The following figure plots the average farm prices of potatoes in the United States for the years 1989 to 1998 versus the annual per capita consumption. Each point represents the price and quantity data for a given year.

Explain whether simply drawing the line that approximates the data points would give the accurate demand curve for potatoes.

In multiple regression analysis, explain why the typical hypothesis that analysts want to test is whether a particular regression coefficient (B) is equal to zero (H0: B = 0) versus whether that coefficient is not equal to zero (H1: B ≠ 0). Using the approximate data points from Part A, you may use Microsoft Excel or SPSS to assist with your answer.