PLR Microeconomics Flashcards
What is microeconomics
The study of the behaviour of individuals or groups within an economy, typically within a market context
What is the basic economic problem
How to allocate scarce resources between competing uses in conditions in which there are limited resources and unlimited wants and needs.
What are economic goods
Goods which are scarce because their use has an opportunity cost
What are free goods
Goods which are unlimited in supply, they have no opportunity cost
What is opportunity cost (trade offs)
The cost of giving up the next best alternative
What is the PPF Curve
A curve that shows the maximum potential level of output of one good given a level of output for all other goods in the economy
What is division of labour
production is broken down in different tasks, Specialisation by workers e.g., (Designed by Apple in California, assembled in china, e.g., design, hardware, software, marketing etc)
What is a market
a voluntary meeting of buyers and sellers with the exchange of goods and services taking place
What is meant by utility
The satisfaction derived from consuming a good or service
What is welfare
The well-being of an economic agent or group of economic agents
What is ceteris paribus
The assumption that all other variables remain the same
What is a normative statement
a statement that includes a value judgement, normative statements cant be scientifically tested as everyone has different opinions. (includes ought, should, better worse)
what is a command or planned economy
An economic system where government allocate economic resources to firms and other productive enterprises (gov almost owns everything)(socialist/communist)
What is a free-market economy
An economic system which resolves the basic economic problem through the price mechanism (good and services are purchased through supply and demand)
What is a mixed economy
An economy where both the free-market mechanism and the government planning process allocate resources.
What is demand/ effective demand
the quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy at given prices in a given period of time
What is consumer surplus
The difference between how much buyers are prepared to pay for a good and what they actually pay
what is producer surplus
the difference between how much sellers are prepared to sell a good for and how much supply they actually have
what is supply
the quantity of goods that suppliers are willing and able to sell at any given price over a period of time
What is excess demand
when the demand is greater than the supply
What is excess supply
when the supply is greater than the demand