Mr. Smith is president of a firm that is the industry price leader; that is, it sets the price and other firms sell all they want at that price. The other firms act as perfect competitors. The demand curve for this industry's product is P=300-Q, where P is the price of the product and Q is the total quantity demanded. The total amount supplied by the other firms is equal to Qr, where Qr=49P. (P dollars per barrel, Q, Qr, & Qb is millions barrels per week.)
A) If Smith's firm's marginal cost curve is 2.96Qb, where Qb is the output of his firm, at what output level should he operate to maximize profit?
B) What price should he charge?
C) How much does the industry as a whole produce at this price?
D) Is Smith's firm the dominant firm in the industry?