FCP1 Flashcards
scarcity def (ch1)
condition that arises because wants exceed the ability of resources to satisfy them
economics def (ch1)
social science that studies choices that we make to cope with scarcity, the incentives that influence those choices, and arrangements that coordinate them
2 parts of economics (ch1)
1 microeconomics - study of choices that individuals and businesses make and how choices interact and are influenced by governments
2 macroeconomics - study of total effects on national economy and global economy of choices that individuals, businesses, and govs make
2 Q’s provide a useful summary of scope of economies (ch1)
1 How do choices end up determining WHAT, HOW, and FOR WHOM goods and services get produced?
*What - determines quantity
*How - automation or not
*For whom - income driven
2 When do choices made in pursuit of SELF-INTEREST also promote the SOCIAL INTEREST?
goods and services def (ch1)
objects and actions that people value and produce to satisfy human wants
self interest vs social interest (ch1)
- self - choices best for individual who makes them
* social - best for society, displays efficiency and equity
6 ideas that define the economic way of thinking (ch1)
1 a choice is a tradeoff (due to scarcity)
2 people make rational choices by comparing benefits and costs
3 benefit is what you gain from something (how much you are willing to give up for it)
4 cost is what you must give up to get something
5 most choices are “how much” choices made at the margin (comparing all relevant alternatives systematically and incrementally)
6 choices respond to incentives
marginal cost and benefit (ch1)
1 cost - opportunity cost that arises from a one-unit increase in the activity. What you must give up to get one additional unit of it.
2 benefit - benefit of same item, determined by personal preference
*benefit decreases with addition
normative and positive statements in disagreement (ch1)
- norm - “ought to be” but can’t be tested or proven. Steer clear of these statements.
- positive - can be settled by facts about “what is”
3 aspects of our lives that economists approach (ch1)
1 personal
2 business
3 government
4 large groups of goods and services (ch2)
1 consumption goods and services (consumers/personal use)
2 capital goods (business)
3 gov goods and services
4 export goods and services
def of factors of production and 4 categories (ch2)
*productive resources used to produce goods and services
1 land - “gifts of nature”/natural resources
2 labor
3 capital - tools and things, not money/financial capital
4 entrepreneurship
human capital def (element of labor value)
ch2
knowledge and skill people obtain from education and experience
*increases quality of labor, and therefore quality of goods or services produced
4 factors of the services people sell for income (ch2)
1 rent - use of land
2 wages - paid for services of labor
3 interest - use of capital
4 profit/loss - entrepreneurship
functional distribution of income - HOW
ch2
69% wages,
and 31% rent, interest, and profit
personal distribution of income - TO WHOM
ch2
20% of population has 51% of income (richest) and 20% has 3% of income (poorest)
2 types of economies in the world (ch2)
1 advanced
2 emerging market and developing economies (4 out of 5 people live in one of these economies)
household, firm, and market def (ch2)
- household - group of people living together (choose how much to spend on goods and services)
- firm - institution that organizes the production of goods and service
- coordinated by market - arrangement that brings buyers and sellers together and get info and do business with each other (can be goods or factor market)
2 levels of government (ch2)
1 federal
2 state and local
3 things the federal gov’s major expenditures provide (ch2)
1 goods and services (legal system and national defense)
2 social security and welfare payments
3 transfers to state and local gov’s
3 main taxes paid into the federal gov (ch 2)
1 personal income tax
2 corporate/business tax
3 social security tax
2 of state/local gov’s major expenditures (ch2)
1 goods and services (state courts, police, city services)
2 welfare benefits
3 main taxes paid to state and local gov (ch20
1 sales taxes
2 property taxes
3 state income tax
largest expenditure by state and local gov (ch2)
education (34% of total)
2 main ways the households and firms in the US economy interact with the households and firms in other economies (ch2)
1 international trade
2 international finance
production possibilities frontier def (ch3)
boundary between the combinations of goods and services that can be produced and the combinations that cannot be produced, given the available factors of production and state of technology
3 features of production possibilities the production possibilities frontier (PPF) identifies (ch3)
1 attainable and unattainable combinations
2 efficient and inefficient productions
3 tradeoffs (different combinations of efficiency) and free lunches (utilizing efficiencies to increase out put up to efficiency line)
economic growth def (ch3)
sustained expansion of production possibilities
absolute advantage def (ch3)
when one person/nation is more productive than another - needs fewer inputs or takes less time to produce a good or perform a production task
comparative advantage def (ch3)
ability of a person to perform an activity or produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than anyone else
income inequality trend inside most countries and in entire world (ch2)
- most countries - increased
* world - decreased
2 reasons for unequal distribution of global income (ch2)
unequal distribution of:
1 human capital
2physical capital
competitive market def (ch4)
has so many buyer and so many sellers that no single buyer or seller can influence the price
quantity demanded def (ch4)
of any good, service, or resource is the amount that people are willing and able to buy during a specified period at a specified price
*measured per unit of time
law of demand def (ch4)
other things remaining the same, if the price of a good rises, the quantity demanded of that good decreases; and if the price of a good falls, the quantity demanded of that good increases
demand def (ch4)
relationship between the quantity demanded and the price of a good when all other influences on buying plans remain the same
*ONE quantity at ONE price
demand schedule def (ch4)
a list of the quantities demanded at each different price when all other influences on buying plans remain the same
demand curve def (ch4)
a graph of the relationship between the quantity demanded of a good and its price when all the other influences on buying plans remain the same
*curve illustrates the law of demand
market demand def (ch4)
the sum of the demands of all the buyers in the market
change in demand def (ch4)
a change in the quantity that people plan to buy when any influence on buying plans other than the price of good changes
6 main influences on buying plans that change demand (ch4)
1 prices of related goods - move the same direction
2 expected future prices - increase/increase and decrease/decrease current demand
3 income - increase/normal good, decrease/inferior good
4 expected future income and credit - increase/increase and decrease/decrease
5 number of buyers - larger/higher
6 preferences
substitute and complement def (ch4)
- substitute - good that can be consumed in place of another good
- complement - good that is consumed with another good
change in quantity demand def (ch4)
a change in the quantity of a good that people plan to buy that results from a change in the price of the good with all other influences on buying plans remain the same.
*change in price only
quantity supplied def (ch4)
amount of any good, service, or resource that people are willing and able to sell during a specified period at a specified price
law of supply (ch4)
other things remaining the same, if the price of the good rises, the quantity supplied of that good increases; and if the price of the good falls, the quantity supplied of that good decreases
supply def (ch4)
the relationship between quantity supplied and the price of a good when all other influences on selling plans remain the same
*measured at ONE quantity at ONE price
supply curve def (ch4)
graph of relationship between quantity supplied of a good and its price when all other influences on selling plans remain the same
market supply def (ch4)
the sum of the supplies of all the sellers in the market
change in supply def (ch4)
change in the quantity that suppliers plan to sell when any influence on selling plans other than the price of the good changes
5 main influences on selling plans that change supply (ch4)
1 price of related goods - substitutes move in opposite directions, complements move together
2 prices of resources and other inputs - increased price, reduced output
3 expected future prices - higher, decrease in current output
4 number of sellers - big/big, small/small
5 productivity - increase/increase, decrease/decrease
substitute and complement in production def (ch4)
- substitute - good that can be produced in place of another good
- complement - good that is produced along with another good
change in the quantity supplied def (ch4)
a change in the quantity of a good that suppliers plan to sell that results from a change in the price of the good
*change in price only
market equilibruim def (ch4)
when the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied - buyers’ and sellers’ plans are in balance
equilibruim price def (ch4)
the price at which the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied
*intersection of supply and demand curve on graph
equilibruim quantity def (ch4)
the quantity bought and sold at the equilibruim price
law of market forces (ch4)
when there is a surplus the price falls; and when there is a shortage, the price rises
how markets are normally in equilibruim (ch4)
price adjustments eliminate shortages and surplises
3 questions to ask to explain and predict changes in prices and quantities (ch4)
1 does the event influence demand or supply?
2 does the event increase or decrease demand or supply - shift the demand curve or the supply curve rightward or leftward?
3 what are the new equilibruim price and equilibruim quantity and how have they changed?
gross domestic product (GDP)
*4 parts(ch5)
the market value of all the final goods and services produced within a country in a given time
1 value produced - adding up total market value
2 what produced - final good or service (complete) ONLY, NOT intermediate good or service (component)
*also excludes used goods and financial assets
3 where produced - only produced within a country count toward that country’s GDP
4 when produced - measure is over a specific period of time
Exception to what GPD sets a value on (ch5)
only values items bought/sold (traded) on market, EXCEPT homes. It pretends that you are renting your home to yourself.
4 groups that buy the final goods and services produced and their corresponding expenditures (ch5)
1 households - consumption expenditure
2 firms - investment (purchase of capital goods)
3 government - expenditure on goods and services
4 the rest of the world - net exports of goods and services
Total expenditure formula (ch5)
Y = C + I + G + NX
total income = consumption expenditure+ investment + government expenditure + net exports of goods and services
*because firms pay out everything they receive as income to the factors of production
value of production explanation (ch5)
value of production equals income equals expenditure
- firms - value is cost or production which equals income
- purchasers of goods and services - value is cost of buying production, which equals expenditure
2 approaches to measuring US GDP (ch5)
1 expenditure approach - C+I+G+NX
2 income approach - adds categories of (1) wage income (labor) and (2) interest, rent, and profit income (net operating surplus)
*sum of wages, interest, rent, and profit is called net domestic product at factor cost
2 adjustments to make net domestic product at factor cost and find GDP (ch5)
1 from factor cost to market prices
2 from net product to gross product - depreciate the value of capital that results from its use and from obsolescence
statistical discrepancy def (ch5)
discrepancy between the expenditure approach and the income approach estimates of GDP, calculated as the GDP expenditure total minus the GDP income total
*since not all income is reported
gross national product (GNP) def (ch5)
market value of all the final goods and services produced anywhere in the world in a given time period by the factors of production supplied by the residents of the country
*GNP=GDP+net factor income received from or paid to other countries
real vs nominal GDP (ch5)
1 real - value of final goods and services produced in a given year expressed in terms of the prices in a base year
2 nominal - value of final goods and services produced in a given year expressed in terms of prices in the SAME YEAR
*nominal GDP is just s more precise name for GDP
method of calculating real GDP (ch5)
1 take base year and comparison year
2 multiply quantity in comparison year by cost in base year to find what expenditure would have been in comparison year if prices had remained the same
3 sum expenditures to find real GDP for comparison year
3 main purposes we use estimates of real GDP for (ch5)
1 to compare the standard of living over time
2 to track the course of the business cycle
3 to compare the standard of living among countries
standard of living vs real GDP per person def (ch5)
1 standard of living - level of consumption of goods and services that people enjoy, on average
2 real GDP per person - real GDP divided by the population
potential GDP def (ch5)
value of real GDP when all the economy’s factors of production (labor, capital, land and entrepreneurial ability) are fully employed
*potential GDP fluctuates less than real GDP over time because real GDP has variances in quantity of labor
business cycle def (ch5)
- 2 phases that every cycle has
- 2 turning points that every cycle has
periodic but irregular up-and-down movement of total production and other measures of economic activity
*phases
1 expansion - period in which GDP increases
2 recession - GDP is in decline
*turning points
1 peak - highest level of real GDP that has been attained up to that time (end of expansion/beginning of recession)
2 trough - real GDP reaches low point from which a new expansion begins
4 exclusions/limitations of using GDP to compare standard of living in other countries
*2 other influences on standard of living (ch5)
1 household production - household/family chores
2 underground production - stuff that is not reported
3 leisure time
4 environmental quality
*2 other influences:
1 health and live expectancy
2 political freedom and social justice
Consumer price index (CPI) def (ch7)
a measure of the average of the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of consumption goods and services
*aka: cost of living index - amount of money people need to spend to achieve a given standard of living
reference based period def (CPI) (ch7)
period for which the CPI is defined to equal 100. Currently, the reference base period is 1982-1984.
3 stages of constructing the CPI (ch7)
1 selecting the CPI market basket
2 conducting the monthly price survey
3 calculating the CPI - (1) find the cost of the CPI market basket at base period prices, (2) find the cost of the CPI market basket at current period prices, (3) calculate the CPI for the base period and the current period
*current/base price * 100
inflation calculation (ch7)
(CPI in current year-CPI in prev year)/CPI in pref year
*100
*negative is falling price/deflation and positive is rising/inflation
2 reasons why CPI is not a perfect measure of cost of living (ch7)
1 does not measure all changes in cost of living
2 even components that are measured are not always accurate
4 possible CPI biases and ways to overcome them
*amount that CPI is overstated due to bias (ch7)
1 new goods bias - replacing comparable goods when others become obsolete
2 quality change bias - try to calculate cost of improved quality
3 commodity substitution bias - try to account for cost of substitutes
4 outlet substitution bias
*1.1%
2 consequences of the CPI bias (ch7)
1 distortion of private contracts - inflated cost of living adjustment
2 increase in gov outlays and decrease in taxes - inflated tax breaks
3 indexes that are less biased than CPI (ch7)
1 GDP price index/deflator - average of the current prices of all the goods and services included in GDP expressed as a percentage of base-year prices
2 personal consumption expenditures/PCE price index - average of the current prices of the goods and services included in the consumption expenditure component of GDP expressed as a percentage of base-year prices
3 PCE price index excluding food and energy/core inflation rate - annual percentage change in PCE price index excluding the prices of food and energy