Definitions Flashcards
Microeconomics
The study of human behavior; how households and firms make choices, how they interact in markets, and how the government attempts to influence their choices.
Types of economics
1. Command and control
- the governmnet controls everything and they own all the resources.
They produce all goods and services in the economy.
- Market
A system where decisions are made by interactions between buyers and sellers. It is not controlled by the government and is used by most countries today.
- Mixed
Mix of government and markets ex: National defense
Opportunity costs
The potential benefit that is given when one alternative is selected over another.
How it alters people behavior: people will make a change in their decisions, the higher the opportunity cost the less likely the other choice will be made.
PPF
Curve showing the max attainable combinations of two goods that can be produced with available resources and current technology. Shift by economic growth. What gives the graph its shae? Allocative resources based on comparative advantage.
Resources
- Labor
- Land
- Capital
- Entrepreneurship
Circular flow diagram
shows how dollars flow through markets among households and firms.
Flow of money
Money flows from households to firms when households purchase goods and services, and it flows from firms to households as payment for the resources used in production.
Money flows from households to government by taxes and government to households by government spending. Financial institutions play a role in intermediating the flow of money between households and firms, facilitating the flow of funds within the economy through loans, investments, and savings.
Comparative vs absolute advantage
- Comparative advantage is the ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another producer.
- Absolute advantage is the ability to produce more of a good or service than competitors using the same amount of resources.
Supply curve
What is it?
A curve that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied
Supply curve
What shift it?
Income, prices of related goods, tastes, expectations, numbers of buyers.
Supply curve
Difference between quantity supplied and overall supply
Overall Supply is the entire supply curve, while quantity supplied is the exact figure supplied at a certain price.
Demand curve
What is it?
Curve that shows the relationship between the price of a product and the quantity of the product demanded
Demand curve
What shifts it?
Income, prices of related goods, taxes, expectations, numbers of buyers
Demand curve
Difference between quantity demanded and overall demand
Overall Demand is the entire curve and quantity demand is the demand of a product at a single point.
Elasticity of supply
Measurment how quantity supplied reacts to a change in price
Formula: Price elasticity of supply
% change in quantity supply / % change in price
elastic <1 - inelastic supply
0 - perfectly inelastic
1 - unit elastic supply
Cross price elasticity of demand
% change in quantity demanded of good X / % change in price of good Y
Elasticity of demand
How consumers react to a change in price
Formula: price elasticity of demand
Change in Q/ Sum of Qs / 2 / change in price / sum of prices / 2
ALWAYS NEGATIVE
AV> 1 = elastic
AV < 1 inelastic
Elasticity of demand
Cross price
Measure of how much the quantity demanded of one good responds to a change in the price of another good.