perfect competition and the invisible hand Flashcards
reservation value
willingness to pay and willingness to accept
social surplus (2)
sum of consumers’ and producers’ surplus
total satisfaction
fix price or quantity/ not free market
one party may experience bigger satisfaction than the other
less total satisfaction
Pareto efficiency
when no one can be better off without making someone else worse off
invisible hand
directs consumers and producers to maximize their surplus and maximize well-being
invisible hand: firm
directs managers to pursue their own self-interest and results in the most efficient product allocation
invisible hand: allocation of resources across the industries
directs firms to seek out profits and results in resources being allocated to their highest value of use
price controls act to …
resist efficiency
interfere with the ability of price to allocate resources
deadweight loss
reduction in social surplus resulting from a market intervention