VIEWPOINT ASSIGNMENT ?

 

In a speech delivered to the American Bar Association, William Brewer said: "The suggestion was put forth in a newspaper article last year that to solve the problem of the oversupply of attorneys, the government should pay lawyers $500,000 each to turn in their bar membership cards. It was proposed as a sort of 'farm subsidy' solution . . . whereby the government would pay lawyers not to practice law.  So instead of wheat, the uncultivated crop in the fallow north forty would be litigation."

 

a.      Is there a market for lawyers?  If so,  draw the market on a graph and label it correctly and completely.

b.    What would determine the location and shape of the demand curve for lawyers?  What might determine the location and shape of the supply curve for lawyers?

c.      If the market for lawyers were perfectly competitive, could there ever be an oversupply in the sense that the quantity of lawyers exceeded the quantity demanded?  Under conditions of equilibrium, could such an oversupply exist? Why or why not?

d.      If the government were to pay lawyers $500,000 to leave their profession, would this influence the demand curve for lawyers?  Would it influence the supply curve?  Would it influence the wages paid to lawyers?  Do you favor such a policy?  Why or why not?

 

 

 

  • Your Viewpoint must contain the appropriate graph.

  • Your graph must be handwritten.

  • Answer the questions in order.

  • Your text may be handwritten or printed.

  • Your answers do NOT have to be written in complete sentences.

  • Your Viewpoint homework must be in your own words.
  • Use appropriate economic theory and vocabulary from your textbook as well as the material posted online.

  • Your Viewpoint is due at the beginning of the class on the assigned due date; assignments turned in after class will be penalized one point per day late.