Quiz 1 Flashcards
(42 cards)
Weak assumption
- more reality
- closer to reality
Strong assumption
- not as realistic
- farther from reality
Diminishing marginal utility
- every successive utility consumed gives less satisfaction
- after eating 14 m&ms the 15th will be less satisfying to eat and so on with m&m #16, 17 etc.
Utility
Satisfaction
Rational economic behavior
- internally consistent and coherent behavior
- aka : all of the items/ideas/etc. within something are consistent with one another
Consumption
The act of deriving utility or satisfaction
Goods & services
- things we consume, or things people make/do
- goods can be stored
- services cannot be stored, a haircut is an example
Decision rule models how we make choices, captures a 2 step process to optimize resources
- how productive we are at making each of the various things —> productivity
- how much utility does each thing give us —> preferences
Discount
To diminish the value of something
Discount rate
- the price you pay for waiting, your “waiting fee”
- ex: the marshmallow experiment, kids that waited to eat the marshmallow were rewarded with a second marshmallow
Productivity (mp) and preferences (mu) equals
Value of marginal product
mp+mu=v
EPV
Expected
Present
Value
E- perception of risk
P- perception of time (low v. high discount rates)
V- how much satisfaction you feel (mu & mp)
Opportunity cost
The best forgone option, going to class or sleeping
Resource that is inevitably scarce for all individuals
TIME, scarce for all individuals, everyone makes choices based on the time they have Ex: using a certain amount of time to study for one class over another
Contract micro and macro
Micro: small, models individual choice
Macro: large, examines world economy as a whole
Ex: micro studies the trees of a forest, macro studies the entire forest
Ceteris Paribus
“Other things being equal”
Basically there may be complicating factors that we haven’t specifically assumed away, so whatever they are, we are assuming them away
Marginal utility
The specific amount of satisfaction a specific unit gives
Discounting the future
To diminish value, people want satisfaction sooner than later, the further into the future satisfaction will he realized, the more diminished value is
How can mind altering drugs affect ones choices
Higher discount rate, believes less risk in doing things
Specialization
Dividing up the labor across trades as well as within trades
Division of labor
Dividing the word that needs to be done among a group of people to increase complexity and productivity
Coordination mechanism
Allot for a fair trade, exchange between goods of surplus, a gain from trade
Comparative advantage
A person that is better than another person at both activities will choose the one that has the least cost (the job where they will lose the least)
3 roles of money
- Medium of exchange
- Store of value
- Unit of account