Final answer:
The statement is false; a pure monopolist's total revenue does not increase at an increasing rate. Total revenue first rises, then flattens out, and subsequently falls as more units are sold and prices are reduced. The monopolist's goal is to equalize marginal revenue and marginal cost for profit maximization.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that for a pure monopolist, total revenue increases at an increasing rate is false. This is because a monopolist faces a downward sloping demand curve and must lower the price to sell more output. Total revenue for a monopolist looks like a hill, initially increasing with additional output, then flattening out, and finally decreasing. This reflects the fact that selling more increases revenue, but the necessary price reductions to sell more units lower revenue at some point. Thus, total revenue does not increase at an increasing rate but rather at a decreasing rate after a certain point.
A profit-maximizing monopolist seeks to produce at the quantity where marginal revenue (MR) is equal to marginal cost (MC), a level that doesn't always align with the point of maximum total revenue. Instead, the MC curve intersects the MR curve at a point that indicates the profit-maximizing output level.