Description
- Identify two (2) elastic and two (2) inelastic goods that you have purchased in the last month and explain the main reason why you identified them as such.
Explanation & Answer
I have bought a number of goods with inelastic demand lately. Let me look at two of them here.
First, I bought a container of salt. It weighed 26 ounces and cost $.48. The demand for this product is inelastic because it does not take up a significant portion of my budget. If the price were to double, I could afford it just as easily as I can now and would surely not notice the difference.
Second, I bought a new air conditioner condenser for my car. This did cost a lot of money. However, demand for it would be inelastic even so. This is because it is something that has no real substitutes. Since I live in a place where it gets very hot in the summer, I need the air conditioner. Goods with no substitutes typically have inelastic demand.
I have also bought things whose demand is elastic. Let me look at two of them.
First, I bought a certain brand of whole wheat bread. Demand for this is rather elastic because there are many kinds of substitutes for it. I could have bought a different brand of bread. I could have bought a different type of bread (for example, 7-grain bread or white bread).
Second, I bought a pair of swimming trunks. Demand for this would typically be elastic because this is not something that the average person needs right away. People can easily afford to wait, as I did, until the item goes on sale.
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