ECON Ch 1-3,6 Flashcards
(75 cards)
Market
A group of buyers and sellers of a good or service and the institution or arraignment by which they come together to trade.
3 markets in an economy
Market for goods and services, labor market, money market.
Interact with another country’s economy by trading between the markets.
3 assumptions in a market:
- People are rational–> weight costs and benefits to make the best decision possible for them
- People respond to economic incentives–> as incentives change, people react.
- Optimal decisions are made at the margin. When marginal cost and marginal benefit are =, the optimal decision comes.
Marginal cost and marginal benefit
The additional cost or benefit association with a small amount extra of some action.
Marginal analysis
Comparing MB and MC. best decisions made when they’re equal
Economics
The study of the choices people make to attain their goals, given their scarce resources.
Scarcity
A situation in which unlimited wants exceed the limited resources available to fulfill those wants.
Trade off
The idea that, because of scarcity, producing more of one good or service means producing less of another good or service.
In a world of scarcity, we have limited economic resources to satisfy our desires, so we face trade offs
Opportunity cost
The highest valued alternative given up in order to engage in some activity
Since the increase in production of one good requires the reduction in production of some other good, there’s trade off, resulting from scarcity of productive resources.
Productive vs allocative efficiency
Productive is where goods or services are produced at the lowest possible cost
Allocative is where production is in accordance with consumer preferences, every food or service is productive until the last unit provides a marginal benefit to society = to marginal cost of producing it.
Equity
The fair distribution of economic benefits.
Compared with efficiency, when maximum economic activity
Trade off between the two.
Production possibility frontier (PPF)
Efficient level of production a country can make with its resources.
Efficient points on PPF
points are efficient when all of the possible labor has been used, efficient points are located on the PPF.
Inefficient points on PPF
When we could have more of one product and not less of the other. Possible to have more of both products. Points inside the PPF.
Infeasible points on PPF
Located outside the PPF. Impossible to get this much of bread and butter given our limited resources. Can’t have infinite amounts of both
Shape of PPF
Bowed out shape for the whole economy.
Linear for one person.
Slope magnitude starts off small and then increases as you go left to right.
At the beginning, for every increase in X, not losing as much Y because the best X workers will work on X. The worker with the comparative advantage goes to X first. As time goes on, for each increase in X, sacrificing more of Y
Growth on PPF
Invest in technology for both products will cause the whole PPF to shift up and right.
Just investing in technology for X product, shifts it to the right. No change in the top left corner, but bigger change as more of the X good is being produced.
Absolute advantage
Whoever can do more of one thing using his resources.
Neighbor can produce 30 apples and 60 cherries. You can produce 20 C and 20 A. Neighbor has AA in both apples and cherries because 30>20 and 60>20, so he has the AA in both.
Comparative advantage
What someone does better in relative terms.
Whoever has the lower opportunity cost for something.
For example, if you were to pick 1 A, you sacrifice 1 C (opportunity cost of 1 apple is 1 cherry)
If the neighbor were to pick 1 apple, he’d sacrifice 2 cherries (OC of 1 A is 2 C)
Since your opportunity cost for an Apple is less than the neighbors, you have the CA in apples, and THEREFORE he has the CA in cherries.
Specialization
Whichever good you have the comparative advantage in, you will specialize in.
Benefits of trade
Allow for people and economies to receive points on PPF that were once infeasible by using their comparative advantages and then trading.
Terms of trade
Amount of each good traded
Trade from neighbor (60 C, 30 A) and your point of view (20 C, 20 A)
Your point of view–
You have the comparative advantage in apples.
Say you specialize in apples and have 20 apples. If I give up 1 apple, I’m expecting 1 cherry at home. Therefore, a trade should give me at least 1 cherry for every apple I give up.
Neighbor POV–
CA in cherries. If I give up 1 cherry, I can produce 1/2 apple at home. Trade should give me at least 1/2 apple in return for 1 cherry.
TERMS OF TRADE – 1 Apple should get at least 1 cherry and 1 cherry should get at least 1/2 apple.
Trade benefits only you when 1 apple buys at least 2 cherries
Trade benefits only the neighbor when gives up 1 cherry and gets at least 1 apple.
Efficient total world production PPF
Take the individual PPFs of neighbor and you and put on the world graph.
Since the neighbor has the ca in cherries, the horizontal good, he specializes in cherries, so he will pick the first 60 cherries. You will pick the next 20 cherries.
Slope increases in magnitude as go on.
Efficient because the specialized person produces their good first.
At the beginning sacrificing 1/2 apple for every cherry made. Then sacrificing 1 apple for every cherry made
Axis totals are sum of apples and cherries, so goes to 50 and 80