Test #1 : Ch. 1-4 Flashcards
Economics
The discipline that studies how efficient decisions are made.
Efficient Decision
Involve choosing the most valuable alternative.
Theory of Revealed Preference
A person’s choices reveal his/her values. Value depends on the situation and value is different for different people.
Characteristics of Value
- Value depends on the situation, 2. Value is different for different people, and 3. Subsequent units of the same good have less value.
Optimal Arrangement Principle
The idea that we first choose the best, then the second best, and so on.
Value to the Individual
The most that individual is willing to sacrifice to obtain that something.
Cost
The value of the best alternative which is sacrificed when a decision is made.
No Free Lunch Principle
States that any decision involves cost. Any decision has at least two alternatives- choosing an alternative means that now must sacrifice at least one other alternative.
Macroeconomics
The Study of entire economies, using concepts like total output, the unemployment rate, the national debt, total investment.
Scarcity
Having many more wants than our resources can satisfy.
Marginal Value
The value of the individual units of something.
Marginal Analysis
When we consume each unit for which the marginal value is at least as great as the marginal cost.
Marginal Cost
The change in total cost that comes from making or producing one additional item.
Law of Diminishing Returns
As we add workers to a production facility, eventually they become less productive because there is no way for everyone to take part in the production process
Demand
The relationship between the possible prices of something and the quantities people are willing to buy, other things equal.
Supply
The relationship between the possible prices of something and the quantities that people or firms are willing and able to sell, other things equal.
Equilibrium Price
Consumers can buy all they want and, at the same time, firms can sell all they want.
Social Gain
The combined consumer gain and producer gain or marginal value-marginal cost
Marginal Social Gain
The social gain from an individual unit.
Consumer Gain
=Total Value - Total Amount Paid
Producer’s Gain
=Total Amount Paid - Total Cost
The Economic Problem
Allocating scarce resources to their best uses.
Changes in Supply
Shifts in the supply curve- producers wish to produce more or less, even if the price does not change. They are caused by changes in the producer’s costs.
Changes in Demand
Shifts in the Demand Curve- consumers wish to buy more or less, even if the price does not change. They are caused by changes in things that influence the consumer’s willingness to purchase the product which has nothing to do with the product price.
Function of Free Market Prices
- Ration goods to consumers who most want them, 2. Give incentives to producers to satisfy consumers, 3. Give incentives to conserve scarce resources, and 4. Transmit information throughout the economy.
The Calculation Problem
In order to make the most efficient decision, the decision maker must know the information better than the people who actually do the jobs- impossible to know every aspect.
Spontaneous Order
That people organize themselves and interact efficiently, if given the freedom to do so.
Natural Experiment
Markets vs. State control (North Korea and South Korea/ East Germany and West Germany).
Public Choice School
Explores how self-interested government employees make decisions.
Rational Ignorance
We perceive that learning about a piece of information on a certain subject is not as valuable as our time; refusing to expend resources to gather information that will almost certainly NOT lead to a change in the quality of life.
Fallacy of Division
Thinking that what is true for a group must be true for all individuals of that group.
Individual Choice
Where individuals decide for themselves.