Let the following be the supply and demand for coconuts. P            2            3            4            5            6            7            8            9            10            11            12 Qs         100       200        300        400       500       600        700       800        900         1000        1100 QD        550       500        450        400       350       300        250       200        150         100          50 Now imagine that there is a price ceiling on coconuts at $3 but in order to prevent wasting peoples' time by making them wait in line, the government hands out ration coupons to people.  In order to buy a coconut you need a coupon.  Assume that the number of coupons is the appropriate number to clear the market with the price ceiling (you should know what that is). Now notice that the government probably doesn't know who has the highest marginal value for coconuts so, while this will eliminate the waste from the line it will most likely not allocate the coconuts efficiently.  However, we can solve this problem by allowing people to trade the coupons!  So imagine that there is such a market and it is perfectly competitive.  a. What will the price of a coupon be in this market? b. Draw the price ceiling graph and identify the consumer and producer surplus, and the dead weight loss.  There should be an area in there which would have been the cost of the line had there been a line.  Label this area "A."  Who gets this surplus now?

Principles of Economics 2e
2nd Edition
ISBN:9781947172364
Author:Steven A. Greenlaw; David Shapiro
Publisher:Steven A. Greenlaw; David Shapiro
Chapter3: Demand And Supply
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 57P: A low-income county decides to set a price ceiling on bread so it can make sure that bread is...
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Let the following be the supply and demand for coconuts.

P            2            3            4            5            6            7            8            9            10            11            12

Qs         100       200        300        400       500       600        700       800        900         1000        1100

QD        550       500        450        400       350       300        250       200        150         100          50

Now imagine that there is a price ceiling on coconuts at $3 but in order to prevent wasting peoples' time by making them wait in line, the government hands out ration coupons to people.  In order to buy a coconut you need a coupon.  Assume that the number of coupons is the appropriate number to clear the market with the price ceiling (you should know what that is). Now notice that the government probably doesn't know who has the highest marginal value for coconuts so, while this will eliminate the waste from the line it will most likely not allocate the coconuts efficiently.  However, we can solve this problem by allowing people to trade the coupons!  So imagine that there is such a market and it is perfectly competitive. 

a. What will the price of a coupon be in this market?

b. Draw the price ceiling graph and identify the consumer and producer surplus, and the dead weight loss.  There should be an area in there which would have been the cost of the line had there been a line.  Label this area "A."  Who gets this surplus now?

Expert Solution
Step 1

As per the given information, demand = supply for price $5. At this price, the QD = QS = 400.
Now as government imposes price ceiling, the price will drop to the ceiling if it is below equilibrium. Ceiling is $3. Equilibrium price is $5.

Here the equilibrium quantity is 400 units and price is $5. The green line shows the price ceiling. Hence price will drop to $3. From the table we can see, at this price, QD = 500 and Qs = 200.
Hence there arises a shortage of supply by 300 units.

a) To avoid crowd, government decides to distribute coupon. The price of coupon will be $3, equal to the ceiling.

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