Questions: Increasing the production of a good requires larger and larger decreases in the production of another. What are the implications of this idea for the shape of the production possibilities frontier? A. The production possibilities frontier will be a straight line. B. The production possibilities frontier will be bowed outward. C. The production possibilities frontier will have a positive slope. D. The production possibilities frontier will have a negative slope. E. The production possibilities frontier will be bowed inward.

The answer is B: the production possibilities frontier will be bowed outward.

Explanation for each option:

A. The production possibilities frontier will be a straight line.

• This would imply constant opportunity costs, meaning that the trade-off between the two goods remains constant regardless of the quantities produced. This is not consistent with the idea that increasing the production of a good requires larger and larger decreases in the production of another.

B. The production possibilities frontier will be bowed outward.

• This is the correct answer. A bowed outward (concave) production possibilities frontier (PPF) indicates increasing opportunity costs. As more of one good is produced, larger and larger amounts of the other good must be sacrificed, which aligns with the given idea.

C. The production possibilities frontier will have a positive slope.

• A PPF with a positive slope would imply that producing more of one good would result in producing more of the other good as well, which contradicts the concept of opportunity costs and trade-offs.

D. The production possibilities frontier will have a negative slope.

• While it is true that a PPF generally has a negative slope, this option does not specifically address the shape of the PPF in terms of being straight or bowed. It only indicates the direction of the trade-off.

E. The production possibilities frontier will be bowed inward.

• A bowed inward (convex) PPF would imply decreasing opportunity costs, meaning that producing more of one good requires smaller and smaller sacrifices of the other good. This is the opposite of the given idea.

Summary: The production possibilities frontier will be bowed outward, indicating increasing opportunity costs as the production of one good increases at the expense of another.