Question:
Read the following excerpts from the article "Fruit, veg costs surge' by Todd, Dagwell, published in the Herald on January 25th 2011 and answer questions below:
Assume that the Australian government wishes to keep fruit and vegetable prices from rising to a socially unacceptable level. There are two options being considered: lift the import ban or impose a price ceiling. You are expected to write an essay exploring the major issues raised in the article. In particular, you need to address the following issues:
1. Use the demand and supply model to show the likely short-term impact of the flood on the price and quantity of fruit and vegetables in Australia.
2. a) If a technological breakthrough ensures imported pumpkins are as good as domestic qualities and are thus allowed to be imported into Australia, use the demand and supply model to explain the short-term impact on the pumpkin market.
b) However, if consumers are uncertain regarding the quality of imported pumpkins, use the demand and supply analysis to explain the impact on the pumpkin soup market in the restaurant industry.
3. Referring to the determinants of price elasticity of demand as they apply to pineapples analyse the likely impact on the market if the government imposes a retail price ceiling of $40 a box on pineapples. Specify any assumptions you have made.
Additional Information:
The assignment question economics, particularly to macroeconomics and it is explain about how the concepts of demand and supply interact and arrive at equilibrium prices of perishables such as fruits and vegetables. The differences in supply of and demand for fruits and vegetables are studied on graphs. The points where supply and demand curves intersect is generally taken as the price of the product, in this case, fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are very much susceptible to price changes due to their volatile supply.
Word Limits: 1200