question
economists assume that people respond to
answer
incentives
question
incentives
answer
rewards and penalties that motivate behavior
question
____ are the following types of incentives that economists believe people respond to
answer
moral,monetary, and personal incentives
question
The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith claimed that individuals
answer
are motivated by self-interest
question
what 2 points do economists consider important with trade-offs?
answer
drug lag, drug loss
question
what is the invisible hand?
answer
the idea that people pursuing their own self-interest actually benefits the public at large
question
economics is the study of
answer
trade offs when making decisions
question
why is it less costly to attend college during a recession
answer
the opportunity cost is lower during a recession because there are fewer labor market opportunities
question
what is opportunity cost
answer
the value of what you give up when you make a choice
question
when the opportunity cost increases
answer
individuals are less likely to choose that same option
question
what does thinking at the margin mean?
answer
making choices by comparing the additional benefits and additional costs from doing a little bit more of some activity
question
without trade, we would all be able to produce
answer
very little
question
what is price inflation
answer
...
question
macroeconomists is?
answer
the incentives to produce New Ideas
question
what is inflation?
answer
an increase in the general level of prices
question
what is inflation caused by?
answer
sustained increase in the money supply
question
the law of demand states that
answer
the lower the price, the greater the quantity demanded
question
what is a demand curve
answer
a demand curve is a function that shows the relationship between prices and their associated quantities demanded
question
quantity demanded is
answer
the amount of a good or service that a buyer is able and willing to purchase at a given price
question
define an inferior good
answer
when the demand goes down the income goes up
question
the quantity supplied is the
answer
amount of a good that firms are willing adn able to sell at a particular price during a given period of time
question
the supply curve illustrates
answer
the relationship between the quantity supplied and the price of a good
question
total consumer surplus is measured by
answer
the area below the demand curve and above the market price
question
substitute goods
answer
are those than can be used as alternatives for the other
question
complements is
answer
goods that are used together
question
producer surplus
answer
the producers gain from exchange.
question
in a market, the equilibrium condition is given by the following
answer
quantity demanded = quantity supplied
question
define surplus
answer
situaiton in which quantity supplied is greater tahn quantity demanded
question
define shortage
answer
quanitty demanded is greater than quantity supplied
question
when the price of a good incrases the demand for the good will
answer
...
question
OPEC is able to raise oil prices by
answer
...
question
define speculation
answer
the attempt to proft from futuer price changes
question
futures are
answer
contracts to buy or sell specified quantities of a commodity or financial instrument at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future
question
how are oil prices and sugar prices related?
answer
as oil prices increase, producers divert sugar cane from sugar production to ethanol production
question
one of the biggest problems with centrally planned economies is that
answer
central planners have limited information on the true value of the various ways to utilize scarce resources
question
the great economic problem is
answer
satisfying infinite wants with limited resources
question
in a competitive free market, consumers decide not only whether their use of a good is worth more than the market price, but also wether their use of a good is worth more than...
answer
its next highest-valued use of the good
question
if a central planner had the power to solve the great economic problem
answer
his incentive would be to use that power to enrich himself, not to solve the problem
question
increasing prices act as a signal to
answer
suppliers to increase he quantity supplied in those markets
question
speculation often
answer
helps smooth price fluctuations
question
futures contracts
answer
allow individuals to speculate in various markets without having to store the product
question
with speculation, prices...
answer
become less volatile than they otherwise would be
question
is the task of effective central planning difficult?
answer
yes, central planners have no way of knowing the value of a particular resource in all of its uses
question
the more quantit demanded responds to a change in the price o fthat good the ____ is for that good.
answer
more elastic demand
question
the steeper a linear demand curve is the
answer
less elastic the demand
question
if two linear demand (or supply) curves run through a common point, then at any given quantity the curve that is steeper is more
answer
inelastic
question
to examine how responsive consumers are to price changes, economics measure
answer
the elasticity of demand
question
the fundamental determinant of the elasticity of demand for a good is
answer
how easy it is to substitute the good for another
question
over time, the demand for msot goods becomes ___ elastic since we are able to ____
answer
more; develop more/better substitutes
question
are there more substitutes for Cheerios or for cereal in general? for which good is demand more elastic
answer
Cheerios; cheerios
question
why might the demand for massages be more elastic than the deamnd for chiropractic adjustments?
answer
massages tend to be more luxurious and chiropractic adjustments tend to be necessities
question
there are ___ substitutes for oil, so the elasticity of deamdn for oil is ___ elastic
answer
few; not very
question
the long run demand for oil____ the short run demand for oil
answer
is more elastic than
question
a higher income tends to make demand for a given good ____ elastic
answer
less
question
economists categorize price elasticity of demand greater than 1 as
answer
elastic
question
if the demand for a good is elastic, then
answer
revenues decrease when the price goes up
question
when market for a good is ELASTIC, total revenue and price move in
answer
opposite directions
question
in the elastic portion of a linear demand curve, firm revenue ___when price falls
answer
increases
question
the supply of ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts is probably
answer
inelastic
question
the fundamental determanant of the elasticity of supply is
answer
how quickly the perunit cost of production increase with an increase in production
question
a tax on sellers of popcorn will
answer
reduce the size of the popcorn market
question
a tax on sellers of apples
answer
leads sellers to supply less apples at every price
question
The burden of a tax imposed on coffee mugs
answer
buyers and sellers share the burden of the tax
question
if buyers are required to pay a tax on top of the price, buyers' willingness to pay will
answer
decrease and the demand curve will shift down
question
T or F; in a market with a downward sloping demand curve and an upward sloping supply curve, a tax placed on sellers will cause sellers to recieve a lower price and buyers to pay a higher price
answer
True
question
T or F; if the demand and supply curves have equal sloped in absolute value, the burden of commodty tax will be split equally regardlessof on whom the tax is placed
answer
True
question
T or F; subsidies lead to existence of non-beneficial tades
answer
True
question
a price cieling is
answer
an illegally established maximum price that can be charged for a good
question
price cielings would create
answer
shortages, reductions in product quality, a misallocation of resources, a loss in gains from trade, wasteful lines and other search costs
question
if a seller facing excess demand is unable to raise the price of the good due to a price cieling, a likely result will be
answer
a decrease in the quality of the product
question
a deadweight loss is the total of
answer
lost consumer and producer surplus when all mutually profitable gains from trade are not exploited
question
the effect of price cielings
answer
extend beyond the price controlled market
question
a prcie floor is
answer
minimum price allowed by law
question
for a price floor to prevent market forces from finding the equilibrum price it must be set
answer
above the equilibrium price, causing a market surplus
question
price floors make it illegal to compete for more customers by lowering prices, so firms compete by offering customers
answer
higher quality
question
trade creates value because
answer
people exchange things they do not want for things they do
question
a very small portion of people who use microwaves know how they work this is an exampe of
answer
specialization
question
if instead of specialized doctors we had doctors who each knew the same things about all aspects of medicine it would be
answer
worse because total medical knowledge in society would decrease
question
division of knowledge refers to
answer
people learning different tasks for which they each have a comparative advantage
question
gains from international trade are best characterized a potential gains from
answer
both importation and exportation
question
economic growth in a modern era is primarily due to the creation of new
answer
knowledge
question
absolute advantage derives from
answer
the lowest cost production
question
If Tyler and ALex are trading partners do their gains from trade depend on whether tyler and alex live in the same country?
answer
it doesnt matter in which country tyler and alex live
question
if the world price of cotton is less than the price that would occur domestically without trade then a country will
answer
import cotton
question
when a country adopts free trade and becomes a net exporter of a good that good
answer
becomes more expensive for domestic consumers
question
an increase in import trade tends to ___ domestic prices
answer
decrease
question
according to supply and demand framework in the text, and increase in import trade tends to ___ domestic production of good
answer
decrease
question
you are a policymaker and a lobbyist comes to you, arguing that his industry is important for national security and has important spillover benefits. Why might you be suspicious of his claims?
answer
his industry benefits from tariffs that decrease foreign competition
question
some goods generate spillover benefits from production but it is
answer
difficult to know in advance which good those are