ECON 1000 Lecture 1: Microeconomics - September 3rd, 2015 note

32 views3 pages

bronzeporpoise136

20 Nov 2015

School

Department

Course

Professor

For unlimited access to Class Notes, a Class+ subscription is required.

Document Summary

There is no such thing as a free lunch . Efficiency; the result where society gets the most it can from its scarce resources. Equity; distributing economic prosperity fairly among the members of society. Achieving more of one can result in less of the other. Principle 2; the cost of something is what you give up to get. Opportunity cost: whatever must be given up to obtain some item, e. g. university tuition: going to a movie, buying a car. Can be monetary cost or non-monetary cost (e. g. time spent) Government policies have opportunity costs as well: education vs defense, new infrastructure vs debt reduction. Principle 3; rational people think at the margin. Rational people systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives: they make decisions by comparing costs and benefits of marginal changes. Marginal changes; small adjustments to a plan of action. Inventive; something that induces a person to act.

Related Questions

Need help revising, and recommendation for a conclusion.

Throughout this paper is my understanding of what I have learned in class chapters 1-4, expressing my understanding and opinions. Economics is the study of how we deal with scarce resources. Microeconomics specially deals with business in the home country exclusively. This type of economics affects small businesses in the home country only. On the other hand, macroeconomics concerns our national welfare concerning trade and international business.

I believe that many things affect our economy on a microeconomics level. Things such as our understanding of our country in reflection to the world are very important. That is why we study ourselves before we study the macroeconomic principle of the world. Understanding ourselves is what microeconomics teaches us. Working from the inside out. The world is a place where there are differences in our wants and what we get. That is what makes items scarce. That is what positive economics is. Positive economics deals with what is and what we have. The other type of economics is called normative statements. This deals with what we should receive instead of what is and deserved to some extent. It's our scarce resources that determine our allocation of resources and how we use our resources and time. This is where opportunity costs come in, giving up something to do something. A successful business or country never ignores opportunity costs. We must ensure that we have a comparative advantage instead of the absolute advantage. Our resources must be used to achieve maximum output. Comparative is met when we have fewer opportunity costs to make some certain products than the other person or entity.

My initial understanding was scarcity was oil potentially running out, but we have so much of it that you can always find more with techniques such as fracking. Now it's obvious to me, one of our most scarce resources is time. You cannot avoid the 8,760 hours in a year. I understand that people have unlimited wants but limited resources. Everything has a cost and we must make a choice as we don't have unlimited farms, factories workers, etc. scarcity forces choices and this ties in with opportunity cost, for every gun made, a theft from the hungry is made. The opportunity cost not being used to feed the poor, but to make guns. And I find it easy to understand no one can have everything choices must be made on benefits. If I'm going to school, imp giving up making cash, as I'm giving up money for an education, I value education more. Scarcity is also related to the invisible hand. As it's an achievement that leads free markets and capitalism through competition for scarce resources.

My understanding of the invisible hand is a person neither intends to promote public interest and does not know how much he is promoting it. Only intending on his own gain. Without being his intention a person can be lead by the invisible hand to do good for society by pursuing one's own self-interest. Going into equity and efficiency the invisible hand does ensure both equity and efficiency. People work in their selfish ways to maximize profit while also contributing to the economy as a whole. It can also be argued that as the invisible hand wants to ensure efficiency, it cannot guarantee efficiency, because it can fail to produce an efficient allocation of resources, which in turn lead to a market failure. It can also be argued that it can't guarantee equity because not everyone gets a fair price. The way I like to remember efficiency is with a real-life example, like a reduction in the number of workers needed to produce a particular good for a particular amount. Equity refers to the ownership interest in an asset, for example, if a person owns a house with a market value of $800,000 and owes $100,000 on the mortgage leaving a $700,000 equity in the home.

It can be predicted that if the price of beef increases - ceteris paribus-the quantity of beef demanded by buys will decrease. In other words, if the price of beef increases, then the quantity of beef increases, then the quantity of beef demanded will decrease because all things have to be equal. In-class lecture thought me all other things remaining the same. Economists use ceteris paribus to determine the effect of a factor when all other factors have been held the same and helps simplify the study and get a more refined data set.

Economists deal with many issues that pertain to assuring that both a countries domestic output is efficient and that there is an effective trade balance. This means that there are a balance and limit on the amount of imports. Also, this means home production must be able to meet export demands. There are many factors that affect the production of goods and their effect on shifting the production possibilities frontier. This involves evaluating every detail including knowing the products and any close substitutes and compliments. It also involves knowing how an action or other external force will affect demand. This is called price elasticity; Substitutes are products that can replace any given product or service. An example of this would be Coke and Pepsi. The presence of substitutes affects price elasticity because if there are other options, then any change to the price or quality of the product will cause a shift of the demand curve. O course, price is a huge reason why the demand for a product decreases or increases yet it doesn't shift the curve because of the price only. This price change will cause a domino effect that will end with the shifting of the demand curve because it will cause an increase or decrease in demand of the substitute good if the price change is either lower or higher respectively. This price change serves as a catalyst that will change people's desire to spend more money on a more expensive product and that will instead choose to buy the substitute good for cheaper or buy more of the desired product. The change in the price of actual products will not shift the demand curve yet the change of the price of substitutes will because it serves to change people's purchasing behavior. On the other hand, compliments serve to boost demand when there is a decrease in price. The use of complementary goods is dependent upon another product. An example of this would be hot dogs and buns. If the price of hotdogs decreases then, conversely, the demand for hot dog buns will increase because of this change in price. In this scenario, the decrease in price will cause a positive shift in the demand curve because of people's desire and willingness to buy more buns. This is an example of a demand shifter. There are a few other demand shifters. The shifters of the demand curve are changes in expectations, disposable income, price of substitute goods and complements, tastes and preferences, and population size and composition. Changes in income affect the demand curve because if income is lower then people tend to save any extra income instead of wasting it. Disposable income is minimized and spending is lower. This also causes people to see a perceived value of things and distinguishing between what is necessary and what is a relative luxury. The lower the income, the higher the saving and avoidance to spend. An example of this would be if someone needs to buy some medication and it is relatively expensive, that doesn't mean that someone won't buy the medication just because it is expensive. It is necessary. Other factors that contribute to spending and demand are having a price ceiling and price floor. Having a price ceiling is a limit on the price of the product this is a government-imposed idea that is meant to protect consumers from unfair pricing and other conditions that may be malicious or obscure. This affects demand because if there is a price ceiling there is a limit on profit on a unit-to-unit basis. The other factor is the price floor. This price floor was created to encourage competition and affect consumers' willingness to pay because sometimes this new price may be higher than the original price. This causes a negative impact on a product that has a less than wanted perceived value. Many factors contribute to economic prosperity and certainly do help assure that information is analyzed and implemented into an economic and business plan.

limejellyfish231

Microeconomics Multiple choice questions. Please answer all the questions.

1. Scarcity:
A. exists because resources are limited while human wants are unlimited.
B. means we are unable to have as much as we would like to have.
C. will likely be eliminated as technology continues to expand.
D. is not an issue addressed in economics.

2. People are forced to make choices because of:
A. unlimited wants and unlimited resources.
B. limited wants and unlimited resources.
C. unlimited wants and limited resources.
D. limited wants and limited resources.
E. irrational wants and limited resources.

3. Which of the following is closest to the definition of capital?
A. c and e.
B. c and d.
C. Tools, equipment, means of transportation
D. Factories and machinery.
E. Borrowed money.

4. Which one of the following is the most accurate definition of economics?
A. Economics is the study of stocks and bonds.
B. Economics is the study of how people allocate unlimited resources.
C. Economics is the study of how consumers choose to spend their income.
D. Economics is the study of how society chooses to allocate scarce resources.

5. The basic difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics is:
A. microeconomics concentrates on individual markets while macroeconomics focuses primarily on international trade.
B. microeconomics concentrates on the behavior of individual consumers while macroeconomics focuses on the behavior of firms.
C. microeconomics concentrates on the behavior of individual consumers and firms while macroeconomics focuses on the performance of the entire economy.
D. microeconomics explores the causes of inflation while macroeconomics focuses on the causes of unemployment.

6. Which of the following is not a resource?
A. Land.
B. Labor.
C. Money.
D. Capital.

7. Which of the following would an economist classify as capital?
A. 100 shares of Microsoft stock.
B. $50 bill.
C. credit card.
D. lawyer's personal computer.

8. Economics, according to its definition, studies how people:
A. earn and spend money.
B. invest in the stock and bond markets.
C. make choices in the face of scarcity.
D. supply goods in response to demand.

9. Which of the following is the best example of a microeconomic topic?
A. The impact that the money supply has on inflation.
B. The reasons for increases in the price of soft drinks.
C. The effect that federal budget deficits have on the interest rate.
D. The tradeoff between inflation and unemployment.

10. Which of the following is a macroeconomics topic?
A. Wages of textile workers in the Northeast.
B. The cost of producing 10,000 bookcases.
C. The economy's annual growth rate.
D. National demand for fish.
E. Effects of farm subsidies on food prices.

11. An economic theory claims that a rise in gasoline prices will cause gasoline purchases to fall, Ceteris paribus. The phrase "Ceteris paribus" means that:
A. other relevant factors like consumer incomes must be held constant.
B. the gasoline prices must first be adjusted for inflation.
C. the theory is widely accepted but cannot be accurately tested.
D. consumers' need for gasoline remains the same regardless of the price.

12. An economic model is:
A. a plastic scaled version of the economy.
B. a complete depiction of reality.
C. an abstraction from reality.
D. applicable to consumer behavior but not to producer behavior.
E. not an accepted tool of the economics profession.

13. Which of the following sayings best reflects the concept of opportunity cost?
A. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
B. "There is no such thing as a free lunch."
C. "I have a baker's dozen."
D. "There's no business like show business."

14. The opportunity cost of watching television is:
A. all of the alternative programs that appear on other stations.
B. zero because there is no money expenditure involved.
C. the alternative use of the time foregone by watching the program.
D. zero if it benefits you.

15. Which of the following does not illustrate opportunity cost?
A. If I study, I must give up going to the football game.
B. If I buy a computer, I must do without a 35" television.
C. More consumer spending now means more spending in the future.
D. If I spend more on clothes, I must spend less on food.

16. When deciding whether to buy a second car, marginal analysis indicates that the purchaser should compare the:
A. benefits expected from two cars with the cost of both.
B. additional benefits expected from a second car with the cost of the two cars.
C. dollar cost of the two cars with the potential income that the cars will generate.
D. additional benefits of the second car with the additional cost of the second car.

17. According to marginal analysis, you should spend more time studying economics if the extra benefit from an additional hour of study:
A. is positive.
B. outweighs the extra cost.
C. exceeds the benefits of the previous hour of study.
D. will raise your exam score.

1) Which of the following transactions would be included in GDP?

a) The purchase of a Monet painting.

b) The purchase of paper clips.

c) The purchase of Telstra shares.

d) The purchase of a used car.

2) Economics is the study of

a) the choices everybody makes to attain their goals, given their scarce resources.

b) supply and demand.

c) how to make money in a market economy.

d) how to make money in the stock market.

3) The economy is considered to be at full employment when

a) all unemployment is voluntary.

b) all unemployment is frictional or structural.

c) there are no unemployed workers.

d) there are more unemployed workers than job vacancies

4) An example of an intermediate good would be

a) a can of cool drink sold by a super‐market.

b) a microwave used at home.

c) the bread that goes into a sandwich sold by a lunch bar.

d) the petrol purchased by consumers for their cars

5) From 2004 to 2005, the CPI for medical care increased from 260.8 to 272.8. What was the inflation rate for medical care?

a) 12 percent

b) 11.1 percent

c) 4.9 percent

d) 4.6 percent

6) A shift outwards of the nation's production possibility frontier can occur from

a) a reduction in unemployment.

b) an increase in the size of the labour force.

c) a change in the amounts of one good desired.

d) a natural disaster like a hurricane or severe earthquake

7) What assumptions about humans do economists make?

a) People are greedy and selfish.

b) None, because economics takes humans as given.

c) People are rational and respond to incentives.

d) Humans prefer to live in a society that values fairness above all else.

8) The labour force is the

a) a number of people employed minus the number of people unemployed.

b) ratio of the number of people employed by the number of people unemployed.

c) ratio of the number of people employed to the working-age population.

d) the number of people employed plus the number of people unemployed.

9) The production possibility frontier shows

a) attainable combinations of two products that may be produced with available resources.

b) the various products that can be produced now and in the future.

c) what an equitable distribution of products among citizens would be.

d) the rate of substitution between capital and labour.

10) Which of the following transactions would be included in the official calculation of GDP?

a) Bridgestone sells $2 million worth of tyres to General Motors Holden

b) You illegally download music off the Internet to put on your new iPod.

c) A new iPod.

d) A student buys a used textbook at the bookstore.

11) What are the three fundamental questions that any economy must answer?

a) What will be the prices of goods, how will these goods be produced, and who gets them?

b) What will be the prices of goods, what will be produced, and who gets them?

c) What will be produced, how will these goods be produced, and who gets them?

d) How much will be saved, what will be produced, and how can these goods be fairly distributed?

12) If the nominal interest rate is 6% and the inflation rate is 2%, then the real interest rate is

a) 3%.

b) 2%.

c) 4%.

d) 8%.

14) Suppose that a very simple economy produces three goods: movies, burgers, and bikes. Suppose the quantities produced and their corresponding prices for 2004 and 2009 are shown in the following table:

	2004		2009
	Quantity	Price	Quantity	Price
Movies	20	$6	30	$7
Burgers	100	$2	90	$2.5
Bikes	3	$1000	6	$1100

What is real GDP in 2009, using 2004 as the base year?

a) $3690

b) $7035

c) $6360

d) $3320

15) If the production possibility frontier is graphed as a straight line, what does this mean?

a) Opportunity costs are constant as production shifts from one product to the other.

b) It is easy to efficiently produce output.

c) Nothing, there is no significance of a straight line production possibility frontier.

d) Opportunity costs are increasing as production shifts from one product to the other.

16) If you have both an economics exam and a management exam tomorrow, but find that you have time to fully study for only one of them, what are you facing?

a) A failing grade in both exams

b) A zero opportunity cost

c) A trade‐off

d) An impossible situation

17) Which of the following is a problem inherent in centrally planned economies?

a) Production managers do not satisfy consumer wants but the government's orders.

b) Too much production of low‐cost, high‐quality goods and services.

c) There are no problems, everyone, including consumers are satisfied.

d) None of these describe the problem inherent in a centrally planned economy.

18) Inflation is an increase in the

a) average hourly wage rate.

b) general price level in the economy.

c) the overall level of economic activity.

d) rate of growth of GDP.

19) Total production in the economy is measured as the

a) dollar value of all final goods and services produced in the economy.

b) the total number of services produced in the economy.

c) the total number of goods produced in the economy.

d) the total number of goods and services produced in the economy.

20) An increase in the price of dairy products produced domestically will be reflected in

a) Both the GDP deflator and the consumer price index.

b) Neither the GDP deflator nor the consumer price index.

c) The GDP deflator but not in the consumer price index.

d) The consumer price index but not in the GDP deflator.

21) The reason that opportunity cost arises is that

a) money has proven to be an inefficient means of facilitating exchange in a market.

b) sometimes there are no alternative decisions that can be made.

c) resources are limited at any point in time. d) people have unlimited wants.

21) You have an absolute advantage whenever you

a) are better educated than someone else.

b) can produce something at a lower opportunity cost than others.

c) can produce more of something than others with the same resources.

d) prefer to do one particular activity.

22) Which of the following is an example of a worker experiencing cyclical unemployment?

a) A Freightliner employee who was sacked because of a recession.

b) A worker who quits his job because he does not get along with his boss

c) A worker that changes jobs to move closer to her family.

d) An assembly line worker who loses his job because of automation.

23) A company named Home Depot sells new and used doors to contractors who build new homes. Home Depot also sells new and used doors to home‐owners. Which of the following would be counted in GDP?

a) The sale of a used door to a home‐owner

b) The sale of a used door to for construction for installation into a new home.

c) The sale of a new door to for construction for installation into a new home.

d) The sale of a new door to home‐owner.

24) If you buy shares, the dollar value is

a) not included in GDP.

b) included in GDP under consumer expenditure.

c) included in GDP as a business expense.

d) included in GDP under-investment.

25) During the 1930s, Australia and other industrialised countries experienced the Great Depression with a large number of workers and factories unemployed.Which of the following points on a production possibility frontier model would represent this experience?

a) A point on the frontier

b) A point inside the frontier

c) An increase in the opportunity cost of the substitution between capital and labour

d) A point outside the frontier

26) How is the decision about what goods and services will be produced made in a market economy?

a) The government decides on what will be produced.

b) Producing firms decide to produce only what the firms' owners say must be produced.

c) By consumers, firms, and government choosing which goods and services to buy.

d) What will be produced is determined by what society needs the most.

27) In the country of Shem, the CPI is calculated using a market basket consisting of 5 apples, 4 loaves of bread, 3 robes and 2 gallons of gasoline. The per‐unit prices of these goods have been as follows: Using 2002 as the base year, what was the inflation rate between 2003 and 2004?

a) 28.5 percent

b) 34.2 percent

c) 47 percent

d) It is impossible to determine without knowing the base year.

28) Given the following information, calculate the unemployment rate: Full‐time employed = 80 Part‐time employed = 25 Unemployed = 15 Discouraged workers = 5 Members of underground economy = 6 Consumer Price Index = 110

a) 18.8 per cent.

b) 12.5 per cent.

c) 16.7 per cent.

d) 25 per cent.

29) If the quantity of resources available is fixed, as more of a good is produced, the opportunity cost of producing it increases. The most probable reason for this is that

a) as more of a good is produced, the quality of technology available to produce additional units declines.

b) the price of the inputs used to produce the good will rise.

c) consumers are unwilling to pay higher prices to cover the increases in production costs.

d) resources are not equally well‐suited to producing all goods.

30) Which of the following is a normative statement?

a) The current high price of petrol is the result of strong worldwide demand.

b) The price of petrol is too high.

c) Larger vehicles always use more fuel per kilometre than smaller vehicles

d) The supply of petrol has not been able to meet the demand for petrol.

31) Transfer payments are not included in GDP because

a) they do not generate income.

b) their market value is difficult to measure.

c) they are not purchases of goods or services.

d) their value is included in government expenditure.

32) The opportunity cost of going to your economics class

a) depends on the cost of your transport getting to class.

b) is equal to the highest value of alternative use of the time.

c) is zero because there is no admission charged if you are enrolled in the class.

d) depends on the salary of the lecturer.

33) Establishing employment agencies that speeds up the process of matching unemployed workers with unfilled jobs are an attempt to lower

a) cyclical unemployment.

b) seasonal unemployment.

c) structural unemployment.

d) frictional unemployment.

34) Suppose that money GDP for 2009 was $15 000 billion and the price index was 150 and in 2010 money GDP was $17 050 billion with a price index of 155. What is the rate of economic growth?

a) 5%

b) 10%

c) 2%

d) 1%

35) An individual has a comparative advantage in activity whenever she

a) also has an absolute advantage in that activity.

b) can perform the activity at a lower opportunity cost than another person can.

c) can do everything better than everyone else can.

d) can do the activity in less time than anyone else.

36) GDP is not a perfect measure of wellbeing because

a) GDP is adjusted for increases in drug addiction.

b) GDP is not adjusted for the effects of pollution.

c) GDP is adjusted for changes in crime.

d) the value of leisure is included in GDP.

37) What does an entrepreneur do in a market economy?

a) Organise the factors of production in a working unit.

b) Stand to lose the personal funds provided.

c) Develop the vision for the firm and ensure funding for the firm.

d) An entrepreneur does all of these things.

38) An example of a transfer payment is

a) the purchase of a new government office block.

b) a teacher's pay is transferred electronically from the government to the teacher.

c) interest repayments on a loan.

d) an unemployment benefit.

39) Which of the following is a microeconomics question?

a) What will be the level of total production in the national economy?

b) How much income will be saved and how much will be spent on consumer goods?

c) What factors determine the price of computers in the market?

d) Why is the rate of unemployment rising?

40) The measure of production that values production using current prices is called

a) value-added GDP.

b) nominal GDP.

c) black economy GDP.

d) real GDP.

41) Which of the following causes the official measure of the unemployment rate to understate the true extent of joblessness?

a) People who collect unemployment benefits report themselves to be searching for a job.

b) Discouraged workers are counted as unemployed.

c) Discouraged workers are not counted as unemployed.

d) Many full-time workers really want to be part-time workers.

42) A production possibility frontier will shift inwards if

a) inefficiency in production processes arise.

b) there is an increase in the rate of unemployment.

c) productive resources are destroyed due to war.

d) all of these options are correct.

43) Structural unemployment would increase when

a) discouraged workers drop out of the workforce.

b) the economy enters a recession.

c) the number of individuals who quit their job to find another increase.

d) workers are replaced by machines and the workers do not have the skills to perform new jobs.

44) The 2005 CPI was 196 and the 1982 CPI was 96.5. If your parents put aside $1,000 for you in 1982, how much would you have needed in 2005 in order to buy what you could have bought with the $1,000 in 1982?

a) $1,834.20

b) $2,031.09

c) $2,308.89

d) None of the above is correct.

45) What is an economic model?

turquoisedeer68

ECON 1000 Lecture 1: Microeconomics - September 3rd, 2015 note

Document Summary

Get access

Related Documents

ECON 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Marginal Cost, Opportunity Cost, Marginal Utility

ECON 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: E.G. Time, Opportunity Cost, Seat Belt

ECON 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Invisible Hand, E.G. Time, Market Failure

Related Questions