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The main incentive for business activity is
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profit
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Adam Smith coined the term "invisible hand" to mean
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a metaphorical hand that leads individuals to promote social interest by pursuing self-interest.
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Which of the following choices best illustrates the concept of Adam Smith's "invisible hand"?
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A Vietnamese farmer grows rice; an exporter ships it to the United States, and a grocer in New York sells it to a customer.
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The opportunity cost of a choice is
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the value of the next best opportunity foregone.
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In the 2 hours between classes a student can do one of three things, ranking them from most to least desirable as: (1) chat with friends, (2) study economics, or (3) eat lunch. This student's opportunity cost of chatting with friends is
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the value of studying economics.
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Susan quits her administrative job, which pays $40,000 a year, to finish her four-year college degree. Her annual college expenses are $8,000 for tuition, $900 for books, and $2,500 for food. The opportunity cost of attending college for the year is
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$48,900
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What is thinking on the margin?
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Making choices by comparing the additional benefits and additional costs from doing a little bit more of some activity.
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A grocery store is running a "buy-one-get-another-at-one-half-off" promotion on a dozen doughnuts. So the first dozen is $6 and the second would be $3. A person would buy the second dozen if their marginal benefit from the second dozen doughnuts is
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greater than $3
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One benefit of trade is that it
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allows for increased specialization and mass-production techniques that lower per unit costs of production.
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The better Martha Stewart is at running her business
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the higher her opportunity cost of ironing her own shirts
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The historical rise in living standards of American workers is primarily a result of
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the rise in American productivity.
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What are the institutions that help foster the appropriate incentives for economic growth?
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a dependable legal system, property rights, and competitive and open markets
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Institutions that support economic growth are the ones that
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provide incentives for entrepreneurs to take risks and innovate.
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Booms and busts refer to the
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fluctuations in economic activity over time.
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Which of the following explains why economic booms and busts cannot be avoided?
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The economy is always being struck by unavoidable shocks.
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The Zimbabwean government printed money as fast as it could for years. As a result
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Zimbabwe experienced inflation at a rate of billions of percent per month.
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A policymaker wants to reduce inflation. In order to make an intelligent decision about how to do so, the policymaker
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needs to know the causes of inflation, for example, the government's printing of too much money.
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The decisions made by the Federal Reserve Bank sometimes result in negative effects on the economy because
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too much money or too little money might induce inflation or unemployment due to bad timing of decisions
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If the central bank creates too much money, _____ is the result. If the central bank doesn't create enough money, an economic _____ is the result.
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inflation; slowdown
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The average starting salary of economics majors is just behind that of
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chemical and nuclear engineering majors.
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Incentives
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are rewards and penalties that motivate behavior
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Opportunity cost
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a choice is the value of the opportunities lost
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inflation
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an increase in the general level of prices
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David sells his car, which he considers worthless, to Cameron for $200. Which of the following statements is true?
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David and Cameron must have different preferences for the car.
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Division of knowledge refers to
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people learning different tasks in which they specialize.
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Specialization and trade can _____ the per-unit cost of production because _____ .
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decrease; it creates economies of scale associated with large-scale production
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The ability of one producer to produce one good or service using fewer inputs than another producer is
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absolute advantage.
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Suppose a famous baseball player, Alex Rodriguez, hires a high school student to paint his house. Which of the following is most likely TRUE?
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The opportunity cost of painting a house is higher for Alex Rodriguez than for the high school student.
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Suppose France can produce four phones or three computers with one unit of labor, and Sweden can produce one phone or two computers with one unit of labor. If France can trade only with Sweden, then the theory of comparative advantage suggests that
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France should specialize in producing phones and import computers from Sweden.
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The production possibilities frontier shows
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the combinations of outputs a country can produce given its resources and productivity.
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Two countries that specialize where they have a comparative advantage and then trade with each other will experience increases in:
I. wages in both countries.
II. total output in both countries.
III. living standards in both countries.
I. wages in both countries.
II. total output in both countries.
III. living standards in both countries.
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I, II, and III
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Which of the following statements is TRUE?
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Specialization and trade raise wages in both countries that are party to the trade.
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According to the theory of comparative advantage, the reason wages are lower in China than in the United States is
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lower productivity in China.
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Globalization is
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the advance of human cooperation across national boundaries.
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Absolute advantage
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the ability to produce the same good using fewer inputs than another producer
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production possibilities frontier
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all the combinations of goods that a country can produce given its productivity and supply of inputs
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comparative advantage
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the ability to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than another producer
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law of demand
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The lower the price, the greater the quantity demanded