Economics- Midterm Flashcards
Diminishing marginal product
the property whereby the marginal product of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases
Production possibilities frontier
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
Market
A market is a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service. The buyers as a group determine the demand for the product, and the sellers as a group determine the supply of the product.
competitive market
a market in which there are many buyers and many sellers so that each has a negligible impact on the market price
Quantity demanded
Amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to purchase
Law of demand
All other things being equal, the QUANTITY demanded of a good FALLS when the PRICE of the good RISES
which way does the demand graph slope? Why?
Downwards, because other things being equal, lower P= greater Q demanded
What are some variables that SHIFT the demand curve?
1) Income
a. Lower income= less money you have to spend in total→ therefore less to spend on goods
2) Price of related goods
a. Substitutes
i. Fall in price of one good reduces demand for another good
ii. E.g. almond milk and cow’s milk
b. Complements
i. Fall in price of one good raises demand for another good
ii. E.g. cereal and milk
3) Tastes
4) Expectations
a. Expectations about the future may affect demand for a good or service today
b. E.g. if you expect to earn a higher income next month→ you may choose to save now and spent more later
5) Number of buyers
a. The greater the number of buyers, the Q demanded in the market would be HIGHER at every price and market demand would INCREASE
What causes movement along the demand curve?
A change is price
quantity supplied
The amount of a good that sellers are willing and able to sell
Supply curve
A graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied
Equilibrium
A situation in which the market price has reached the level at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded
Equilibrium quantity
The quantity supplied and the quantity demanded at the equilibrium price
Equilibrium price
The price that balances quantity supplied and quantity demanded
Efficiency
The property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resources
Opportunity cost
Whatever must be given up to obtain some item
Market failure
A situation in which a market left on its own fails to allocate resources efficiently
Externality
The impact of one person’s actions on the well being of a bystander
Market power
The ability of a single economic actor (or small group of actors) to have a substantial influence on market prices
Productivity
The quantity of goods and services produced from each unit of labor input