Question

If the demand curve for a life-saving medicine is perfectly inelastic, then a reduction in supply will cause the equilibrium price to:

Answer 1

Answer:

If the demand curve for a life-saving medicine is perfectly inelastic, then a reduction in supply will cause the equilibrium price to rise and the equilibrium quantity to stay the same.

Explanation:

Perfectly inelastic demand curve indicates the quantity demanded for the life-saving medicine remains the same or does not change in response to a change in price.

Since a part of the law of supply states that the lower the quantity supplied, the higher the price; a reduction in the supply of the life-saving medicine will increase its price.

The combining effect of the two above will lead to an increase in the equilibrium price while the equilibrium quantity will remain the same as it will not respond to the change in price.

The attached graph explains this more clearly. In the graph, the demand curve DD is used to represent the perfectly inelastic demand curve for the life-saving medicine. Therefore, the quantity remains at q no matter the changes, either increase or decrease, in price. Movement from the supply curve S1 to S2 indicates a reduction in supply of the life-saving medicine which causes an increase in the equilibrium price from Po to P1 while the equilibrium quantity stays at q.

This therefore shows that if the demand curve for a life-saving medicine is perfectly inelastic, then a reduction in supply will cause the equilibrium price to rise and the equilibrium quantity to stay the same.