and your required return is 11 percent on your investment, what bid price should you submit? (do not round intermediate calculations and round your final answer to 2 decimal places. (e.g., 32.16))

White truffles are a very prized and rare edible fungus that grow naturally in the countryside near alba, italy. suppose that it costs $200 per day to search for white truffles. on an average day, the total number of white truffles (t) found in alba is t = 20x − x 2 , where x is the number of people searching for white truffles on that day. white truffles can be sold for $100 each. if there is no regulation, how many more people will be searching for white truffles than the socially optimal number?