question
In economics, choices are necessary because of the presence of:
answer
Scarity
question
The basic goal of economics is:
answer
Addressing the scarcity problem created because the populations desire for goods exceeds the ability to produce them.
question
Because of scarcity:
answer
Individuals and societies must choose which wants and needs to satisfy.
question
Macroeconomics is the study of:
answer
The operation of the economy as a whole.
question
Microeconomics is the study of:
answer
Individual decision making units.
question
The patent system:
answer
Acts as a direct positive incentive.
question
If the government wanted to give people a negative direct incentive not to save money, what would be the appropriate policy?
answer
Imposing a tax on individuals for saving their money.
question
The government places warnings on cigarette and liquor packages. These warnings serve as a(n):
answer
Negative incentive
question
Economics is concerned with the trade-offs that emerge because of scarcity. The term "trade-offs" refers to:
answer
The alternatives given up when making choices.
question
The cost of a trade-off is known as the ________ of that decision.
answer
Opportunity cost.
question
Opportunity cost is the ________ alternative forfeited when a choice is made.
answer
Highest value
question
The opportunity cost of a purchase is:
answer
The alternative good or service and one sacrifices because a different goods was purchased.
question
How are changes in opportunity cost related to decision-making behavior?
answer
The lower the opportunity cost of doing an activity X, the more likely activity X will be done.
question
I asked my neighbor to rake the leaves on his lawn because they are blowing into my yard. He responded that it wouldn't be rational for him to do so. Why would this be the case?
answer
My neighbor is a lawyer who values his time at $200 an hour and knows that he can hire a high school kid to rake leaves for $20 an hour.
question
Instead of taking an economics course, you could have taken a history course that meets at the exact same time. The total cost of taking the economics course would be:
answer
The tuition cost, the cost of the textbook and notebook, and the fact that you could not take history course at the same time.
question
Why would economists find it surprising if the CEO of a large company does his or her own housework?
answer
The opportunity cost of CEO's time to quite high because they have a scarcity of time to spend on housework.
question
The opportunity cost of going to school rather than working is the cost of:
answer
Potential wages
question
The opportunity cost of working rather than going to school is:
answer
The higher wages that come with additional education.
question
When you chose a major, you likely thought about your skills. Let's say you don't enjoy dealing with numbers. How could you explain to your parents, using logic from economics, why you chose to major in English instead of mathematics?
answer
The opportunity cost of learning mathematics is too high.
question
Restaurants, bars, and convenience stores are often located near college campuses. These businesses frequently charge higher than normal prices. They are taking advantage of the fact that:
answer
Students place a high value on their scarce time and are willing to pay higher prices than they would at locations farther from campus.
question
The government has been considering doing away with minting pennies because they are rarely used for purchases (with most people collecting them or throwing them away). How would an economist best explain this?
answer
Prices have increased over time, and the opportunity cost of carrying around large quantities of pennies has become too large.
question
According to economists, one reason few professional athletes have PhD's is that the:
answer
Opportunity cost of going to graduate school is too high.
question
The term ________ means "additional."
answer
Marginal
question
Economists believe that optimal decisions are made up to the point where:
answer
Marginal benefits are equal to marginal cost.
question
An activity's marginal benefit is ________ at the optimal quantity.
answer
Equal to the marginal cost.
question
One way to promote a new business is to offer free items. If you were to open a new restaurant and offer free food, you likely would have a line out the door. How would an economist understand the behavior of those standing in line?
answer
Those waiting in line place a low value on the use of their time.
question
In 2009, the federal government created a program called Cash for Clunkers whereby consumers could trade in a less efficient car for a more efficient car and receive a higher value than they would have otherwise. How would an economist understand the decision that consumers faced?
answer
Consumers would compare the marginal benefits to the marginal costs of replacing their car, and this program made sure that marginal benefits would exceed marginal costs.
question
Comparative advantage emerges because of the presence of:
answer
Differing opportunity costs.
question
More oranges are grown in Florida than North Dakota because Florida's warm climate gives it a ________ in growing oranges.
answer
Higher.
question
The production possibilities frontier (PPF) shows:
answer
Trade off, how much we can produce given resources
question
A graph that shows the maximum attainable combinations of two goods when society efficiently uses its productive resources is called:
answer
PPF
question
At full employment, a society produces:
answer
All labor forces and all capital is being used, no unused capital
question
The area inside (within) the production possibilities frontier (PPF) contains:
answer
When your not utilizing the resources within the graph
question
How will a reduction in the national unemployment rate affect a nation's production possibilities frontier (PPF)?
answer
The PPF stays the same but getting closer to the line.
question
As you move from one efficient point on the production possibilities frontier (PPF) to another efficient point on the PPF, you experience:
answer
Opportunity cost
question
Suppose you find a production possibilities frontier (PPF) that is shaped like a straight line. What can you determine about the production of the two goods?
answer
Oppuritunity cost is constant. Regardless of how much you produce or sacrificing it stays the same.
question
Economic growth can be depicted on a production possibilities frontier (PPF) as an:
answer
A upward shift of the PPF.
question
An increase in general resources that affects the production of both goods on a production possibilities frontier (PPF) would cause an:
answer
An upward shift of the PPF
question
When one producer can create more of a good than another producer using the same quantity of resources, the first producer has:
answer
Comparative advantage
question
Consumer goods:
answer
Goods produced that you are using today. Bread, clothes.
question
Goods that are produced now so that they can be used to produce other goods in the future are called:
answer
Consumer goods
question
The opportunity cost of every investment in capital goods is:
answer
The consumer good. Your sacrificing what you have now for the future
question
Which of the following would NOT lead to an outward shift of a future production possibilities frontier (PPF)?
answer
Producing more of goods then needed.
question
Capital goods
answer
Goods used for the future that are saved.
question
For a market to be competitive:
answer
More then one buyer and seller. No individual or seller cant influence the product.
question
For a market to be a competitive:
answer
sellers must produce goods and services that are different from their competitors
question
Kim attends the farmer's market in her hometown of Bakersfield every Sunday. She notices that all of the oranges sold by the many different farmers at the market have roughly the same price, as do most other products that are alike. Which statement best explains why the prices are so similar?
answer
The farmer's market in Bakersfield is a competitive market so neither the consumer nor the producer has a large influence on the price, allowing for the market to set the price.
question
A monopoly is:
answer
exists when a single company supplies the entire market for a particular good or service.
question
Imperfect markets:
answer
occur when the buyer or seller has an influence on the price.
question
According to the law of demand, all other things being equal:
answer
the quantity demanded falls when the price rises, and the quantity demanded rises when the price falls.
question
When the price of an hour of tutoring increases:
answer
the quantity demanded for tutoring decreases.
question
Something is a normal good if the demand for the good:
answer
increases as the consumer's income increases.
question
Which of the following would cause a normal good's demand curve to shift to the left?
answer
Income decreases.
question
Something is an inferior good if the demand for the good:
answer
increases as the consumer's income decreases.
question
Two goods that are used together are called:
answer
complements
question
The price of good X increases by 25%, causing the quantity consumed of good Y to decrease by 10%. If everything else is held constant in the economy, we can say with certainty that good X and good Y are:
answer
complements
question
If the price of a good increases, holding all else constant:
answer
the demand for all of that good's substitutes will increase.
question
Companies use advertising to shift consumer demand. Which of the following demand shifters do you think advertisers most often rely on?
answer
changes in tastes and preferences
question
Which of the following will cause the demand curve for burgers to shift the right?
answer
A study is published by the National Association for Burger Research that says eating burgers can reduce the risk for bad acne.
question
An expectation of a lower price in the future will:
answer
decrease current demand
question
The demand curve for a good will shift to the right if, holding all else constant:
answer
consumers expect future prices to increase.
question
Chuck drives past the same gas station every day. He realizes that the gas station always changes its prices on Tuesdays but keeps the price steady the rest of the week. On Saturday, Chuck turns on the news and hears a report projecting that the price of gasoline is going to increase. Holding all else constant, what do you think would happen to Chuck's demand for gasoline on Monday?
answer
His demand would shift to the right.
question
Changes in population can:
answer
shift the demand curve of a good or service in an area.
question
As the life expectancy in the United States increases, which of the following could likely happen to the demand curve for items such as health care, cancer treatments, and nursing facilities, holding all else constant, and why?
answer
There would be an increase because there will be more buyers in these markets.
question
The law of supply states that, all other things being equal:
answer
the quantity supplied falls when the price falls, and the quantity supplied rises when the price rises.
question
Which of the following is both a shift in supply and a shift in demand?
answer
expectations of future prices
question
Which of the following will cause a movement along a good's supply curve?
answer
the price of the good increases
question
Inputs are:
answer
resources that firms use in the production of final goods and services
question
If the cost of flour increases from $3 to $5 a bag, you could predict the supply curve for bagels to:
answer
shift to the left.
question
Which following change in the coffee market would shift the supply curve to the right?
answer
The wage for employees in the coffee business decreases.
question
If a new french fry-cutting machine works twice as fast as the old machine, McDonald's would:
answer
be willing to produce and sell more french fries at every price.
question
When the government places a tax on the producer of a good or service:
answer
the supply curve for the good or service shifts to the left.
question
Firm A notices that Firm B is making a profit by producing footballs. There is nothing stopping Firm A from entering the football market, so it does. Holding all else constant, the number of firms in the market will:
answer
increase, causing the supply to increase.
question
When the price of ground beef increases and all else is held constant, we would expect the supply of hamburgers to _________, causing the price to _________.
answer
decrease; increase
question
When the price is _________ the equilibrium price, we would expect there to be a _________, causing the market to put _________ pressure on the price until it went back to the equilibrium price.
answer
above; surplus; downward
question
The equilibrium price of peanut butter is $5. A study comes out that says the fat in peanut butter is good for your heart. Holding all other factors constant, which of the following scenarios could happen?
answer
The price of peanut butter increases to $7 because of a demand shift.
question
In the first few months of 2012, the price of gasoline increased by approximately 15%. Because of this increase, we would expect the _________ curve in the market for hybrid cars to _________.
answer
demand; shift to the right
question
The difference between a tax and a subsidy is that when the government places a tax on a good, it _________ the equilibrium price and _________ the equilibrium quantity, whereas when the government places a subsidy on a good, it _________ the equilibrium price and _________ the equilibrium quantity.
answer
increases; decreases; decreases; increases
question
Leading economic indicators suggest that incomes will be going up next year. In response to these reports, companies are forecasting increased prices for future sales of their goods. As a result of these increases, the supply curve will:
answer
...
question
Compare and contrast the differences between a competitive market and an imperfect market, and give an example of an imperfect market.
answer
Prices have no influence with buyer or seller, but in imperfect market is opposite so it's a monopoly
question
Without using a graph, explain the difference between a movement along a demand curve and a shift in the entire demand curve.
answer
When non pricing changes happen
question
Compare and contrast the following sets of words:
answer
normal good versus inferior good
question
Comment on the statement from an opportunity cost perspective: "The major cost of going to college is the $15,000 per year in tuition." Assume that a person could have earned $30,000 a year if the person did not go to college
answer
the implicit cost is the wage you would be giving up
question
A person has a comparative advantage in the production of a good when she or he can produce the product at a(n) ________ opportunity cost compared to another person.
answer
lower
question
You should decide to go to a movie:
answer
if the marginal benefit of the movie exceeds its marginal cost.
question
Please explain two factors that will cause PPF to shift outward?
answer
Producing more goods then needed.
And when employment is high.
And when employment is high.
question
Increases in the minimum wage cause unemployment is a:
answer
Positive statement
question
Given current resources and technology, the unattainable range is best described as:
answer
points outside the PPF
question
Refer to the below diagram. A decrease in supply is depicted by a
answer
shift from S2 to S1
S1/ S2/
S1/ S2/
question
What effect should each of the following have upon the demand for portable music players in a competitive market? Explain your reasoning in each case.
(a) the development of improved, low-priced devices that compete with music players
(b) an increase in population and incomes
(c) a substantial increase in the number and quality of music for players
(a) the development of improved, low-priced devices that compete with music players
(b) an increase in population and incomes
(c) a substantial increase in the number and quality of music for players
answer
A. Demand will decrease
B. Demand will increase
C. Demand will increase
B. Demand will increase
C. Demand will increase
question
An expectation of a higher price in the future will:
answer
increase current demand
question
Refer to the below diagram. An increase in quantity supplied is depicted by a:
answer
going from x to y on the supply curve
question
Which of the following would cause a normal goods demand curve to shift to the right?
answer
Income increases