The level of total investment by firms in new machinery and equipment to determine how rapidly the economy grows. this is a macroeconomic microeconomic issue. however, to understand how much new machinery and equipment firms decide to purchase, one must analyze the incentives individual firms face, which is a macroeconomic microeconomic issue.

In its 2016 annual report, caterpillar inc. reported the following (in millions): 2016 2015 sales $38,537 $47,011 cost of goods sold 28,309 33,546 as a percentage of sales, did caterpillar's gross profit increase or decrease during 2016? select one: a. gross profit increased from 26.8% to 28.6% b. gross profit decreased from 28.6% to 26.5% c. gross profit increased from 71.4% to 73.2% d. gross profit decreased from 73.2% to 71.4% e. there is not enough information to answer the question.

Quantitative problem: you need $20,000 to purchase a used car. your wealthy uncle is willing to lend you the money as an amortized loan. he would like you to make annual payments for 4 years, with the first payment to be made one year from today. he requires a 8% annual return. what will be your annual loan payments? round your answer to the nearest cent. do not round intermediate calculations. $ how much of your first payment will be applied to interest and to principal repayment? round your answer to the nearest cent. do not round intermediate calculations. interest: $ principal repayment

Suppose your rich uncle gave you $50,000, which you plan to use for graduate school. you will make the investment now, you expect to earn an annual return of 6%, and you will make 4 equal annual withdrawals, beginning 1 year from today. under these conditions, how large would each withdrawal be so there would be no funds remaining in the account after the 4th withdraw?