Micro economics Flashcards
income
the amount of money one makes in a given amount of time
wealth
what someone has minus what they owe
opportunity cost
the cost of something is what you give up to get something
objective economics
facts, no bias
Normative economics
how something should be
Marginal benefit
the additional benefit arising from a unit increase
marginal cost
the cost added by producing one additional unit
fixed cost
remain constant regardless quantity of goods
ie rent
Variable cost
subject to change based on number of goods ie raw materials
social costs
example: pollution
model of circular flow
demonstrates how money moves through society- an endless flow of money
factors of production
land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship
theory of comparative advantage
the ability to produce a good or service at lower opportunity cost than its trading partners will keep competition moving
absolute advantage
when a producer is able to produce a product using fewer resources
comparative advantage
when a producer is able to produce a good at a lower cost (relative productivity)
shortage
leads to price increase which decreases demand and increases supply
perfectly competitive markets
all suppliers are equal and supply/demand are in equilibrium ie farmers market or offbrand cereal
Price taker (feature of perfectly competitive market)
market price = marginal cost of production so no one can overcharge because other firms will undercut them
Imperfect competition
Everyone is not a price taker. Monopoly allows individual producers or consumers to exercise some control over market prices
Imperfect competition examples
Monopolies (one seller)
Oligopoly (few sellers)
principle of supply and demand
Low prices = high demand, high prices = low demand
High supply = low prices, low supply = high prices
Ceteris Paribus
other things stay the same
invisible hand theory
adam smith theorized that households, firms, and others are guided by an “invisible hand” toward desirable market outcomes
Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) Model
possible quantities that can be produced of two products that depend on the same finite resource