Which of the following illustrates the concept of a negative externality? a. A college professor plays a vigorous game of racquet ball with the racquet he recently purchased. b. A flood wipes out a farmer's corn crop. c. A college student plays loud music on his new stereo system at 2:00 a. m. d. A janitor eats a hamburger during his lunch break.

“dear sir: it is with great reluctance, i trouble you on a subject, which does not fall within your province; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress, than i have felt, since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most zealous exertions of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs. i mean the present dreadful situation of the army for want of provisions, and the miserable prospects before us, with respect to futurity. it is more alarming than you will probably conceive, for, to form a just idea, it were necessary to be on the spot. for some days past, there has been little less, than a famine in camp. a part of the army has been a week, without any kind of flesh, and the rest for three or four days. naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been ere this excited by their sufferings, to a general mutiny or dispersion. strong symptoms, however, discontent have appeared in particular instances; and nothing but the most acitive efforts every where can long avert so shocking a catastrophe.” what’s the central idea?

In 1914, alabama produced 1.7 million bales of cotton, but three years later produced only 515,000, bales. meanwhile, in georgia, 5.2 million acres of land was dedicated for cotton production in 1914, but by 1923 there were just 2.6 million acres used for growing cotton. all of this was the result of the work of a tiny insect: the boll weevil. alabama and georgia first felt the effects of the boll weevil at different times. what would account for this difference in timing? a) the infestation moved from west to east. b) the infestation moved from east to west. c) georgia had better ways to deal with the problem. d) alabama was further from the insect's point of origin.

6–7. white-collar crime. matthew simpson and others created and operated a series of corporate entities to defraud telecommunications companies, creditors, credit reporting agencies, and others. through these entities, simpson and the others used routing codes and spoofing services to make long-distance calls appear to be local. they stole other firms’ network capacity and diverted payments to themselves. they leased goods and services without paying for them. to hide their association with their corporate entities and with each other, they used false identities, addresses, and credit histories, and issued false bills, invoices, financial statements, and credit references,. did these acts constitute mail and wire fraud? discuss. [united states v. simpson, 741 f.3d 539 (5th cir. 2014)] (see types of crimes.)