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DIAMOND-WATER PARADOX: The perplexing observation that water, which is more useful than diamonds, has a lower price. If price is related to utility, how can this occur? This paradox was first proposed by classical economists in the 19th century and was subsequently used as a stepping stone for developing the notion of marginal utility and the role it plays in the demand price of a good. The paradox is magically cleared up with an understanding of marginal utility and total utility. People are willing to pay a higher price for goods with greater marginal utility. As such, water which is plentiful has enormous total utility, but a low price because of a low marginal utility. Diamonds, however, have less total utility because they are less plentiful, but a high price because of a high marginal utility.
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INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE A given proportional change in all resources in the long run results in a proportional greater change in production. Increasing returns to scale exists if a firm increases ALL resources--labor, capital, and other inputs--by a given proportion (say 10 percent) and output increases by more than this proportion (that is more than 10 percent). This is one of three returns to scale. The other two are decreasing returns to scale and constant returns to scale.
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PURPLE SMARPHIN
[What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time waiting for visits from door-to-door solicitors seeking to buy either a large flower pot shaped like a Greek urn or a small palm tree that will fit on your coffee table. Be on the lookout for cardboard boxes.
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This isn't me! What am I?
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The 1909 Lincoln penny was the first U.S. coin with the likeness of a U.S. President.
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"Don't waste your effort on a thing that results in a petty triumph unless you are satisfied with a life of petty issues. " -- John D. Rockefeller, industrialist
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BCD
Business Cycle Development
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