Each year, Tom and Cindy Bates (who file married-filing jointly) report itemized deductions of $10,000, including an annual $4,000 pledge payment to their church. Upon the advice of a friend, they do the following: In early January 2017, they pay their 2016 pledge; during 2017, they pay the 2017 pledge; and in late December 2017, they prepay their 2018 pledge. a. What are the Bateses trying to accomplish?
b. What would the Bates' total itemized deductions be if all three church pledge payments were made in 2017? Assume that the itemized deductions of $10,000 already included one year of the church pledge payments.
$
What will be the Bates' tax saving if their marginal tax bracket is 25% for all three years?
(Assume that the standard deduction amounts for 2017 and 2018 are the same.)
By concentrating their charitable contributions, their tax savings becomes $.
c. Complete a letter to Tom and Cindy Bates (8212 Bridle Court, Reston, VA 20194) summarizing your analysis.

Consider how health insurance affects the quantity of health care services performed. suppose that the typical medical procedure has a cost of $160, yet a person with health insurance pays only $40 out of pocket. her insurance company pays the remaining $120. (the insurance company recoups the $120 through premiums, but the premium a person pays does not depend on how many procedures that person chooses to undergo.) consider the following demand curve in the market for medical care. use the black point (plus symbol) to indicate the quantity of procedures demanded if each procedure has a price of $160. then use the grey point (star symbol) to indicate the quantity of procedures demanded if each procedure has a price of $40. q d at p=$160 q d at p=$40 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 price of medical procedures quantity of medical procedures demand if the cost of each procedure to society is truly $160, the quantity that maximizes total surplus is procedures. economists often blame the health insurance system for excessive use of medical care. given your analysis, the use of care might be viewed as excessive because consumers get procedures whose value is than the cost of producing them.

Which change is illustrated by the shift taking place on this graph? a decrease in supply an increase in supply o an increase in demand o a decrease in demand

The returns on the common stock of maynard cosmetic specialties are quite cyclical. in a boom economy, the stock is expected to return 22 percent in comparison to 9 percent in a normal economy and a negative 14 percent in a recessionary period. the probability of a recession is 35 percent while the probability of a boom is 10 percent. what is the standard deviation of the returns on this stock?