Starling Co. is considering disposing of a machine with a book value of $12,500 and estimated remaining life of five years. The old machine can be sold for $1,500. A new high-speed machine can be purchased at a cost of $25,000. It will have a useful life of five years and no residual value. It is estimated that the annual variable manufacturing costs will be reduced from $26,000 to $23,500 if the new machine is purchased. The five-year differential effect on profit from replacing the machine is a(n)

Suppose that: 1. malaysia requires 1 hour of labor to produce 1 pound of rice and 2 hours of labor to produce 1 pencil; 2. indonesia requires 2 hours of labor to produce 1 pound of rice and 4 hours of labor to produce 1 pencil; 3. each country has 10,000 hours of labor to allocate between the production of rice and pencils; and 4. in autarky, malaysia consumes 5,000 pounds of rice and 2,500 pencils. which country has an absolute advantage in rice production? in pencil production? which country has a comparative advantage in rice production? in pencil production? will trade between the two countries be mutually beneficial?