FINAL Flashcards
economics
study of human behavior that emphases rational decision making
scarcity
implies choice
opportunity costs and trade offs mean nothing is free
you must give something up when you make a choice
ex: going to class vs sleeping in
rational self interest
rational means people tend to choose the correct means to achieve their goals
rational decision
makes respond to incentives and make decisions at the margin
ex: everytime you come to class, get $20 vs the class smelling bad you wouldn’t come
ceteris paribus
other things the same or other things held constant
resources are used to
produce goods and service
ex: machines, skills NOT money
postive econ
what is
normative econ
ought or should be
production possibilities frontier
a graph that shows all the different combinations of output of two goods that can be produced using available resources and technology
key to mass production is
specialization
supply curve
a graphic representation of the correlation between the cost of a good or service and the quantity supplied for a given period
demand curve
a graphical representation of the relationship between the price of a good or service and the quantity demanded for a given period of time
quantity demanded
the total amount of a good or service that consumers demand over a given interval of time
normal goods
a good that experiences an increase in its demand due to a rise in consumers’ income
inferior goods
one whose demand drops when people’s incomes rise
Change in demand versus change in quantity demanded
A change in quantity demanded refers to a movement along a fixed demand curve – that’s caused by a change in price. A change in demand refers to a shift in the demand curve – that’s caused by one of the shifters: income, preferences, changes in the price of related goods and so on.
Change in supply versus change in quantity supplied
A change in quantity supplied is a movement along the supply curve in response to a change in price. A change in supply is a shift of the entire supply curve in response to something besides price
things that can shift demand
- normal goods
- inferior goods
- changes in prices of substitutes and compliments
- Weather, climate, population, taxes, regulation, subsidies
normal good
- a good that experiences an increase in its demand due to a rise in consumers’ income.
- Normal goods have a positive correlation between income and demand.
- Examples of normal goods include food staples, clothing, and household appliances.
inferior goods
- one whose demand drops when people’s incomes rise
- When incomes are low or the economy contracts, inferior goods become a more affordable substitute for a more expensive good.
substitutes
- This means if the price of one product increases, the demand for the other increases.
- For example, coffee can be said to be a substitute for tea, and solar energy is a substitute for electricity. If the price of coffee goes up, the demand for tea goes up, too, and vice versa.
compliments
- a product or service that adds value to another
- they are two goods that the consumer uses together
- For example, cereal and milk, or a DVD and a DVD player.
equilibrium
Economic equilibrium is a condition or state in which economic forces are balanced.
consumer surplus
Difference between what consumers are willing to pay and what they actually pay
producer surplus
The difference between the price producers get for selling the good and the marginal cost of producing it (or it is the difference between the price and the minimum amount a firm would have to be paid to produce a unit of the good)
total surplus
Consumer surplus + producer surplus
subsidy
- Payment made by the government that does not necessarily require an exchange of economic activity in return
- Take the form of payments to businesses
marginal benefit
Additional benefit with 1 or more
marginal cost
Additional cost with 1 or more
MB = MC at…
equilibrium
labor markets
Differences in supply and demand lead to differences in wages
efficiency
an economic state in which every resource is optimally allocated to serve each individual or entity in the best way while minimizing waste and inefficiency
price controls
restrictions imposed by governments to ensure that goods and services remain affordable
price ceilings
- prevent a price from rising above a certain level
- When a price ceiling is set below the equilibrium price, quantity demanded will exceed quantity supplied, and excess demand or shortages will result.
- ex: rent control
price floors
- a minimum legal price
- ex: minimum wage
shortage
when the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied
surplus
the gain consumers and producers receive in a particular transaction and is a measure of market wellbeing
deadweight loos
Lost consumer and producer surplus
To Summarize
1. Price controls overrule the market price, unless nonbinding
2. Binding price ceilings create shortages
3. Binding price floors create surpluses
4. Price controls are generally inefficient, eliminating them means more value-increasing trades take place
elasticity
- A measure of how responsive one variable is to a change in another variable; calculated as the percentage change in quantity divided by the percentage change in price
- E = %Q/%P
- kind of like the slope
elasticity of demand
- Goods with many substitutes will have elastic demand
- Goods with few substitutes will have inelastic demand
- If price goes up but quantity doesn’t change much, demand is inelastic. If quantity changes a lot, demand is elastic.
elasticity of supply
- Goods for which it is easy for producers to greatly increase or decrease production will have elastic supply.
- If the price goes up but quantity supplied doesn’t change much, supply is inelastic. If quantity changes a lot, supply is elastic.
market failure
When individuals pursuit of rational self-interest leads to a collectively, inefficient and irrational outcome
monopoly
When there are very few firms, price is too high and quantity is too low
nonrivalvous public good
Consumption does not reduce how much others could consume
nonexcludeable public good
People who do not pay for the good cannot be excluded from consuming it
externalities
A buyer and seller are happy with a transaction, but costs or benefits are imposed on a third party
negative externalities
- An External costs are imposed on a 3rd party
- “People do too much of a harmful thing”
- Examples: Pollution, congestion, not taking care of home
positive externalities
- An external benefit is imposed on a 3rd party
- Ex: “people do too little of a beneficial thing”
- Examples: taking good care of my house, education
- Solutions: taxes and subsidies, cup and trade, command and control
tragedy of the commons
- When a resource is unowned or owned in common, it is often overused or abused
- Ex: fishing, common pasture
- Solutions: individual tradeable quotas
tragedy of the anticommons
- There are too many people who can veto the use of a resource
- Ex: patent thickets, russian shopping malls
information problems
- When one or both parties to a transaction lack important information
- Ex: used car sales, education signing (4 years of busy)
public choice
Governments are made up of rationally self-interested people who respond to the incentives created by laws and norms
public interest
Democratic governments aggregate votery inferences and create effective, beneficial policy (we the people)
voters
they vote for politicians offering their preferred policy bundles