What do consumers and business in the market economy seek to do ?

Which maxim is being neglected in the following conversation? eli: how did you do at the track meet? caleb: i came in second place! eli: congratulations! what was your time? caleb: six minutes, four seconds. the guy who won only beat me by three seconds. eli: really? katie said the winning time was under 6 minutes. caleb: oh, well, he might have beat me by five seconds. a)maxim of quantity b)maxim of quality c)maxim of relevance d)maxim of manner

You are the manager of a large crude-oil refinery. as part of the refining process, a certain heat exchanger (operated at high temperatures and with abrasive material flowing through it) must be replaced every year. the replacement and downtime cost in the first year is $165 comma 000. this cost is expected to increase due to inflation at a rate of 7% per year for six years (i.e. until the eoy 7), at which time this particular heat exchanger will no longer be needed. if the company's cost of capital is 15% per year, how much could you afford to spend for a higher quality heat exchanger so that these annual replacement and downtime costs could be eliminated?

Asap! the following information is given for tripp company which uses the indirect method.