Gouge-em Cable Company is the only cable television and Internet service company licensed to operate in Backwater County. Most of its costs are access fees and maintenance expenses. These fixed costs total $6,400,000 monthly. The marginal cost of adding another subscriber to its system is constant at $20 per month. Gouge-em’s demand curve can be determined from the data in the accompanying table. 

a. What price will Gouge-em charge for its services? What are its profits at this price? 

b. Now suppose the Backwater County Public Utility Commission has the data and believes that subscription rates in the county are too expensive and that Gouge-em’s profits are unfairly high. What regulated price will it set so that Gouge-em makes only a normal rate of return on its investment?

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SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $250 200 150 100 50 10 NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS (PER MONTH) 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 150,000