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Economic questions always deal with:
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choice in the face of limited resources
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The central concern of economics:
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scarcity
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If all the worlds resources were to magically decrease a hundredfold, then:
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the scarcity principle would still govern behavior
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At the very least , Joe Average and Bill gates are both identically limited by:
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the 24 hours that compromise a day
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Chris has a one-hour break between classes every wednesday. Chris can either stay at the library and study or go to the gym and workout. The decision Chris must make is:
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an economic problem because chris has only one hour during which he can study or work out
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The cost-benefit principle indicates that an action should be taken
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if the total benefits exceed the total costs
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The seventh glass of soda that Tim consumes will produce an extra benefit of 10 cents and has an extra cost of
zero (Tim is eating at the cafeteria). The cost-benefit principle predicts that Tim will:
zero (Tim is eating at the cafeteria). The cost-benefit principle predicts that Tim will:
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drink the seventh glass and continue until the marginal benefit of drinking another glass of soda is zero
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Larry was accepted at three different graduate schools, and must choose one. Elite U costs $50,000 per year and
did not offer Larry any financial aid. Larry values attending Elite U at $60,000 per year. State College costs $30,000
per year, and offered Larry an annual $10,000 scholarship. Larry values attending State College at $40,000
per year. No Name U costs $20,000 per year, and offered Larry a full $20,000 annual scholarship. Larry values
attending NoName at $15,000 per year.
The opportunity cost of attending Elite U is:
did not offer Larry any financial aid. Larry values attending Elite U at $60,000 per year. State College costs $30,000
per year, and offered Larry an annual $10,000 scholarship. Larry values attending State College at $40,000
per year. No Name U costs $20,000 per year, and offered Larry a full $20,000 annual scholarship. Larry values
attending NoName at $15,000 per year.
The opportunity cost of attending Elite U is:
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20,000
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Larry was accepted at three different graduate schools, and must choose one. Elite U costs $50,000 per year and
did not offer Larry any financial aid. Larry values attending Elite U at $60,000 per year. State College costs $30,000
per year, and offered Larry an annual $10,000 scholarship. Larry values attending State College at $40,000
per year. NoName U costs $20,000 per year, and offered Larry a full $20,000 annual scholarship. Larry values
attending NoName at $15,000 per year.
Larry maximizes his surplus by attending:
did not offer Larry any financial aid. Larry values attending Elite U at $60,000 per year. State College costs $30,000
per year, and offered Larry an annual $10,000 scholarship. Larry values attending State College at $40,000
per year. NoName U costs $20,000 per year, and offered Larry a full $20,000 annual scholarship. Larry values
attending NoName at $15,000 per year.
Larry maximizes his surplus by attending:
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State College, because the difference between the benefit and cost is greatest there
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The opportunity cost of an activity is the value of:
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the next best alternative
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having a comparative advantage in a particular task means that
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you give up less to accomplish that task than do others
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which of the following is always true
A. Absolute advantage implies comparative advantage.
B. Comparative advantage does not require absolute advantage.
C. Absolute advantage requires comparative advantage.
D. Comparative advantage requires absolute advantage.
A. Absolute advantage implies comparative advantage.
B. Comparative advantage does not require absolute advantage.
C. Absolute advantage requires comparative advantage.
D. Comparative advantage requires absolute advantage.
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comparative advantage does not require absolute advantage
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Application of the principle of comparative advantage leads to:
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greater specialization of labor and the factors of production
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the production possibilities curve shows:
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the maximum production of one good for every possible production level of the other good
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According to the principle of increasing opportunity cost, expanding production requires using resources in which order?
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starting with the resource with the lowest opportunity cost, and proceeding to the higher opportunity cost resources
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the demand curve illustrates the fact that consumers
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tend to purchase more of a good as the price falls
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the supply curve illustrates that firms
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increase the quantity supplied of a good when its price rises
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A market comprised of a downward-sloping demand curve that intersects an upward-sloping supply curve is said to
be stable because
be stable because
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at any price other than equilibrium forced in the market move price towards the equilibrium
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A market in disequilibrium would feature
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either excess supply or excess demand
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a shortage occurs when:
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quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied
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a movement along a demand curve from one price-quantity combination to another is called:
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a change in quantity demanded
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if the demand for a good decreases as income decreases it is an
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normal good
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what might cause the a demand function to shift to the right
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an increase in the price of a substitute
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what might cause a demand function shift to the left
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a decrease in the price of a substitute
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if the price of computers increases and the demand for monitors decreases as a result, then:
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computers and monitors are complements
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suppose that the technology used to manufacture laptops has improved. the likely result would be:
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an increase in supply of laptops
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in general, when the demand curve shifts to the right and supply remains constant then:
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the equilibrium quantity will rise
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the percentage change in quantity demanded that results form the percentage change in price is known as the:
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price elasticity of demand
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if the price of textbooks increases by one percent and the quantity demanded falls by one half percent, then the demand for textbooks is
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price inelastic
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Price elasticity of demand is often expressed as a positive number because:
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it's convenient to use absolute values even though the formula yields non-positive numbers
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if the price elasticity of demand for tickets to a football game is 2 then, when the price increases by 1% quantity demanded decreased by:
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2%
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If the percentage change in the price of a good is less than the percentage change in the quantity demanded of
that good then the demand for that good, with respect to price, is:
that good then the demand for that good, with respect to price, is:
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elastic
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when the demand for a good is inelastic, that good is likely to have:
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few close substitutes
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if the quantity demanded of a good is Q when the price for the good is P, the price elasticity of demand for that good at that point:
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(P/Q)*(1/slope)
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if the slope of the demand curve is -1.4, price is $5and quantity demanded is 13 units, the price elasticity of demand is:
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.27
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economics is the study of:
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choice in the face of limited resources
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the scarcity principle applies to:
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everyone
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Jan spends her afternoon at the beach, paying $1 to rent a beach umbrella and $11 for food and drinks rather than spending an equal amount of money to go to a movie. Her opportunity cost of going to the beach is:
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the value she places on seeing the movie
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The Scarcity Principle tells us ______, and the Cost-Benefit Principle tells us ______.
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the choices that must be made, how to make good choices
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The Cost Benefit principle tells us _____ and the scarcity principle tells us ______
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how to make good choices, the good choices that must be made
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Dean should play golf instead of preparing for tomorrow's exam in economics if:
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the economic surplus from playing golf is greater than the economic surplus from studying.
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Moe has a big exam tomorrow. He considered studying this evening, but decided to hang out with Curly instead. If neither activity involves any explicit costs, and Moe always chooses rationally, it must be true that:
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Moe gets more benefit from spending time with Curly than from studying
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For the Fall semester, you had to pay a nonrefundable fee of $600 for your meal plan, which gives you up to 150 meals. If you eat 100 meals, your marginal cost of the 100th meal is:
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0
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In general, individuals and nations should specialize in producing those goods for which they have an
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absolute advantage
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Points that lie outside the production possibilities curve are ______, and points that lie inside the production possibilities curve are ______.
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efficient; inefficient
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if a country is producing at point where an increase in the production of one good requires a reduction in the production of another good, then it must be producing at an:
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unattainable point
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Points that lie below the production possibilities curve are inefficient because:
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producers face scarcity
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The idea that tradeoffs have to be made when resources are scarce is reflected in the fact that:
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the PPC has a negative slope
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the benefits of specialization can be used to explain why
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machines are more productive than human workers
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"Holding all other relevant factors constant, consumers will purchase more of a good as the price falls." This
statement reflects the behavior underlying:
statement reflects the behavior underlying:
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the demand curve
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Sellers tend to offer _______ for sale as price increases, and so the supply curve is ______ sloping.
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more; upward
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As the price of a good rises:
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more firms can cover their opportunity costs of producing the good
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When the price of a good is below its equilibrium value:
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consumers will bid the price up
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In a free market, if the price of a good is above the equilibrium price, then;
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suppliers, dissatisfied with growing inventories, will lower the price
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An increase in the quantity demanded of tea occurs whenever
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the price of the tea falls
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"As the price of personal computers continues to fall, demand increases." This headline is inaccurate because:
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a falling price for personal computers increases quantity demanded, not demand.
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What might cause a demand function to shift to the right?
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an increase in the price of a substitute
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decrease in the demand for bananas with no concurrent change in the supply of bananas will result in a
________ equilibrium price and a(n) ________ equilibrium quantity.
________ equilibrium price and a(n) ________ equilibrium quantity.
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lower; lower
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The price elasticity of demand is a measure of:
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the change in quantity demanded of a good that results from a change in its price.
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If the price of textbooks increases by one percent and the quantity demanded falls by one-half percent, then the
price elasticity of demand is equal to:
price elasticity of demand is equal to:
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.5
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The demand for a good is inelastic with respect to price if the price elasticity of demand is:
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less than one
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If the demand for a good is highly elastic, that good is likely to have:
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many close substitutes
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Which of the following is likely to have the highest price elasticity of demand?
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nike running shoes
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Jeans in general have fewer close substitutes than a specific brand of jeans. Therefore, the demand for jeans in
general will be _______ than the demand for a specific brand of jeans.
general will be _______ than the demand for a specific brand of jeans.
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less elastic
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If the absolute value of slope of the demand curve is 2.5, price is $6 per unit, and the quantity demanded is 8 units,
then the price elasticity of demand is:
then the price elasticity of demand is:
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.3
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Suppose two demand curves intersect and so have a point in common. At that point, demand shown by the
steeper curve will be _______ the flatter curve.
steeper curve will be _______ the flatter curve.
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less elastic than
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Marginal cost is calculated as
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the change in total costs divided by the change in output
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In general, if the price of a fixed factor of production increases
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marginal costs are unchanged
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Firms maximize profit when
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marginal costs equal price
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if the firm produces an output level where price is LESS than marginal costs, then the firm should
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contract output to earn greater profits and smaller losses
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if an industry experiences an increase in the number of firms then
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the industry supply curve will shift right
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if an industry experiences an decrease in the number of firms then
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the industry supply curve will shift left
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part of the upward sloping portion of the marginal cost curve is the firm's
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supply curve
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price ceilings result in
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shortages
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consumer surplus is the value of
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the cumulative difference between what consumers are willing to pay and the price they actually pay
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implicit costs
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measure the forgone opportunities of the owners of business
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accounting profits
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the difference between total revenues and explicit costs
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economic profits
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equal to total revenue minus both explicit and implicit costs
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in the perfectly competitive industry economic profits
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serve to motivate entry or exit
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Assume all firms in a particular perfectly competitive industry are earning economic profits. This will cause firms to _____ the industry, which will continue until _____
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enter; economic profits are zero
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if you were to open a business in an industry that is approximately perfectly competitive, you would expect that:
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in the long run you would earn zero economic profits and positive accounting profits
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The common feature in pure monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition is
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downward sloping demand
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in order to sell another unit, an imperfectly competitive firm must:
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lower its price
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economies of scale exist when
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average costs fall as the scale of production grows
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a firm that emerges as the only seller in an industry with economies of scale is termed
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natural monopoly
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for all firms, the additional revenue collected from the sale of one additional unit of output is
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marginal revenue
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Suppose a monopolist is charging $12 for output. One can infer that
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marginal revenues are less than $12
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because the monopolist charges a price in excess of marginal costs, it must be the case that the monopolist
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produces less than the socially efficient level of output
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price discrimination means charging
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different prices to different consumers when production costs are the same
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when a consumer must take some sort of additional action to revive a lower price, the consumer is being subjected to:
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the hurdle method of price discrimination
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The most important decision that sellers make is:
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whether to produce another unit
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The primary objective of most private firms is to
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maximize profit
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total revenue minuts total explicit and implicit cost defines:
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profit
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when economists use standard supply and demand theory, they are assuming that the supply curve describes:
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firms that operate in perfectly competitive markets
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a fixed factor of production:
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is fixed only in the short run
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a variable factor of production
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is variable in both the short run and the long run
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If a firm spends $400 to produce 20 units of output and spends $880 to produce 40 units, then between 20 and 40 units of output the marginal cost of production is:
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$24
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Marginal Cost is calculated as:
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the change in total costs divided by the change in output
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Assume that a firm uses 13 employee-hours and an office to produce 100 units of output. The price of output is $5, the wage rate is $0 and rent is $200. The firm will earn a ______ of ______
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profit; $170
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if a firm stops production then its:
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variable costs drop to zero
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the production function represents
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the relationship between the quantity of inputs and the quantity of outputs
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when a firm doubles its inputs, its output:
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could do anything
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the increase in output that is generated by an additional unit of input is called the:
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marginal product
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a profit-maximizing firm will shut down when:
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total revenues are less than the cost of variable factors of production
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suppose a perfectly competitive firm knows that it is not going to shut down, but it is going to earn a loss. It should pick the output level where
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price equals marginal cost
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In the short run, if a firm chooses to operate and produce output, it must be the case that: `
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total revenues are greater than or equal to the cost of variable factors of production
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Supposed a firm collcting $1700 in total revenues and the total costs of its variable factors of production $1900 at its current level of output. One can predict the firm will
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shut down
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if a perfectly competitive firm produces an output level where price is greater than marginal costs of production should:
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expand output to earn greater profits or smaller losses
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an increase in the price the firm receives for its output will cause the firm too:
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expand output to earn greater profits or smaller losses
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a perfectly competitive firm's output price is $5 and the firm is producing 37 units with a marginal cost of $3. The firm should:
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increase production
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a perfectly competitive firm's output price is $8 and the firm is producing 77 units with a marginal cost of $11. The firm should:
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decrease production
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Generally, ______ motivate firms to enter an industry an industry while _____ motivate firms to exit an industry
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economic profits, economic losses
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Suppose all firs in a perfectly competitive industry are experiencing economic profits, one would expect that over time the number of firms will _____ and the market price will ______
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rise; fall
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if all firms in a perfectly competitive industry earn a normal profit, then:
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the number of firms in the industry is stable
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pure monopoly exists when:
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a single firm produces a good with no close substitutes
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in order to sell another unit, an imperfectly competitive firm must:
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lower its price
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Patents and copyrights, which confer market power, exist to:
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protect research, development, and creative expression
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For a perfectly competitive firms price _____ marginal revenue; for monopolists price _____ marginal revenue
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equals; is greater than