Final answer:
The statement that rents in an annuity due earn no interest is false because payments in an annuity due can earn interest throughout the period. Additionally, sharecroppers indeed paid their rent in shares of crops, making that statement true.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that rents in an annuity due earn no interest during the period in which they are originally deposited is false. An annuity due is a type of annuity payment where payments are made at the beginning of each period. Since the payments are made at the beginning, each rent or payment has the opportunity to earn interest for the entire period. Furthermore, in certain economic situations, banks may offer interest rates that are very low and close to zero, or even negative interest rates, although this is less common and can lead to the counterintuitive situation where lenders may effectively pay borrowers to take their money.
Regarding exercise 17.3.3, the statement that sharecroppers were tenant farmers who paid their rent with shares of their crops is true. Sharecropping was a system that was widely used in the Southern United States after the Civil War where landowners allowed tenant farmers to use their land in return for a portion of the crops produced on their portion of land.