question
Budget constraint
answer
the limited amount of income available to consumers to spend on goods and services
question
Opportunity set
answer
all possible combinations of consumption that someone can afford given the prices of goods and the individual's income
question
Budget
answer
a plan for making and spending money and is a prediction for the future. And there may be unforeseen issues that will make it difficult to follow your plan
question
Fiscal
answer
12 month time period
question
Deficit budget
answer
income is less than expenses
question
Balanced budget
answer
income is equal to expenses
question
Surplus budget
answer
income is greater than expenses
question
Marginal analysis
answer
examining the benefits and costs of choosing a little more or a little less of a good.
question
Utility
answer
satisfaction, usefulness, or value one obtains from consuming goods and services
question
Law of diminishing marginal utility
answer
as a person receives more of a good, the additional utility from each additional unit of the good declines
question
Sunk costs
answer
costs that were incurred in the past and cannot be recovered (car insurance if you never get in an accident)
question
Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF)
answer
a diagram that shows the productivity efficient combinations of two products that an economy can produce given the resources it has available.
question
Law of diminishing returns
answer
in a production process, as one input variable is increased, there will be a point at which the marginal per unit output will start to decrease, holding all other factors constant. (farmer with fertilizer example)
question
Productive efficiency
answer
a situation in which a good or service is produced at the lowest possible cost
question
Allocative efficiency
answer
when the mix of goods produced represents the mix that society most desires
question
Absolute advantage
answer
a person, country, or company is best at making something. Produces more product in a given amount of time than anyone else (the ability to produce a good using fewer inputs than another producer)
question
Comparative advantage
answer
the ability of an individual, a firm, or a country to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than competitors
question
Positive statements
answer
Factual statements that describe the world as it is
question
Normative statements
answer
describe how the world should be. These statements are subjective questions of opinion.
question
Demand
answer
the amount of some good or service consumers are willing and able to purchase at each price.
question
Price
answer
what a buyer pays for a unit of the specific good or service
question
Quantity demanded
answer
the total number of units of a good or service consumers are willing to purchase at a given price
question
Law of demand
answer
keeping all other variables that affect demand constant, if the price goes up then the quantity we demand goes down. If the price goes down, then the quantity that we demand goes up.
question
independent variable
answer
variable that is manipulated (price)
question
dependent variable
answer
variable that is being studied (quantity)
question
demand schedule
answer
a table that shows a range of prices for a certain good or service and the quantity demanded at each price
question
demand curve
answer
a graphic representation of the relationship between price and quantity demanded of a certain good or service, with quantity on the horizontal axis and the price on the vertical axis.
question
Supply
answer
the amount of some good or service a producer is willing to supply at each price
question
quantity supplied
answer
the total number of units of a good or service producers are willing to sell at a given price
question
Law of supply
answer
assuming all other variables that affect supply are held constant; if price goes up then supply goes up. If price goes down, then supply goes down.
question
Supply schedule
answer
a table that shows the quantity supplied at a range of different prices
question
Supply curve
answer
a graphic illustration of the relationship between price to sell something at, shown on the vertical axis, and quantity, shown on the horizontal axis.
question
Equilibrium
answer
the combination of price and quantity where there is no economic pressure from surpluses or shortages that would cause price or quantity to change. quantity demanded = quantity supplied
question
Equilibrium price
answer
the price where the quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied
question
Equilibrium quantity
answer
the quantity at which quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal for a certain price level.
question
Surplus or excess supply
answer
at the existing price, quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded.
question
Shortage or excess demand
answer
at the existing price, the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied.
question
Invisible Hand
answer
term economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace
question
Normal good
answer
a product whose demand rises when income rises, and vice versa.
question
Inferior good
answer
a product whose demand falls when income rises, and vice versa. (Ms. Knoll's mac and cheese example: now that she has more money, she doesn't buy mac and cheese in a box)
question
Shift in supply
answer
when a change in some economic factor (other than price) causes a different quantity to be supplied at every price.
question
Inputs or factors of production
answer
the combination of labor, materials, and machinery that is used to produce goods and services.
question
Factors that affect supply
answer
Natural conditions, input prices, technology, and government policies