Question

The price of digital cameras fell because of improvements in production technology. As a result, the demand for non-digital cameras decreased. This caused the price of non-digital cameras to fall; as the price of non-digital cameras fell the demand for non-digital cameras decreased even further." Evaluate this statement. a. The statement is false because the demand for non-digital cameras would increase as the price of digital cameras fell. b. The statement is false. A decrease in the price of digital cameras would decrease the demand for non-digital cameras, but a decrease in the price of non-digital cameras would not cause the demand for non-digital cameras to decrease. c. The statement is false because it confuses the law of demand with the law of supply. d. The statement is false because digital camera producers would not reduce their prices as a result of improvements in technology; doing so would reduce their profits

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer is: B) The statement is false. A decrease in the price of digital cameras would decrease the demand for non-digital cameras, but a decrease in the price of non-digital cameras would not cause the demand for non-digital cameras to decrease.

Explanation:

Suppose we are not currently living in 2019, instead we are back 12 years to 2007 (before the iPhone). Back then , digital cameras were still used by common "unprofessional" users. Digital cameras were an improvement compared to non-digital cameras, so the price of non-digital cameras were much lower than their digital counterparts.

If the price of digital cameras decreased, then the price of non-digital cameras would decrease also. For example, if luxury car companies like Mercedes Benz started selling sedan cars for $20,000, Ford and Chevrolet would be forced to lower the price of their cars since they wouldn't be able to compete with MB at the same price.

But a decrease in the price of non-digital cameras would never decrease their demand. Something else would have caused that decrease. Probably digital cameras became so cheap that everyone could afford one and since they were so much better than non-digital cameras, people simply stopped buying non-digital cameras.