Coronado Industries produces a product that requires 2.6 pounds of materials per unit. The allowance for waste and spoilage per unit is 0.3 pounds and 0.1 pounds, respectively. The purchase price is $2 per pound, but a 2% discount is usually taken. Freight costs are $0.1 per pound, and receiving and handling costs are $0.07 per pound. The hourly wage rate is $12 per hour, but a raise which will average $0.20 will go into effect soon. Payroll taxes are $1.10 per hour, and fringe benefits average $2.30 per hour. Standard production time is 1 hour per unit, and the allowance for rest periods and setup is 0.2 hours and 0.1 hours, respectively.

Suppose that fixed costs for a firm in the automobile industry (start-up costs of factories, capital equipment, and so on) are $5 billion and that variable costs are equal to $17,000 per finished automobile. because more firms increase competition in the market, the market price falls as more firms enter an automobile market, or specifically, , where n represents the number of firms in a market. assume that the initial size of the u.s. and the european automobile markets are 300 million and 533 million people, respectively.a. calculate the equilibrium number of firms in the u.s. and european automobile markets without trade.b. what is the equilibrium price of automobiles in the united states and europe if the automobile industry is closed to foreign trade? c. now suppose that the united states decides on free trade in automobiles with europe. the trade agreement with the europeans adds 533 million consumers to the automobile market, in addition to the 300 million in the united states. how many automobile firms will there be in the united states and europe combined? what will be the new equilibrium price of automobiles? d. why are prices in the united states different in (c) and (b)? are consumers better off with free trade? in what ways?