Question

Milk producers across Arizona and nationwide currently are facing prices that are so low that many dairies have already gone bankrupt. The government decides to step in and establishes a price floor of $2 per gallon for milk. The current market equilibrium price for milk is $1 per gallon:

Answer 1

Question Completion:

What is a price floor?

Answer:

A price floor of $2 for milk producers across Arizona and nationwide means that the government does not want the price of milk to fall below $2.  This measure enables dairies to remain in operation.  It favors producers to the detriment of consumers, at least in the short-run.

Explanation:

However, assuming that the market was efficient before the price floor was introduced by the government, the price floor of $2 per gallon for milk could cause a deadweight loss to occur.  In Economics, a deadweight loss reduces economic efficiency.   It implies that consumers pay a higher price for the same quantity of goods they were purchasing before the price floor was introduced. Thus, the reaction of consumers would be to reduce their demand or drop out of the market entirely (instead of producers dropping out of the market through the normal operation of the market forces).