True or False: In a perfectly competitive market, firms can consistently earn economic profits in the long run due to the presence of normal profit, as it ensures they cover all costs including opportunity costs.

The statement is false. In a perfectly competitive market, firms can only earn normal profit in the long run, which means they cover all their costs, including opportunity costs, but do not make extra profits. This happens because if firms start making economic profits, new firms will enter the market, increasing supply and driving prices down until only normal profits remain. For example, if a bakery is making extra profits, other bakers will see this opportunity and open their own bakeries, which will eventually lower the price of bread. Thus, in the long run, competition ensures that no firm can consistently earn more than normal profit.