1. What economic question(s) does this case require the town to ask? What benefits and services would we provide to the community by building the dog park? Is building a dog park the best use of the undeveloped land? What percent of the population would benefit from building a dog park?
2. List the possible resources that the town would need to construct and maintain the park. Possible resources would include money, labor to construct the park and clear out the trees and maintenance employees.
3. What town resource(s) are scarce?
Recourses that are scarce would be open space and school capacity.
4. Who will be the consumers using this public good?
Consumers that would use the park would be the 7% of dog owners plus however many unregistered pet owners there are in the area.
5. What is the opportunity cost of building this park? Explain. The opportunity cost would be lost revenue from the luxury town houses and a loss of available funds to renovate the school.
6. Identify at least one pro and one con for each of the following options: a. leaving the land undeveloped
One pro would be that we get to keep the open space that is scarce. One con would be the lost revenue. b. selling the land to real estate developers to build homes
One pro would be the income from the new housing and one con would be risking overcrowding.
7. What, if any, market failures might exist in this town? Explain. A market failure is leaving the land undeveloped because it’s a loss of potential income which would add to the surplus of money that could be used to renovate schools.
The Essay on Building An Ethical School
When reflecting on what I have read in the book Building an Ethical School by Robert J. Star ratt, and the information obtained from my current Ethics and Social Responsibilities class, I feel I have an abundance of valuable information that will guide me in creating an ethical school environment when I am a school leader. When I think of an ethical school, I envision a school where all members of ...
8. Create a chart that identifies the positive and negative externalities of building the park. Positive Externalities
Negative externalities
Pet owners pleased
Place for dogs to gallivant
Loss of wildlife habitat
Dog barking noise annoying people who live in the town houses near the dog park
9. How could the town government counteract the negative externalities? A sound barrier could be built to block out excess noise and new trees could be planted elsewhere to replace the trees cut down when clearing out the partially wooded area. 10. Based on your studies of Unit 1, write a persuasive argument for or against the construction of the dog park. Provide a minimum of three supporting details and elaborate on each to support your position. Your answer should include economic terms when appropriate and should be written in paragraph form. As an entrepreneur, I believe that the construction of a dog park is a worthy investment.
It would make pet owners happy because most cannot afford the membership rates and fees at local country clubs. A dog park would provide them with an inexpensive place to exercise their dogs. It would give dogs a place to run free instead of being contained inside or restrained to a leash. The town of Martinsville has the money to fund the service of labor that goes into building a dog park as well as the physical capital such as machines to clear the trees. The revenue collected from yearly dog park fees would be used to maintain the park.
