Imagine that you have decided to open a small ice cream stand on campus. Here is the first month's scenario, you order the same number and variety of ice creams each day from the ice cream suppliers, and your ice cream bars are always marked at $2.25 each (which cost you $1.00 each from the suppliers). However, you notice that there are days when ice creams remain unsold but other days when there are not enough ice creams for the number of customers. Using your knowledge of the factors that cause shifts in demand provide four reasons why ice cream sales fluctuate in this manner.

Now assume that a month later, the school allows a competing student the right to sell ice creams on school property. (The number of students on campus remains largely unchanged.) What do you think will happen to the price of ice cream at your campus? Overall, why would you consider deviating from your price of $2.25 when market conditions change?

Be sure to apply opportunity cost and marginal analysis as well as optimization and equilibrium. Describe also how supply and demand play a role in this scenario.