AAEC 1005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Comparative Advantage, Absolute Advantage, Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research

45 views6 pages

brownoyster236

4 Apr 2016

School

Virginia Tech

Department

Agricultural and Applied Economics

Course

AAEC 1005

Professor

Stephenson

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

Document Summary

Economics: the study of how people organize to decide how goods are produced, what goods get produced, and who gets them. Reciprocity (chores, charity, health care; doing something because you are told) Exchange (work; give your labor in exchange for money) This course will focus on the exchange economy. Microeconomics: the study of choices individuals (consumers or producers) make. Microeconomic also the study of interaction of individuals, firms, and the government. Macroeconomics: studies the economy at a society level (inflation, unemployment, economic grow. Agricultural and applied economics: the study of economics as it applies to. No free lunches (scarcity, choices, and costs) a. Opportunity cost: value of the opportunities (next best) given up when you make a cho i. Ex2: opportunity cost of improving water quality with a buffer. Value of the production that is given up on that land. Planting the trees get mics is rowth) choice. Ex3: opportunity cost of government bailout of gm.

Related Questions

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.

Suppose that, instead of taking this test, you could either have worked and earned income or partied and had a pleasurable time. Your opportunity cost of taking the test is the

	a.	forgone working or partying, depending on which was your next best choice.
	b.	forgone work.
	c.	forgone working and partying.
	d.	test because you are taking it.

1 points

QUESTION 2

A trend is

	a.	a measure of closeness on a scatter diagram.
	b.	a general tendency for a variable to rise or fall.
	c.	the maximum value of a variable.
	d.	the difference between the maximum value of a variable and the minimum value of the variable.

1 points

QUESTION 3

A time-series graph measures

	a.	time on the y-axis and the variable or variables in which we are interested on the x-axis.
	b.	time on the x-axis and the variable or variables in which we are interested on the y-axis.
	c.	the value of one variable against the value of another variable.
	d.	the value of an economic variable for different groups in a population at a point in time.

1 points

QUESTION 4

Canada has nationalized health care, so that everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, has some access to health care. Based on this observation, Canada has decided that "everyone, regardless of their ability to pay" is the answer to what microeconomic question?

	a.	Why will we offer health care?
	b.	How will health care be produced?
	c.	For whom will health care be produced?
	d.	What type of health care will be produced and in what quantity?

1 points

QUESTION 5

As a shoe factory adds more workers, shoe production grows, reaches a maximum, and then shrinks. In a diagram that has the number of workers on the horizontal axis and the number of shoes on the vertical axis, the relationship between the number of workers and the number of shoes starts as ________ and then, after the maximum point, is ________.

	a.	positive; negative
	b.	negative; positive
	c.	linear; negative
	d.	positive; linear

1 points

QUESTION 6

Microeconomics includes the study of the

	a.	choices made by individuals and businesses.
	b.	recessions and inflation in the global economy.
	c.	aggregate effects on the national economy.
	d.	reasons why the government changes interest rates.

1 points

QUESTION 7

When Fresh Express Salads decides to mechanically pick all of its lettuce, it directly answers the ________ question.

	a.	when
	b.	for whom
	c.	how
	d.	what

1 points

QUESTION 8

Proponents of cuts in income tax rates argue that when income tax rates are cut, workers have an incentive to increase their work hours. This argument is based on the assumption that

	a.	the opportunity cost of working is negative.
	b.	the marginal cost of each additional work hour is not important to most workers.
	c.	workers are irrational.
	d.	workers make decisions based on the marginal benefit of each hour worked compared to the marginal cost of work.

1 points

QUESTION 9

A choice made by comparing all relevant alternatives systematically and incrementally is

	a.	an opportunity cost.
	b.	a benefit.
	c.	a sunk cost.
	d.	a choice on the margin.

1 points

QUESTION 10

A normative statement

i. can be tested as to whether it is true or false.

ii. is considered negative.

iii. depends on a person's values.

	a.	i, ii, and iii
	b.	iii only
	c.	i and iii
	d.	ii and iii

1 points

QUESTION 11

Normative statements

i. describe how the world is.

ii. describe how the world ought to be.

iii. depend on people's values and cannot be tested.

	a.	iii only.
	b.	i only.
	c.	ii and iii.
	d.	ii only.

1 points

QUESTION 12

In order to determine whether to major in economics, a rational individual compares the ________ of the decision.

	a.	positive benefits and normative costs
	b.	normative benefits and positive costs
	c.	marginal benefit and marginal cost
	d.	opportunity cost and the sunk cost

1 points

QUESTION 13

If x increases whenever y decreases, then x and y are

	a.	positively related.
	b.	negatively related.
	c.	not related.
	d.	related but whether positively or negatively related depends on whether the x variable or the y variable is plotted on the vertical axis.

1 points

QUESTION 14

Rational choice

	a.	is what you must give up get what you want.
	b.	is made by comparing different incentives.
	c.	making the choice.
	d.	provides the answer to only the "how" question.

1 points

QUESTION 15

Scarcity results from the fact that

	a.	choices made in self-interest rare not always in the social interest.
	b.	not all goals are desirable.
	c.	people's wants exceed the resources available to satisfy them
	d.	we cannot answer the major economic questions.

1 points

QUESTION 16

When Delta decides to quit flying to Lithuania, it directly answers the ________ question.

	a.	what
	b.	why
	c.	for whom
	d.	how

1 points

QUESTION 17

A normative statement

	a.	says what is currently believed about the way the world operates.
	b.	depends on someone's values.
	c.	cannot use the word "should."
	d.	must be tested to determine if it is correct.

1 points

QUESTION 18

Which of the following statements best describes the study of economics? Economics studies how

	a.	to organize production so that scarcity does not occur.
	b.	to create incentives so that scarcity does not exist.
	c.	firms make profits.
	d.	we make choices in the face of scarcity.

1 points

QUESTION 19

Which of the following best defines economics?

	a.	Economics teaches how to limit our wants.
	b.	Economics is concerned with prices and quantities of goods and services, both at the individual level and at the industry level.
	c.	Economics helps you earn as much money as possible.
	d.	Economics studies how to choose the best alternative when coping with scarcity.

1 points

QUESTION 20

In economics, cost is ________, and benefit is ________.

	a.	the amount of money that you pay for something; the amount of money that someone else is willing to pay you
	b.	what you are willing to pay on the margin; what the government pays you when you are unemployed or retired
	c.	what you must give up to get something; what you are willing to give up to get it
	d.	the amount of money that you pay on the margin; the amount of money that you receive on the margin

1 points

QUESTION 21

If Jessie studies economics for two hours instead of going to the movies with her friends, then

	a.	the opportunity cost of studying is the missed movie.
	b.	Jessie is ignoring a sunk cost
	c.	Jessie is not responding to any incentives.
	d.	Jesse definitely is making a rational choice.

1 points

QUESTION 22

Going skiing will cost Adam $80 a day. He also loses $40 per day in wages because he has to take time off from work. Adam still decides to go skiing.

	a.	The $80 price of skiing is a sunk cost and so did not affect Adam's decision.
	b.	He loses a total of $120 per day, so his decision is irrational.
	c.	His decision is rational if Adam's marginal benefit of spending a day skiing is greater than his marginal cost.
	d.	Adam's lost $40 per day in wages is a sunk cost and so did not affect his decision.

1 points

QUESTION 23

If a curve falls and then rises, it

	a.	has a maximum.
	b.	has a linear relationship.
	c.	has a minimum.
	d.	has a constant slope relationship.

1 points

QUESTION 24

In 2003, Michael Jordan decided to retire from professional basketball. Which of the following was an opportunity cost of his decision?

	a.	the avoidance of pain and injury from playing one more year
	b.	the time he could spend with his family while retired
	c.	the lost salary from playing one more year
	d.	the value of new employment opportunities that would await him

1 points

QUESTION 25

Which of the following statements is a normative statement?

	a.	Military spending as a percent of government spending decreased by 5 percent in the 1990s.
	b.	Every American household should have health care insurance coverage.
	c.	Welfare reform has decreased the amount the government spends on welfare.
	d.	The price of computers fell last year.

greencat417

1. According to a WSJ article, in Britain, drug companies are paying for nurses to study patient charts to identify people with chronic illnesses. "The nurses then recommend which patients should be called in for a check-up and perhaps prescribe new treatment. The work is part of what the industry calls "disease management programs," which the companies say improve care for people with illnesses like diabetes, asthma, or heart disease." Source: Jeanne Whalen, "Drug Makers Finance Nurses for U.K. Doctors." Wall Street Journal, 30 May 2007, Page B1. Which of the following best explains the actions of the drug companies? Select one:

a. Drug companies see this program as a way of educating patients about the various drug choices available to them

b. The companies see this program as a way to market their own products

c. The companies are committed to improving patient care in Britain

d. The companies are doing their part to ease the health care crisis in Britain

2. According to the economic way of thinking, Select one:

a. The value of a good is determined by the cost of the resources used to produce that good

b. A nation's wealth can be increased by shifting the production possibilities frontier inward.

c. Innovation makes it possible to produce good without giving up the production of another good

d. Costs are incurred when scarce resources are used to produce goods.

3. All of the statements are true about markets except Select one:

a. Markets excel at wealth creation because they often provide incentives for self-interested individuals to take socially beneficial actions

b. Markets function even without an administrator to coordinate the consumption and production plans of buyers and suppliers, respectively

c. The most equitable way to distribute goods and services is through markets

d. Markets are generally an efficient way to facilitate the exchange of goods, services, and resources

4. An institutional arrangement that provides people with opportunities and procedures for exchanging goods, services, and resources is called: Select one:

a. Barter

b. A social economy

c. Traded.

d. A market

5. Concerned that California's high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes were not operating at full capacity and therefore not easing congestion as much as they could. In 2006, California lawmakers authorized the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to distribute 85,000 stickers to owners of gasoline-electric hybrid cars. Which of the following are the consequences of this policy?

(i) The stickers increased the demand for hybrid vehicles that qualified for stickers. (ii) The price of hybrid vehicles increased. (iii) The HOV lanes became clogged with hybrid vehicles which further aggravated congestion. Select one:

a. (i) and (ii) only b. (i), (ii) and (iii) c. (ii) and (iii) only d. (i) only

6. Consider the following policy: To make sure that poor people receive emergency treatment, the U.S. government forces emergency rooms to offer free care to poor patients. Which of the following is a consequence of this policy? Select one:

a. Hospitals in poor neighborhoods are likely to close their emergency rooms because of the high cost of providing free treatment to poor patients

b. Hospitals will have to offer higher salaries to doctors and nurses to induce them to work in poor neighborhoods

c. More hospitals are likely to open emergency care facilities in poor neighborhoods because of increased demand

d. The wait time in emergency rooms will fall.

7. Consider the following three statements: (i) The slump in the housing market has led to an increase in unemployment in the housing construction market. (ii) The Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged, motivated by the slump in the housing market. (iii) The California Air Resources Board passed a regulation requiring that 10% of all large automobiles sold in California from 2008 onward be zero-emissions vehicles: cars powered by electricity or alternative fuels like hydrogen. Which of the statements is a macroeconomics issue? Select one:

a. (ii) only b. (i), (ii) and (iii) c. (i) and (ii) only d. (ii) and (iii) only

8. Consider the following three statements: (i) The slump in the housing market has led to an increase in unemployment in the housing construction market. (ii) The Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged, motivated by the slump in the housing market. (iii) The California Air Resources Board passed a regulation requiring that 10% of all large automobiles sold in California from 2008 onward be zero-emissions vehicles: cars powered by electricity or alternative fuels like hydrogen. Which of the statements is largely a microeconomics issue? Select one:

a. (i) and (iii) only b. None of the above statements is a microeconomics issue c. (iii) only d. (i) only

9. Consider the following two medical procedures for a particular chronic illness. Procedure X has a very high patient survival rate, but patients are likely to suffer significant brain damage that greatly diminishes one's quality of life. Procedure Y has a much lower survival rate, but if a patient survives she is able to lead a full and normal life. If surgeons are compensated only if their patients survive, how will this policy affect the treatment for this illness?

Select one:

a. More of procedure X will be performed although patients are likely to suffer significant brain damage

b. Surgeons have no incentive to treat this illness

c. More of procedure Y will be performed because patients will able to lead full and normal lives

d. Patients have no incentive to seek treatment for this illness

10. Daikin, Possner, and Zoe are discussing what it means to say that people respond to incentives. Here is an extract from their conversation. Daikin: It means that people are required to behave in a cooperative fashion so that the citizens of a nation can coexist peacefully. Possner: It means that people act in ways that society approves. No rational person will do business with immoral characters. Zoe: It means that people undertake certain actions if they know that doing so will result in some form of material reward that they will not otherwise receive. Whose view accords with the economic way of thinking? Select one:

a. Only the views of Daikin and Zoe exhibit the economic way of thinking.

b. Possner's view is the only one that exhibits the economic way of thinking.

c. All three of their views exhibit an economic way of thinking.

d. Zoe's view is the only one that exhibits the economic way of thinking.

whitespider552

AAEC 1005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Comparative Advantage, Absolute Advantage, Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research

Document Summary

Get access

Related Documents

ECON-E 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Physical Capital, Macroeconomics

ECO 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: State Ownership, Capital Formation, Capitalism

01:220:103 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Robinson Crusoe Island, Ceteris Paribus, Melatonin Receptor 1A

Related Questions