Consider an individual who plans to buy a new home. He has two options: (i) pay for mortgage insurance (that insures the lender in case the borrower defaults), or (ii) pay the lender a higher interest rate for the mortgage. Describe how these two options are related to the concept of risk premium and the lender's aversion to risk. Why does the interest rate on the mortgage differ in these two options?
What will be an ideal response?
In option (ii), the risk premium on the mortgage is positive because the lender realizes there is some risk in the homeowner's ability to repay the loan. Therefore, the borrower will have to pay the risk premium in order to obtain a mortgage from the lender. If the homeowner takes option (i), he pays no premium to the lender. This is because the policy holder is paying someone else to take the risks associated with the mortgage. This is why the borrower will not need to pay a risk premium to the lender in option (i). If the borrower pays a risk premium to the mortgage lender, the lender takes on the risk (option i). If the borrower pays for insurance, then the insurance company takes the risk (option ii).
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A key contribution of Ronald Coase is that he pointed out that private transactions are efficient when the number of parties involved is small
A) and when property rights are well defined and transactions costs are low. B) and when property rights do not exist. C) and that property rights are irrelevant to the existence of externalities. D) and when corporations are not greedy.
Average labor productivity is defined as
A) per-capital real GDP divided by employment. B) nominal GDP divided by employment. C) per-capita nominal GDP divided by employment. D) real GDP divided by employment.
In long-run equilibrium, output is expanded to the minimum long-run average total cost by:
a. perfectly competitive firms but not by monopolistically competitive firms. b. monopolistically competitive firms but not by perfectly competitive firms. c. both monopolistically competitive firms and perfectly competitive firms. d. neither perfectly competitive firms nor monopolistically competitive firms.
If newspaper headlines detailed an increased American interest in British goods, which of the following would we expect to observe in the market for pounds?
a. An increase in supply, a depreciation of the pound, and a larger number of pounds traded b. An increase in demand, a depreciation of the pound, and a smaller number of pounds traded c. An increase in demand, an appreciation of the pound, and a larger number of pounds traded d. A decrease in demand, a depreciation of the pound, and a smaller number of pounds traded e. A decrease in supply, an appreciation of the pound, and a smaller number of pounds traded.