1. Describe how you would handle this situation: You just picked up a memo from your boss to another manager detailing the reason a coworker should be first.

Aldrich and co. sold goods to donovan on credit. the amount owed grew steadily, and finally aldrich refused to sell any more to donovan unless donovan signed a promissory note for the amount due. donovan did not want to but signed the note because he had no money and needed more goods. when aldrich brought an action to enforce the note, donovan claimed that the note was not binding because it had been obtained by economic duress. was he correct? [aldrich & co. v. donovan, 778 p.2d 397 (mont.)]

In the fall, jay thompson decided to live in a university dormitory. he signed a dorm contract under which he was obligated to pay the room rent for the full college year. one clause stated that if he moved out during the year, he could sell his dorm contract to another student who would move into the dormitory as his replacement. the dorm cost was $5000 for the two semesters, which jay had already paid a month after he moved into the dorm, he decided he would prefer to live in an apartment. that week, after some searching for a replacement to fulfill his dorm contract, jay had two offers. one student offered to move in immediately and to pay jay $300 per month for the eight remaining months of the school year. a second student offered to move in the second semester and pay $2500 to jay. jay estimates his food cost per month is $500 if he lives in the dorm and $450 if he lives in an apartment with three other students. his share of the apartment rent and utilities will be $404 per month. assume each semester is 4.5 months long. disregard the small differences in the timing of the disbursements or receipts. what is the cost of the cheapest alternative?

5. profit maximization and shutting down in the short run suppose that the market for polos is a competitive market. the following graph shows the daily cost curves of a firm operating in this market. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 price (dollars per polo) quantity (thousands of polos) mc atc avc for each price in the following table, calculate the firm's optimal quantity of units to produce, and determine the profit or loss if it produces at that quantity, using the data from the previous graph to identify its total variable cost. assume that if the firm is indifferent between producing and shutting down, it will produce. (hint: you can select the purple points [diamond symbols] on the previous graph to see precise information on average variable cost.) price quantity total revenue fixed cost variable cost profit (dollars per polo) (polos) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) 12.50 135,000 27.50 135,000 45.00 135,000 if the firm shuts down, it must incur its fixed costs (fc) in the short run. in this case, the firm's fixed cost is $135,000 per day. in other words, if it shuts down, the firm would suffer losses of $135,000 per day until its fixed costs end (such as the expiration of a building lease). this firm's shutdown price—that is, the price below which it is optimal for the firm to shut down—is per polo.