Consider a cell phone market with an equilibrium price of 600 and an equilibrium quantity of 150 thousand cell phones. Assume that the quantity demanded at a below.equilibrium price is 3 times the equilibrium quantity,and the quantity supplied at the below-equilibrium price is 1/2 times the equilibrium quantity. Calculate the shortage in the market at the below-equilibrium price. Enter your answer in thousands and as a positive number.

To calculate the shortage in the market at a below-equilibrium price, we need to determine the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied at that price, and then find the difference between them.<br /><br />Given:<br />- Equilibrium price = \$600<br />- Equilibrium quantity = 150 thousand cell phones<br />- Quantity demanded at below-equilibrium price = 3 times the equilibrium quantity<br />- Quantity supplied at below-equilibrium price = \( \frac{1}{2} \) times the equilibrium quantity<br /><br />First, let's calculate the quantity demanded at the below-equilibrium price:<br />\[ \text{Quantity demanded} = 3 \times \text{Equilibrium quantity} \]<br />\[ \text{Quantity demanded} = 3 \times 150 \]<br />\[ \text{Quantity demanded} = 450 \text{ thousand cell phones} \]<br /><br />Next, let's calculate the quantity supplied at the below-equilibrium price:<br />\[ \text{Quantity supplied} = \frac{1}{2} \times \text{Equilibrium quantity} \]<br />\[ \text{Quantity supplied} = \frac{1}{2} \times 150 \]<br />\[ \text{Quantity supplied} = 75 \text{ thousand cell phones} \]<br /><br />Now, we can calculate the shortage by finding the difference between the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied:<br />\[ \text{Shortage} = \text{Quantity demanded} - \text{Quantity supplied} \]<br />\[ \text{Shortage} = 450 - 75 \]<br />\[ \text{Shortage} = 375 \text{ thousand cell phones} \]<br /><br />Therefore, the shortage in the market at the below-equilibrium price is 375 thousand cell phones.