Price Floors and Producer Surplus

question 20

Essay

Price Floors and Producer Surplus. The U. S. wheat crop averages about 2 billion bushels per year, and is about 10 percent of the 20 billion-bushel foreign wheat crop. Typically, the market has a relatively good estimate of the wheat crop from the United States and Canada, but wheat crops from the Southern Hemisphere are much harder to predict. Argentina's wheat acreage varies dramatically from one year to another, for example, and Australia has hard-to-predict rainfall in key wheat production areas. To illustrate some of the cost in social welfare from agricultural price supports, assume the following market supply and demand conditions for wheat:
where Q is output in bushels of wheat (in millions), and P is the market price per bushel.

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Definitions:

Financial Intermediaries

Institutions that act as middlemen between savers and borrowers, facilitating the flow of funds in the financial system.

Diversify Their Portfolios

The strategy of spreading investments among various financial instruments, industries, and other categories to minimize risk.

Credit Risk

The potential that a borrower will fail to meet their obligations in accordance with agreed terms.

Capital Resources

Economic assets used by businesses to produce goods and services, such as buildings, machinery, and equipment.