King, a Library Sciences Student, Was Hired at $400 a Week

question 43

Multiple Choice

King, a library sciences student, was hired at $400 a week to catalogue the library of the very wealthy Earle family. He estimated that the work would be completed in early August, giving him a month of vacation, which he felt he badly needed. For the first three days on the job, King was kept busy running errands for Mr. Earle, who had a sprained ankle, and keeping him from getting bored. On the fourth day, Mrs. Earle was using the library for her bridge club and a meeting of her church Flower Committee, and on Friday she kept King busy running errands for the dinner party she was giving that night. After two weeks of this, King quit and took a labouring job for $275 a week.

• A) If a court agrees that the Earles' behaviour rendered the performance of the contract impossible, King may be able to recover the difference between the salaries for the two jobs.
• B) Since King was getting paid, it was irrelevant that he was not able to do the cataloguing and, when he quit, he breached the contract.
• C) If the Earles can convince a court that King abandoned the contract, he will get nothing.
• D) Since King was getting paid, it was irrelevant that he was not able to do the cataloguing and, when he quit, he breached the contract. If the Earles can convince a court that King abandoned the contract, he will get nothing.
• E) None of the responses are true.

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Definitions:

Western Europe

A region comprising countries located in the western part of the European continent, often associated with developed economies and democratic governance.

Disposable Income

Income remaining after deduction of taxes and social security charges, available to be spent or saved as one wishes.

APC

Average Propensity to Consume, which measures the fraction of income that households spend on consumption rather than saving.

MPS

Stands for Marginal Propensity to Save, which is the ratio of the change in savings to the change in disposable income. It indicates how much of an additional income unit is saved rather than spent.