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Price Floor
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A legal minimum on the price at which a good can be sold
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Consumer Choice Theory
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Provides insight into the behaviour of individuals who make CONSTRAINED CHOICES
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The Firm's Efficient Scale
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the quantity of output that minimizes AVERAGE TOTAL COST
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What is the relationship between ECONOMIC profit and ACCOUNTING profit?
answer
ECONOMIC PROFIT will NEVER exceed accounting profit
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What results when the minimum wage is ABOVE the equilibrium wage?
answer
the quantity demanded of labour will be LESS THAN the quantity supplied
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explicit costs
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input costs that require an outlay of money by the firm
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opportunity costs (implicit costs)
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the highest-valued alternative that we give up to get something. All costs are opportunity costs.
ex: "there's no such thing as a free lunch"
ex: "there's no such thing as a free lunch"
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diminishing marginal product
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marginal product of an input DECLINES as the quantity of the input increases
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what happens when there is a shortage in a market?
a. there is downward pressure on price
b. there is an upward pressure on price
c. the market could still be in equilibrium
d. the price must be above equilibrium
a. there is downward pressure on price
b. there is an upward pressure on price
c. the market could still be in equilibrium
d. the price must be above equilibrium
answer
b. there is an UPWARD pressure on PRICE
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what level of output will average total cost INCREASE?
a. marginal cost = atc
b. mc > atc
c. mc = average variable costs
d. mc < avc
a. marginal cost = atc
b. mc > atc
c. mc = average variable costs
d. mc < avc
answer
b. mc > atc
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economies of scale
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factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises, saving in costs gained by an increased level of production.
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what is the slope of the consumer's budget constraint measured by?
answer
relative price of the goods
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very short v. short run v. long run
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Very Short Run: All inputs (Capital, Labour and Natural Resources) and outputs are fixed
Short Run: the period of time in which at least one of the inputs are fixed
Long Run: the period of time in which all inputs are variable
Short Run: the period of time in which at least one of the inputs are fixed
Long Run: the period of time in which all inputs are variable
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scarcity
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limited nature of society's resources; people must make choices among alternatives
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Main function of markets include:
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enabling buyers and sellers to get information about each other
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economics
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the study of how society manages its resources; The study of how individuals, businesses, governments, and entire societies make choices as they cope with scarcity and the incentives that influence and reconcile those choices.
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Four Principles of Individual Decision Making
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1. people face tradeoffs
2. the cost of something is what you give up to get it
3. rational people think at the margin
4. people respond to incentives
2. the cost of something is what you give up to get it
3. rational people think at the margin
4. people respond to incentives
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efficiency
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the property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resources
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equity
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the property of distributing economic prosperity fairly among the members of society
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The slope of a straight line:
a. decreases as the variable on the x-axis
b. increases if the slope is negative.
c. increases as the variable on the x-axis increases if the slope is positive.
d. is the same at every point only if the line is horizontal.
e. is the same at every point.
f. depends on where you measure the slope.
a. decreases as the variable on the x-axis
b. increases if the slope is negative.
c. increases as the variable on the x-axis increases if the slope is positive.
d. is the same at every point only if the line is horizontal.
e. is the same at every point.
f. depends on where you measure the slope.
answer
e. is the same at every point
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Law of Demand
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shows the relationship between price and quantity demanded of a good or service. It shows a consumer's willingness to pay different prices for different quantities.
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Law of Supply
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The supply curve shows the relationship between price and quantity supplied; The higher the price of a good/service, the higher quantity supplied. The lower the price, the lower supply.
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Normative Questions/Statements
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involve a value judgement (ex. Saying; for reasons of Equity, we should redirect national income to help them). WHAT OUGHT TO BE
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Positive Questions/Statements
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involves no value judgement, what is currently believed about how the world operates. (ex. Saying 20% of Canadians live in poverty).
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Marginal Cost
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the opportunity cost of producing one more unit of a good or service
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Model A is superior to model B if:
a. its predictions correspond more closely to the facts than the predictions of model B.
b. it contains fewer unrealistic assumptions than model B.
c. it is preferred by a majority of researchers in a public opinion poll.
d. it contains more real world detail than model B.
e. it is scientifically "elegant."
a. its predictions correspond more closely to the facts than the predictions of model B.
b. it contains fewer unrealistic assumptions than model B.
c. it is preferred by a majority of researchers in a public opinion poll.
d. it contains more real world detail than model B.
e. it is scientifically "elegant."
answer
a. its predictions correspond more closely to the FACTS than the predictions of model B.
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market economy
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an economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many firms and households as they interact in markets for goods and services
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property rights
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the ability of an individual to own and exercise control over scarce resources
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externality
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the impact of one person's actions on the well-being of a bystander
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marginal utility
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The change in total utility that results from a one-unit increase in the quantity of a good consumed is
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productivity
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the quantity of goods and services produced from each unit of labor input
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Three Principles of How People Interact
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1. Trade can make everyone better off
2. Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity
3. Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes
2. Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity
3. Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes
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elasticity
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refers to the sensitivity of one economic variable to a percentage change in another variable;
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elastic
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when a 1% change in one variable results in a >1% change in the other.
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Three Principles of the Workings of the Economy
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1. A country's standard standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services
2. prices rise when the government prints too much money
3. society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment
2. prices rise when the government prints too much money
3. society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment
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All of the following topics fall within the study of microeconomics EXCEPT:
answer
the influence of the government budget deficit on economic growth.
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in a short-run monopolistic competitive industry, the maximizing profit point is achieved by producing ___
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the quantity where marginal revenue = marginal cost
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in a long-run monopolistic competitive industry, price equals ___ and the firm earns zero profit.
answer
average total cost.
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in a short-run competitive firm's supply curve is
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its marginal cost curve ABOVE average variable cost (avc)
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why does a monopolistic firm face a downward-sloping DEMAND curve?
answer
the market price is affected by the amount sold by a monopolistic firm
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In consumer equilibrium, a consumer equates the:
a. marginal utility from each good.
b. total utility from each good.
c. total utility per dollar on each good.
d. total income spent on each good with total utility from each good.
e. marginal utility per dollar on each good.
a. marginal utility from each good.
b. total utility from each good.
c. total utility per dollar on each good.
d. total income spent on each good with total utility from each good.
e. marginal utility per dollar on each good.
answer
e. marginal utility per dollar on each good
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substitution effect
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ALWAYS NEGATIVE. if price of x goes down while price of y remains constant, the consumer can get more utility by substituting x with y.
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income effect
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if price of x goes down, consumer can now afford to buy the same amount AND still have income left over.
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Good X is measured on the horizontal axis and good Y is measured on the vertical axis. The marginal rate of substitution is:
a. the rate at which a consumer will give up good Y to obtain an additional unit of good X while remaining indifferent.
b. equal to the magnitude of the slope of the budget line.
c. the rate at which a consumer will give up good X to obtain an additional unit of good Y while remaining indifferent.
d. the relative price of good Y in terms of good X.
e. the relative price of good X in terms of good Y.
a. the rate at which a consumer will give up good Y to obtain an additional unit of good X while remaining indifferent.
b. equal to the magnitude of the slope of the budget line.
c. the rate at which a consumer will give up good X to obtain an additional unit of good Y while remaining indifferent.
d. the relative price of good Y in terms of good X.
e. the relative price of good X in terms of good Y.
answer
a. the rate at which a consumer will give up good Y to obtain an additional unit of good X while remaining indifferent
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normal good
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a good that consumers demand more of when their incomes increase, positively sloped engel curves
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inferior good
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a good that consumers demand less of when their incomes increase, negatively sloped engel curve
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The shape of a person's indifference curves between two goods depends on:
a. the person's income.
b. the degree of substitutability between the two goods.
c. the level of satisfaction for the person.
d. the prices of the two goods.
e. all of the above.
a. the person's income.
b. the degree of substitutability between the two goods.
c. the level of satisfaction for the person.
d. the prices of the two goods.
e. all of the above.
answer
b. the degree of substitutability between the two goods
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To determine consumer equilibrium we need to know only (3 things)
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prices, income, and marginal utility.
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shut down
answer
If a firm cannot earn at least enough to cover all of its variable costs then in the short run it will shut down. This occurs where marginal cost is equal to minimum average variable cost.
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break-even
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marginal cost is equal to minimum average total cost, making neither profits or losses.
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Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns
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adding an additional factor of production results in smaller increases in output; As more of a variable resource is added to a given amount of a fixed resource, marginal product eventually declines and could become negative
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Law of Eventually Diminishing Marginal Product
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MP eventually declines and becomes negative due to that capital being spread thinner among more workers reducing their marginal product.
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Average Product
answer
average amount of output each worker can produce
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diseconomies of scale
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the property whereby long-run average total cost rises as the quantity of output increases
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subsidy
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a direct or indirect payment to individuals or firms, usually in the form of a cash payment from the government or a targeted tax cut.
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game theory
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derived from oligopoly, the study of how people behave in strategic situations
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public good
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NOT excludable or rivalrous
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private good
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rival and excludable
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tragedy of the commons
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absence of incentives to prevent overuse of common resources
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free rider problem
answer
a person who receives a benefit without paying for it.
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production function
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the relationship between quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good
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average total cost
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total cost divided by the quantity of output
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fixed cost
answer
a cost that does not change as output is increased or decreased
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variable cost
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a cost that rises or falls depending on the quantity produced
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complementary goods
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Products and services that are used together. When the price of one falls, the demand for the other increases (and conversely).
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collusion
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price fixing of cartels; agreement among firms
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production possibilities frontier
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a graph that shows the combinations of output that the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of production and the available production technology
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economic profit
answer
total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs
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accounting profit
answer
total revenue minus total explicit cost
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Tradeoff
answer
the exchange of one benefit or advantage for another that is thought to be better
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price ceiling:
answer
maximum legal price that can be charged for a product
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consumer surplus
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less in the case of a single-price monopoly than in the case of a perfectly competitive industry.
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kinked demand curve
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a perceived demand curve that arises when competing oligopoly firms commit to match price cuts, but not price increases