If Ming is willing to pay $75 to attend the Broadway production of The Lion King but actually pays $40, she receives a consumer surplus of $35

One reason patent protection is vitally important to pharmaceutical firms is

A) successful new drugs are not profitable. If firms are not granted patents many would go out of business and health care would be severely diminished. B) the approval process for new drugs through the Food and Drug Administration can take more than 10 years and is very costly. Patents enable firms to recover costs incurred during this process. C) the high salaries pharmaceutical firms pay to scientists and doctors make their labor costs higher than for any other business. Profits from patents are needed to pay these labor costs. D) that taxes on profits from drugs are very high; profits from patent protection enable firms to pay these taxes.

A decrease in the price of resources will cause the aggregate supply curve to

a. shift outward. b. shift inward. c. become flatter. d. become steeper.