Question

a) Answer the following questions using demand-supply diagrams.

i) What will happen to the equilibrium price and quantity of apples if the wage paid to apple pickers rises? Explain your answer.

ii) Under the African swine fever, many pigs have died or killed without the pork supplied to the market. How would it affect equilibrium price and quantity for pork chop noodles in restaurants? Explain your answer. (Assume that the quality of pork available in the market is not affected.)

iii) Suppose that there is a medical report suggesting that eating mutton helps to prevent cancer and the majority of people believe in it. Explain how this event may affect the equilibrium prices of mutton andwool?

b) Under the COVID-19 pandemic, the price of surgical masks first increased sharply, and then fell back somewhat but now it is still higher than that before the pandemic. Using demandsupply analysis, explain what happened that would lead to these changes.