EC120 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-2: Investment Goods, Opportunity Cost, The Techniques

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Opportunity cost: opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative that is forgone when one alternative is chosen. Thus, every time a choice is made, opportunity costs are incurred: the opportunity cost of choosing any one alternative is the value of the next best alternative that is given up. If resources are fully and efficiently employed it is not possible to have more of both consumption and investment goods. Resource allocation the allo(cid:272)atio(cid:374) of a(cid:374) e(cid:272)o(cid:374)o(cid:373)y"s s(cid:272)ar(cid:272)e resour(cid:272)es a(cid:373)o(cid:374)g alter(cid:374)ati(cid:448)e uses. Microeconomics the study of the causes and consequences of the allocation of resources as it is affected by the workings of the price system. Types of economic systems: traditional economy, an economy in which behaviour is based primarily of tradition, custom, and habit. There is little change in the pattern of goods produced from year to year, other than those imposed by the vagaries of nature.

Related Questions

Q3. The assumption of rational self-interest implies that people will choose to enrich themselves even if doing so violates the rights or property of others.

a. true

b. false

Q4. If you can earn $10 an hour as a retail clerk, $12 an hour as an office assistant, $16 an hour as a house painter, and $20 an hour repairing bicycles, what is your opportunity cost of working to repair bicycles?

a. $12 an hour

b. $10 an hour

c. $20 an hour

d. $16 an hour

Q5. In the graph of a production possibilities curve, both the horizontal and vertical axes measure the annual quantities of goods produced.

a. true

b. false

Q6. Scarcity arises because

a. international companies are slow to explore for new resources.

b. resources are finite and unable to meet all human wants and needs.

c. many countries waste goods because of inefficient political systems.

d. import taxes retard production.

Q7. A production possibilities curve with clothing and food on the axes shows which of the following?

I. A society cannot have an unlimited amount of each good.

II. For an efficient society, an increase in clothing production will necessitate a decrease in food production.

III. A society will always produce the maximum amount of both clothing and food.

a. II only

b. I only

c. III only

d. both I and II

Q8. All points on the production possibilities curve are efficient.

a. true

b. false

Q9. Economic growth can be pictured in a production possibilities curve diagram by

a. shifting the production possibilities curve out.

b. moving from right to left along the curve.

c. moving from left to right along the curve.

d. shifting the production possibilities curve in.

Q10. Suppose the current unemployment rate is 15 percent. If it rises to 20 percent,

a. the production possibilities curve will shift inward.

b. the economy will move closer to the production possibilities curve.

c. the economy will operate further inside the production possibilities curve.

d. the economy will move up along the production possibilities curve.

Q11. Clean air is a scarce resource.

a. true

b. false

Q12. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

a. A good is anything that gives satisfaction or happiness to individuals.

b. Wants may include humanitarian and altruistic goals.

c. Wants are unlimited and include all material and nonmaterial desires.

d. Economic goods are available in desired quantities at a zero price.

Q13. The current size of the U.S. labor force is less than 100 million workers.

a. true

b. false

Q14. The factors of production are

a. never as useful as people expect them to be.

b. valuable only because they are owned by corporations seeking to make a profit from them.

c. scarce resources.

d. abundant without limit on the planet.

Q15. Why do firms seek to use the least-cost combination of inputs?

a. because they won't be able to stay in business if they don't

b. because that is the combination that their employees prefer

c. because managers and supervisors find their jobs are easiest when the least-cost combination is used

d. because they want to keep costs low in order to appear to the media as a well-run business

Q16. Which one of the following best describes how economists view prices?

a. Low prices are good; high prices are bad.

b. High prices are good; low prices are bad.

c. The best price is a fair price.

d. Prices are signals of relative scarcity.

Q17. The person who creates a product innovation and brings it to market is providing the resource of

a. labor.

b. land.

c. entrepreneurship.

d. capital.

Q18. Gifts of nature used in the production process are considered

a. entrepreneurship.

b. labor.

c. land.

d. capital.

Q19. In a free market economy,

a. government decides what is produced, and producers decide who gets to consume it.

b. as a good becomes relatively more scarce, its price declines.

c. firms choose only to produce the most fashionable goods, regardless of the cost of production.

d. goods and services are allocated by a price system.

Q20. Resources are also known as

a. stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments.

b. minerals.

c. factors of production.

d. factories.

Q21. The size of the U.S. labor force has declined over the past 20 years as many jobs have been outsourced from the United States to other countries.

a. true

b. false

Q22. Which one of the following is TRUE?

a. The growth of the U.S. population over the next several decades will come from immigration.

b. Population growth makes a country poorer, because there are more mouths to feed.

c. Real per capita GDP can increase only if there is inflation.

d. Real per capita GDP can increase only if there is no inflation.

Q23. Which one of the following is FALSE?

a. The U.S. labor force will continue to grow through immigration.

b. Inflation stops economic growth.

c. Increased availability of reliable communication channels at lower and lower costs have led to companies relocating their manufacturing operations offshore.

d. The size of the U.S. labor force continues to grow despite many jobs being moved off-shore.

Q24. What is the purpose of a market system?

a. to facilitate efficient exchange

b. to encourage consumers to buy goods on credit

c. to ensure an equal distribution of income

d. to ensure that everyone is treated fairly

Q25. The market system is also called the price system because

a. people pay money in markets.

b. everything has a price tag.

c. rising prices are the signal to producers to make more of a particular good.

d. inflation is a disturbing problem.

Q26. Production refers to

a. any activity that causes a material conversion of an object.

b. any activity that results in the conversion of resources into goods and services that can be consumed.

c. any activity carried on by a firm, whether a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship.

d. physically producing material goods only.

Q27. An increase in the price of coffee, holding other things constant, will

a. decrease the demand for coffee.

b. increase the demand for coffee.

c. decrease the quantity of coffee demanded.

d. decrease the supply of coffee.

Q28. The supply curve shifts when the firm experiences a change in its production technology.

a. true

b. false

Q29. A surplus results when the quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded.

a. true

b. false

Q30. Table 3.1

Price per Constant-Quality Unit Quantity Demanded of Constant-Quality Units per Year Quantity Supplied of Constant-Quality Units per Year

$1.00 1,000 200

2.00 800 400

3.00 600 600

4.00 400 800

5.00 200 1,000

What condition characterizes a surplus?

a. Quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded.

b. Quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied.

c. Consumers are unhappy with the price.

d. Producers are unhappy with the price.

Q31. An increase in quantity demanded is caused by

a. an increase in income.

b. a decrease in the price of a complement.

c. a change in expectations about price in the future.

d. a decrease in the price of the good.

Q32. The demand curve is downward sloping because

a. price and quantity have a direct relationship.

b. price is always constant.

c. demand is based on supply.

d. price and quantity have an inverse relationship.

Q33. An increase in the price of one good will decrease the demand for a substitute good.

a. true

b. false

Q34. The market demand curve is the vertical summation of the demand curves of all the individuals in the market.

a. true

b. false

Q35. The equilibrium price of a good is a price that everyone is happy with.

a. true

b. false

Q36. Which one of the following would cause a rightward shift of the supply curve?

a. A new tax is imposed on production of the good.

b. Some firms that have been producing the good go out of business.

c. Firms producing the good find ways of lowering their production costs.

d. There is an increase in demand for the good.

Q37. Which of the following is a determinant of demand?

a. cost of production

b. number of suppliers

c. technology of production

d. income

Q38. The market demand curve for a particular good

a. will not be affected by any of the determinants of individual demand.

b. is the horizontal sum of each individual demand curve for the good.

c. will show a direct relationship between price and quantity demanded.

d. may be less than an individual demand curve for the good.

Q39. Table 4.4

Quantity of CDs Purchased Total Utility Marginal Utility

1 75

2 135

3 185

4 35

5 25

6 15

According to Table 4.4, what is the total utility when six CDs are purchased?

a. 65

b. 260

c. 120

d. 220

Q40. A rational consumer will never purchase a product when its

a. marginal utility is decreasing.

b. total utility is decreasing.

c. marginal utility is slightly positive.

d. marginal utility is negative.

Q41. The price elasticity of demand becomes relatively greater as more substitutes are easily available.

a. true

b. false

Q42. Which of the following statements is true with respect to total utility and marginal utility?

a. Marginal utility is always equal to total utility.

b. Total utility will always be negative when marginal utility is positive.

c. Total utility is minimized when marginal utility is zero.

d. Marginal utility can decline as total utility rises.

Q43. Table 4.3

Quantityof Soda Marginal Utility of Soda Quantityof Pizza Marginal Utility of Pizza

1 50 1 100

2 25 2 80

3 0 3 60

4 -25 4 40

After consuming what quantity of soda does the consumer in Table 4.3 experience diminishing marginal utility?

a. 2

b. 3

c. 1

d. 4

Q44. If the price elasticity of demand is 0.5, a 10 percent increase in the price will cause

a. the quantity demanded to decrease by 20 percent.

b. the quantity demanded to decrease by 50 percent.

c. the quantity demanded to increase by 50 percent.

d. the quantity demanded to decrease by 5 percent.

Q45. Which one of the following would make the demand for satellite subscription TV relatively less elastic?

a. The cost of administering the satellite service is lowered.

b. Cable TV service becomes less widely available.

c. Other networks of wireless entertainment become more widely available.

d. The cost of transmitting satellite signals is lowered.

Q46. A price increase will cause a relatively large drop in quantity demanded when

a. demand is perfectly inelastic.

b. the price elasticity of demand is 0.

c. there is very little time allowed for consumers to react.

d. the consumer has easy access to a number of substitute goods.

Q47. Table 4.6

Price Quantity Demanded

$20 90

$16 110

$12 130

$ 8 150

According to the data in Table 4.6, what is the elasticity of demand between a price of $20 and a price of $16?

a. 0.60

b. 0.75

c. 0.90

d. 1.25

Q48. Price elasticity of demand is the responsiveness

a. of the quantity demanded to changes in supply.

b. of the quantity demanded to changes in income.

c. of the quantity demanded to changes in price.

d. of the quantity demanded to changes in quantity.

Q49. Everyone who views the latest adventure movie in theaters will derive the same utility from seeing it.

a. true

b. false

Q50. The law of diminishing marginal utility asserts that total utility becomes negative when marginal utility begins to diminish.

a. true

b. false

The opportunity cost of going to college is almost never discussed, yet it is quite high, so high that it is seriously impacting the broader American economy. For non-economists, âopportunity costâ is one of the most important concepts in economics. Because of scarcity we only have limited resources, and when we use those resources to do something like go to college, we cannot use them for other things that we also believe are desirable.

By far the most important resource we use in producing goods and services is labor or âhuman capital.â Based on what we pay owners of resources, we can say that roughly two-thirds of all production of goods and services is attributable to direct human effort â work. When kids go to college, they forego entering the labor force in a major, full-time manner. When six or seven percent of the entire American population is in college, that means a significant reduction in work effort occurs because otherwise highly productive persons in the physical prime of their lives are only lightly utilized in making things or providing services.

Today, only slightly over 59 of every 100 Americans of working age actually work, down from almost 66 in 2000. If we had the employment-population ratio of 15 years ago, we would have at least 16 million more working Americans today â an increase of over 10 percent. Our output would be probably the better part of a trillion dollars higher. The push for âcollege for allâ is one reason we have less work effort today (to be sure, the modern welfare state has also lowered work incentives a lot for other reasons).

The college for all crowd says higher education augments oneâs human capital, and we forego output today from working to bolster output tomorrow from more productive workers. And, no doubt, that is sometimes true. We have many productive engineers and accountants who gained important skills in college, for example. But is that necessarily true of all college graduates, particularly when Arum and Roksa tell us that graduating college seniors typically have only marginally better critical reasoning skills that freshman? And when over 40 percent of those entering four year colleges fail to graduate in six years? What if millions of those who do graduate take jobs similar to those without that college education? What if the debt incurred to pay for the college leads many to delay marrying, delay buying houses? There is evidence that to some extent the push for college has led to all of these unintended consequences.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has published great work showing that there is a very severe underemployment problem amongst college graduates, and other equally good research demonstrating what many of us have been saying for years: the student financial aid programs such as subsidized student loans, have pushed up the cost of college. Now a sister Federal Reserve Bank, namely Philadelphia, is jumping into the act.

The Philly Fed in a new study shows that high student loan debt is preventing young potential entrepreneurs from starting new businesses â they cannot afford the necessary debt. Opportunity cost again: if I borrow a lot to go to college, I cannot afford to borrow to start a business.

Enrollment in all forms of higher education today are up roughly 50 percent or seven million from what they were in 1990. What if enrollments had only risen proportionate to population growth â we would have three or four million fewer enrolled in college today. Would our nation be better or worse off? No one knows for sure, but the continued rise in the proportion of Americans with a college education has been accompanied by a sharp reduction in the rate of economic growth. I bet we would have fewer underemployed recent graduates. I bet we would have less than 17 percent delinquency rates on college loans, and far less than a trillion dollars in loan debt. I bet we would have a higher rate of labor force involvement and entrepreneurial activity among the young. And I bet we would be spending tens of billions less on higher education, and at least a little bit more on capital goods investment, highway construction, et cetera. In short, I suspect we would have been better off as a nation.

Richard Vedder directs the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, teaches at Ohio University, and is an Adjunct Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Question :

This is a short article discussing the concept of opportunity cost and college. Provide your views on this topic.Do you agree/disagree with the article? Why? What are your thoughts on the current employment landscape of college graduates? Provide any insight on this topic on a specific industry, your own experience, or the experiences of people that you know who have already graduated.

magentalion418

Question 26 pts

Which of the following is not a reason why specialization and trade are beneficial to society?

	Specialization fosters learning by doing, thus lowering the unit-costs of products
	Firms and workers become less dependent on others for producing goods and services

	The total output of economic goods may be increased even without any increase in resources
	Scarce resources are utilized more efficiently by exploiting differences among them

Question 27 pts

Laissez-faire capitalism limits the government's economic functions to the following, except:

	Protecting private property rights
	Establishing a legal environment to enforce contracts among individuals

	Setting prices of individual goods and services
	Preventing individuals and firms from coercing others

Question 28 pts

A production system where various workers concentrate on different specialized tasks to contribute towards a whole product is referred to as:

	Roundabout production
	A coincidence of wants

	Freedom of enterprise
	Division of labor

Question 29 pts

The market system is said to be characterized by "consumer sovereignty." This is because:

	A sovereign government determines which consumer goods will be produced
	Firms must match their production decisions to the consumers' choices

	The prices of consumer goods are regulated by a sovereign government
	Consumer goods are considered to be more important than capital goods

Question 30 pts

Consumers express self-interest when they:

	Seek the lowest price for a product
	Reduce business losses

	Exclude others in their thinking
	Collect economic profits

Question 311 pts

Refer to the above graph with three demand curves. An "increase in quantity demanded" would be illustrated by a change from:

	Point 5 to point 1
	Point 4 to point 1

	Point 2 to point 5
	Point 4 to point 6

Question 32 pts

The table below shows the weekly demand for hamburger in a market where there are just three buyers.

Refer to the above table. At a price of $6, the weekly market quantity demanded for hamburger is:

	17
	23

	24
	18

Question 33pts

If farmers withhold some of their current corn harvest from the market because they anticipate a higher price of corn in the near future, then this would cause a(n):

	Movement up along the current supply curve of corn
	Movement down along the current supply curve of corn

	Leftward shift in the current supply of corn
	Rightward shift in the current supply of corn

Question 34 pts

Which of the following will not cause the supply curve to shift?

	A technological change in the production of the good
	A change in the prices of other goods that producers could be producing

	A change in the costs of resources needed to produce the good
	A change in the price of the good

Question 35 pts

All of the following would affect the position of the supply curve for cranberries, except the:

	Price of agricultural land for cranberries
	Cost of fertilizers for cranberry production

	Popularity of cranberry drinks
	Development of a new pest control for cranberries

Question 36 pts

When high-school and college graduates apply for jobs in the labor markets,

	Job applicants and employers are both "buyers".
	Job applicants are the "sellers" while employers are the "buyers".

	Job applicants and employers are both "sellers".
	Job applicants are the "buyers" while employers are the "sellers".

Question 37 pts

Refer to the figure above, which shows three supply curves for corn. Which of the following would cause the supply of corn to shift from S₁ to S₂?

	A decrease in consumer incomes, assuming corn is a normal good
	The development of a more effective insecticide against corn rootworm

	An increase in the price of fertilizer
	A change in consumer tastes away from cornbread

Question 38 pts

Which is of the following statements is correct?

	If demand increases, then price will decrease
	If demand decreases, then price will decrease

	If price decreases, then demand will decrease
	If price increases, then demand will decrease

Question 39 pts

Which would be a likely cause of an increase in the demand for pizza?

	A decrease in the price of hamburger sandwiches
	A health report showing eating pizza reduces stress

	A reduced desire for take-out and fast-food dining
	A decrease in the prices of cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms

Question 40 pts

A market for a product reaches equilibrium when:

	Price falls further after there is a shortage
	The price rises further after there is a surplus

	Buyers intend to buy a quantity equal to the quantity that sellers intend to sell
	The actual quantity bought by buyers equals actual quantity sold by sellers

Question 41 pts

A higher price reduces the quantity demanded for a product because:

	Individuals can afford less of the product and will switch to substitutes
	The financial assets of individuals increase

	Individuals will buy more of the product and less of its substitutes
	The purchasing power of individuals increases

Question 42 pts

The idea of the Law of Demand, as applied to electric cars, assumes which of the following to be constant?

	Price of electric cars
	How much sellers are charging customers for electric cars

	Price of gasoline cars
	Quantity of electric cars demanded by buyers

Question 43 pts

Use the following graph of the demand for coffee:

Refer to the above diagram of three demand curves for coffee. An increase in the price of coffee, other factors constant, would cause a:

	Movement from point a to point b
	Movement from point b to point a

	Shift from D₁ to D₂
	Shift from D₁ to D₃

Question 44 pts

Which of the following factors will decrease the current demand for a product?

	A decrease in the current price of a complementary product
	A decrease in the current price of a substitute product

	An increase in the current price of a substitute product
	An expected increase in the future price of the product

Question 45pts

In competitive markets, a surplus or shortage will:

	Cause shifts in the demand and supply curves that tend to eliminate the surplus or shortage
	Cause changes in the quantities demanded and supplied that tend to intensify the surplus or shortage

	Cause changes in the quantities demanded and supplied that tend to eliminate the surplus or shortage
	Never exist because the markets are always at equilibrium

Question 46 pts

Which of the following would cause a leftward shift in the supply curve for car washes?

	A decrease in taxes on car washes
	An increase in the price of car washing equipment

	A decrease in the price of water
	An increase in the number of cars in the city

Question 47pts

The market system automatically corrects a surplus condition in a competitive market by:

	Raising the price of the commodity in question while decreasing the quantity demanded
	Raising the price of the commodity in question while increasing the quantity demanded

	Reducing the price of the commodity in question while increasing the quantity demanded
	Reducing the price of the commodity in question while decreasing the quantity demanded

Question 48 pts

A leftward shift of the supply curve for oil in the United States is most likely to result from:

	A decrease in the world price of oil
	An increase in the costs of exploration and drilling for oil

	An increase in the subsidy for oil exploration and drilling
	A decrease in the fees that oil companies must pay for drilling licenses

Question 49 pts

A fall in the price of milk, used in the production of ice cream, will:

	Decrease the supply of ice cream
	Have no effect on the supply of ice cream

	Increase the supply of ice cream
	Cause a movement along the supply curve of ice cream

Question 50 pts

Refer to the above graph, which shows the market for beef where demand shifted from D₁ and D₂. The change in equilibrium from E₁ to E₂ is most likely to result from:

	An increase in the cost of cattle feed
	A decrease in consumer incomes

	A decrease in the tax on beef products
	An increase in the price of pork

EC120 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-2: Investment Goods, Opportunity Cost, The Techniques

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