Chapter 5 Flashcards
Economics
- a science that studies human behavior as the relationships between ends and scarce means that have alternative uses
- about individuals, corporations or governments and they choices they make
Business Cycle
- refers to the rise and fall of economic activity relative to long-term growth trends
- vary in duration and severity
- analysis of business cycle is part of macroeconomics
- macroeconomics examines the determinants of national income, unemployment, inflation and how monetary and fiscal policies affect economic activity
- healthcare services are typically not affected by
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- total market value of all final goods and services produced within the borders of a nation
- excludes goods that have been resold
- all final goods and services produced by recourses within a country regardless of who owns that resource
Business Cycle Phases
- Expansionary Phase:
- rising economic activity (GDP) and growth
- economic activity rises above long term growth trend
- increased profits, workforce, and prices
- Peak:
- high point of economic activity
- end of expansionary
- profits at the highest level
- firms face capacity constraints and input shortages
- leads to higher costs and higher overall price
- economy will be at the natural rate of unemployment
- Contractionary Phase
- falling economic activity
- profits are falling
- Through:
- low point of economic activity
- significant excess production capacity
- workforce reduction and cost cutting
- Recovery Phase
- economic activity begins to increase and return to long term growth trends
- profits begin to stabilize as demnd begins to rise
variations between business cycles are attrubtable to duration and intensity
Recession
occurs when the economy experiences negative economic growth
two consecutive quarters of falling national output
profits fall and firms incur losses
firms have excess capacity
resources under utilized and unemployment is high
expereiences a drop in customer purchases and a rise in business inventories of durable good
wages grow slowly
business investment in plant and equiptment sharply drop and profits fall
both interest rates and stock prices fall
potential output will exceed actual output
Depression
a severe recession
characterized by a relatively long period of stagnation in business activity
high employment rates
significant excess capacity
firms going out of business
Leading Indicators
- tend to predict economic activity
- they change before economy starts to follow certain trend
- include
- average new unemployment claims
- building permits of residents
- average length of workweek
- money supply
- standards & poos 500 stock index
- orders for goods
- price chances of materials
- index of consumer expectations
- interest rate spread
- index of supply deliveries
Lagging Indicators
- tend to follow economic activity
- signal after the after
- confirm or dispute previous forecasts and the effectiveness of policy directives
- include:
- prime rate charged by banks
- average duration of unemployment
- commercial and industrial loans outstanding
- consumer price index for services
- consumer debt-to-income ratio
- changes in labor cost per unit of manufacturing output
- inventories-to-sales ratio
Coincident Indicators
- change at the same time as the whole economy
- provide information current state of economy
- used to identify, after the fact, peaks and troughs in a business cycle
- include:
- industrial production
- manufacturing and trade sales
- industrial production (GDP)
- personal income less transfer payments
Perfect (Pure) Competition
- no individual firm can influence the market price of its product nor shift the market supply sufficiently to make a good scarcer or more abundant
- strategies:
- maintaining market share and responsiveness of the sales price to market conditions
- assumptions:
- large # of suppliers and customers act independently
- firms are small relative to industry
- no barriers to entry
- very little product differentiation (homogeneous products)
- firms are prices takers
- price is set by market
- firms control only the quantity produced
- demand is perfectly elastic
- entry and exit of new firms ensures that economic profits are zero in long run
Monopolistic Competition
- exists when many sellers compete to sell a differentiated product in a market into which the entry of new sellers is possible
- assumptions
- numerous firms with differentiated products
- firms are small relative to industry
- few barriers to entry
- firms exert some influence over price and market through differentiation
- firms have more control over quantity produced than over price
- differentiation results in a highly elastic but downward-sloping demand curve
- because of few barriers to entry, in the long run
- strategies
- maintain market share
- enhanced product differentiation
- extensive allocation of resources to advertising, marketing, product research
Oligopoly
- very few sellers dominate the sales of a product and entry of new sellers is difficult or impossible
- assumptions
- relatively firm firms with differentiated products
- firms large relative to industry
- significant barriers to entry (high capital costs)
- firms have control over both quantity produced and price charged
- have kinked demand curve because firms match price cuts of competitors but ignore price increases
- because of high barriers to entry, profits are positive in long term
- strategies
- strategic plans focus on market share and call for the proper amount of advertising and ways to properly adapt to price changes or required changes in production volume
- when an oligopolist lowers its price, other firms in the oligopoly will match the price reduction, but if the poligopolist raises its price, the other firms will irgnore the price change
- profitability from production levels that maximize profits
- Game Theory Model
Monopoly
- represents concentration of supply in the hands of a single firm (utility companies)
- assumptions
- single firm with unique product
- insurmountable barriers to market entry
- set both output and price
- no substitute products
- demand is inelastic
- profits are positive in long term
- strategies
- likely to ignore market share and focus on profitability from production levels that maximize profits
Monopoly
- represents concentration of supply in the hands of a single firm (utility companies)
- assumptions
- single firm with unique product
- insurmountable barriers to market entry
- set both output and price
- no substitute products
- demand is inelastic
- profits are positive in long term
- strategies
- likely to ignore market share and focus on profitability from production levels that maximize profits
- Marginal Revenue equals Marginal Cost
- Natural Monopoly exists when economic and technical conditions permit only one efficient supplier
Market Assumptions and Conditions
firm will operate best when marginal revenue equals marginal cost
microeconomic theory holds that firms make decisions based on marginal cost and marginal revenue (ignoring fixed or sunk costs)
Fiscal Policy
- government’s use of governments spending and taxation to influence the economy
- spending includes subsidies, public works projects, welfare programs and salaries paid to government employees
- taxation fund government and includes taxes on income, property, gains from investments and sales
- can be expansionary or contractionary
- more money devoted to national programs and activities leads to increased production, lower unemployment and higher consumer spending
- decreased taxes result in higher net income and profits allowing entities to potentially increase employee compensation, pay higher dividends, and have more discretionary income to invest in profitable project
Monetary Policy
- used by nation’s central bank (Federal Reserve) to affect money supply, interest rates, and credit available in the economy
- designed to promote stable prices, maximum employments, moderate interest rates and long-term economic growth
- tools
- open market operations
- government buying and selling government securities
- buying increases money supply and expands economy
- selling decreases money supply and contract the economy
- changes in the discount rate
- interest rate of federal reserve
- increase also increases interest rates, discourages borrowing, and reduces the money supply which slows economy
- decreases has opposite effect
- changes in required reserve ratio
- dictates how much money a bank is required to hold in its vault or on deposit with the federal reserve
- higher the ratio decreases the money supply and contracts the economy
- lower has opposite effect
- open market operations
Regulations
- rules established by a government that guide how an industry and its entities can operate
- generally used to provide protection to individuals and employees, to hold entities accountable for their actions, and to safeguard the environment
- can make it difficult for small or mid size firms to complete
Regulations
- rules established by a government that guide how an industry and its entities can operate
- generally used to provide protection to individuals and employees, to hold entities accountable for their actions, and to safeguard the environment
- can make it difficult for small or mid size firms to complete
Trade Controls
- restrict transactions and transfers of goods, services, software, and technology
- protect domestic industries by reducing foreign competition
- examples:
- tariffs
- taxes on imports with increase the prices of foreign goods and make them less competitive
- source of revenue
- quotas
- limits on quantity of a good that can be imported over time
- help protect specific industries
- embargoes
- prohibit the importing or exporting of certain goods from a specific country
- tariffs
Demand Curve
- illustrates the maximum quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at each and every price with all else being equal
- microeconomic
- the impact tha price has on the amount of a product purchased
Quantity Demanded
- defined as the quantity of a good or service individuals are willing and able to purchase at each and every given price all else being equal
Change in Quantity Demanded (Movement Along the Demand Curve)
- change in the amount of a good demanded resulting solely from a change in price
- shown as movements along the demand curve
- when assumptions regarding price or quantity change, the demand point will change along this demand cure
Change in Demand (Movement of the Demand Curve)
- change in the amount of a good demanded resulting from a change in something other than the price of the good
- causes a shift in the demand curve
Fundamental Law of Demand
- states that the price of a product or service and the quantity demanded of that product or service are inversely related
- reasons:
- Substitution Effect
- fact that consumers tend to purchase more (less) of a good when its price falls (rises) in relation to the price of other goods
- Income Effect
- means that as prices are lowered with income remaining constant, people will purchase more or all of the lower-priced product
- Substitution Effect
Factors that Shift Demand Curve (other than price)
- Changes in Wealth
- Changes in the Price of Related Goods (Substitutes or Compliments)
- Changes in Consumer Income
- Changes in Consumer Tastes or Preferences for Product
- Changes in Consumer Expectations
- Changes in the Number of Buyers Served by the Market
Supply Curve
- illustrates the maximum quantity of a good that sellers are willing and able to produce at each and every price, all else being equal
- microeconomics
Quantity Supplied
- amount of a good that producers are willing and able to produce at each and every given price, all else being equal
Changes in Quantity Supplied (Movement Along the Supply Curve)
- change in the amount producers are willing and able to produce resulting solely from a change in price
- represented as movement along the supply curve
Change in Supply (Movement of the Supply Curve)
- change in the amount of a good supplied resulting from a change in something other than the price of the good
- causes shift in the supply curve
Factors that Shift Supply Curves
- Changes in price Expectation of the Supplying Firms
- Changes in Production Costs (Price of Inputs)
- Changes in the Price or Demand for Other Goods
- Changes in Subsidies or Taxes
- Change in Production Technologies
Market Equilibrium
- when there are no forces acting to change the current price/quantity combination
- point at which supply and demand curve intersect = equilibrium price
Changes in Equilibrium
- effects of a change in demand on equilibrium
- increase in demand will result in an increase in price
- effects of a change in supply on equilibrium
- increase in supply will result in decrease in price
- increase in supply and demand results in an increase in equilibrium quantity but effect on price is indeterminate
- if increase in demand is larger than increase in supply, equilibrium price will rise
Price Ceilings
- maximum price that is established below the equilibrium price which causes shortages to develop
- artificially low prices generating a demand
Price Floors
- minimum price set above equilibrium price which causes a surpluses to develop
- minimum wages and agricultural prices
Elasticity
measure of how sensitive the demand for, or supply or, a product is to a change in price
Price Elasticity of Demand
Ep = Price of Elasticity of Demand = % change in quantity demanded
% change in price
- on a normal demand curve, price elasticity of demand is usually negative
- the absolute value of the elastic coefficient (positive value) is considered when elasticity problems are posed on the examination
- Product demand is more elastics when more substitutes are available
- product with high price elsaticity of demand had many substitutes
- basic determinant is number of substitutes available for the product
- if demand is price inelastic, an increase in price will result in an increase in total revenue (positive relationship)
Price Inelasticity (Absolute Price Elasticity of Demand < 1.0)
- the smaller the number the more inelastic the demand for the good
- if zero, indicates that no matter how the price changes, the demand will remain constant