Exam 1: Ch. 1, 3, 4 & 4 Appendix Flashcards
Allocative Efficiency
A state of the economy in which production is in accordance with consumer preferences, in particular, every good or service is produced up to the point where the last unit provides a marginal benefit to society, equal to the marginal cost of producing it
Centrally Planned Economy
An economy in which the government decides how economic resources will be allocated
Economic Model
A simplified version of reality used to analyze real-world economic situations
Economic Variable
Something measurable that can have different values, such as the incomes of doctors
Economics
The study of the choices people make to attain their goals, given their scarce resources
Equity
A fair distribution of economic benefits
Macroeconomics
The study of the economy as a whole, including topics such as inflation, unemployment, and economic growth
Marginal Analysis
Analysis that involves comparing marginal benefits and marginal costs
Market
A group of buyers and sellers of a good or service and the institution or arrangement by which they come together to trade
Market Economy
An economy in which the decisions of households and firms interacting in markets allocate economic resources
Microeconomics
The study of how households and firms make choices, how they interact in markets, and how the government attempts to influence their choices
Mixed Economy
An economy in which most economic decisions result from the interaction of buyers and sellers in markets but in which the government plays a specific role in the allocation of resources
Normative Analysis
Analysis concerned with what ought to be
Opportunity Cost
The highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity
Positive Analysis
Analysis concerned with what is
Productive Efficiency
A situation in which a good or service is produced at the lowest possible cost
Scarcity
A situation in which unlimited wants exceed the limited resources available to fulfill those wants
Trade-Off
The idea that, because of scarcity, producing more of one good or service means producing less of another good or service
Voluntary Exchange
A situation that occurs in markets when both the buyer and the seller of a product are made better off by the transaction
Three Economic Ideas
- People are rational
- People respond to economic incentives
- Optimal decisions are made at the margin
People are Rational
Economic idea that means that economist assume that consumers and firms use all available information as they act to achieve their goals. They weigh the benefits and the costs and only make a decision if the benefits outweigh the costs
People Respond to Economic Incentives
Economic idea that means that people will make decisions based on how costly they will be. Like banks not wanting to pay for a security guard $50,000 and safety glass $10,000-20,000 when usually they only lose about $1200 in a robbery
Optimal Decisions are made at the Margin
Economic idea that means that people weigh the marginal benefits with the marginal costs to make the decision that will help them save the most money
Why is SCARCITY central to the study of economics?
We must obtain our goals with limited resources
Why does SCARCITY imply that all people and societies face trade-offs?
Because you cannot use up all the resources at once so we must choose one or the other
Three Economic Questions That Every Society Must Answer
- What goods and services will be produced
- How will the goods and services be produced
- Who will receive the goods and services produced
What goods and services will be produced
producers/providers make this decision based on consumers decisions, they they are buying more iPhones than iPads, apple will make more iPhones
How will the goods or services be produced
producers/providers make this decision based on what will be most effective for them, if they will make more money by using more machines and actual workers, then they will choose to do that