Log in
HomeClass Notes1,200,000US530,000

ECON 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Takers, Mixed Economy, Economic Equilibrium

5 views3 pages
School
Irvine Valley College
Department
Economics
Course
ECON 2
Professor
Collinson

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

Document Summary

Understanding market activity is easier if you distinguish between two basic markets: The factor market: any place where factors of production (land, labor, and capital) are bought and sold. Job interview =a factor market because you are making a factor of production, your labor, available to producers. The product market: any place where finished goods and services (products) are bought and sold. The basic goals of maximization (utility, profit and welfare) explain most market activity. Consumers maximize their utility given limited resources. Businesses try to maximize profits by using resources efficiently in producing goods. Maximizing behavior in the market stems from two basic facts: You are, most likely, incapable of producing everything your hear desires. Even if you produce everything you desire, it makes sense to specialize. The law of demand: as price goes down, demand goes up. A demand curve slopes downward and to the right.

Get access

Grade+
$40 USD/m
Billed monthly
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
10 Verified Answers
Class+
$30 USD/m
Billed monthly
Class+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
7 Verified Answers

Related Documents

ECON 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Opportunity Cost, Demand Curve, Free Trade
magentamuskrat366
ECON 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Average Variable Cost, Monopolistic Competition, Invisible Hand
magentamuskrat366
ECON 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: New Product Development, Creative Destruction, Economic Surplus
rosebuffalo981

Related Questions

1. The marginal product of labor is:

A. equal to the demand for labor.

B. the payment made to workers for their contribution to the output they produce.

C. the change in a firm's revenue as a result of hiring one more worker.

D. the additional output a firm produces as a result of hiring one more worker.

2. What does the phrase "internalizing an external cost" mean?

A. limiting the extent to which domestic firms can outsource production

B. prohibiting economic activities that create externalities

C. finding a way to address cross-border pollution

D. forcing producers to factor into their production costs the cost of the externalities created in the production of their output

3. The highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity is the definition of

A. implicit cost

B. opportunity cost.

C. utility.

D. economic sacrifice.

4. What is market failure?

A. It refers to the inability of the market to allocate resources efficiently up to the point where marginal social benefit equals marginal private cost.

B. It refers to a situation where an entire sector of the economy (for example, the airline industry) collapses because of some unforeseen event.

C. It refers to a breakdown in a market economy because of widespread corruption in government.

D. It refers to the inability of the market to allocate resources efficiently up to the point where marginal social benefit equals marginal social cost.

5. Suppose a competitive firm is paying a wage of $12 an hour and sells its product at $3 per unit. Assume that labor is the only input. If the last worker hired increases output by three units per hour, then to maximize profits the firm should

A. lay off some of its workers.

B. does not change the number of workers it currently hires.

C. hire additional workers.

D. There is not enough information to answer the question.

6. When the price of summer tank tops falls and you buy more of them because they are relatively less expensive, this is called

A. the deadweight loss effect.

B. the income effect.

C. the substitution effect.

D. the elasticity effect.

7. An externality is

A. a benefit realized by the purchaser of a good or service.

B. a benefit or cost experienced by someone who is not a producer or consumer of a good or service.

C. a cost paid for by the producer of a good or service.

D. anything that is external or not relevant to the production of a good or service.

8. Firms pay famous individuals to endorse their products because

A. apparently demand is affected not just by the number of people who use a product but also by the type of person that uses the product. '

B. famous people only consume high-quality products.

C. famous people obviously know what are the best goods and services.

D. the firms are irrational and are wasting advertising expenditures.

9. If a consumer receives 20 units of utility from consuming two candy bars, and 25 units of utility from consuming three candy bars, the marginal utility of the second candy bar is

A. 25 utility units.

B. 20 utility units.

C. 5 utility units.

D. unknown as more information is needed to determine the answer.

10. When there is a negative externality, the private cost of production ________ the social cost of production.

A. is less than

B. is greater than

C. eliminates

D. is equal to

Market Analysis Market Participants Market participants act as if they are rational, self-interested, and forward-looking. For example, financial managers try to maximize the present value of profits for their particular companies, rather than ignore future values. Companies pursue many goals, but it is a financial mistake for managers to pursue any goal that conflicts with the primary goal of maximizing their firm's profits. Decentralized decision making by individual market participants is more economically efficient that centralized decision making by government policymakers. For example, it is more economically efficient to have financial managers obtain financing for their particular companies than to have government obtain it. A high degree of competition among market participants is the most economically efficient disciplining mechanism. For example, highly competitive financial markets discipline financial managers to pay fair market interest rates on the debt securities issued by their particular companies. The market system of prices is the most economically efficient allocative mechanism. For example, it is more economically efficient to distribute a firm's corporate stock to those buyers who are willing and able to pay the market price of the stock than to have the government distribute the stock. It is economically efficient for market participants to buy low and sell high globally. For example, it is economically efficient for U.S. firms to sell their financial securities to the highest bidders, no matter where they live in the world economy. Market imperfections can create considerable risk to market participants. For example, because of market imperfections, firms operating in the international financial markets encounter foreign exchange rate risk, political risk, interest rate risk, and default risk. Consumer Sovereignty The principle of consumer sovereignty tells us that by making their dollar votes, consumers indirectly determine the quantity and quality of products that firms will produce. For example, it is not economically efficient for financial managers to obtain more financing for their particular firms than is needed for their firms to produce the profit-maximizing level of output demanded by consumers. Market Economy A highly competitive market economy is largely self-regulating, in the absence of substantial market imperfections, in that economic conditions cannot be substantially improved by government regulation or other types of government intervention beyond laissez-faire policies. For example, if a firm's corporate stock is overvalued by a market economy, market forces will tend to drive down the value of the stock to a market price at which it is neither overvalued nor undervalued. As if by an invisible hand, highly competitive market forces will tend to create a harmony of interests among individual market participants, in the absence of substantial market imperfections. Consequently, the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders are compatible. For example, in trying to maximize profits, firms produce employment, income, consumer products, and wealth for households, as well as tax revenue for government, which helps maximize consumer utility and maximize social welfare. In a market economy, resources, products, and assets flow to their highest valued uses among alternative uses. For example, the shares of firms' corporate stocks will be acquired by those market participants who most highly value them, as indicated by the fact that they are willing to pay the most to acquire them. The efficient economic role of government is limited to Laissez-Faire ("hands off") policies, which create very little intervention in a market economy. For example, government regulations of banking and securities industries to maintain healthy, reasonably profitable, consumer-oriented financial markets would not be needed in a highly competitive market economy in the absence of substantial market imperfections. In a market economy, it is economically efficient for each market participant to specialize according to comparative advantage in producing what they can produce relatively better than other market participants, rather than produce all the outputs they can produce absolutely better than others. For example, it is economically efficient for people who are relatively better at being financial managers than others, to specialize in financial management even if they are absolutely better than others in doing many other types of work. If all labor were allocated to its comparative advantage, then no possible reallocation of labor would exist that could increase the rate of return to labor (i.e., the wage). There is no such thing as a free lunch, because all resources, products, and assets in a market economy are scarce. For example, current federal government budget deficits are not free to current market participants in that the deficits must be financed by future tax increases and/or future decreases in government spending and/or future inflation. For additional information on the Market Economy click here. Marks, R. E. (2006, December). There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch. Australian Journal of Management. 31(2). 1-7. Financial Decisions An efficient financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is one that is optimal -- meaning best; it cannot be improved, from society's perspective. If there is some profitable way to improve some business practice that would benefit society, that practice is somewhat inefficient. Any change in a financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition that improves society is an efficiency improvement. For example, it is an efficiency improvement for a business to cut production costs by reducing waste (e.g., by reducing spending on unprofitable activity. A financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is fair-- meaning just or equitable, if the financial benefits are distributed to those involved in proportion to how much they each voluntarily contributed to produce those benefits. For example, a financial practice that discriminates against some people on the basis of race, age, gender, nationality, or religion is unfair. For example, an unethical business practice is unfair. For additional information relating to Market Analysis and fair financial decisions, click on the following: Teaching Ethical Economic Practices to Business Managers. Johnston, C. (2009, October). The Proceedings of the Annual Conference of The International Academy of Business and Economics. Fairness is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition, for efficiency. All efficient financial practices are fair, but some fair practices may still fail to be efficient. For example, embezzling company funds is an unfair and inefficient, criminal financial activity. As another example, an ethical business practice that could be improved is fair but not efficient. Opportunity Cost Principle Opportunity cost principle: The efficient measure of the cost of any allocation of resources, products, money income, wealth, or time is its opportunity cost -- the value of the next best use. The opportunity cost of how one uses his or her resources is the value of the highest valued alternative use. The opportunity cost of one investment is the expected return on the next best investment available to the firm. For example, the opportunity cost of a firm using some of its profits to pay dividends to its stockholders would be the present value of future income those profits could have earned if invested in the firm's highest valued investment project.

Discussion Questions These questions stem from the Class Discussion Questions you will be anwering in the Discussion Board. Think about the questions and how they relate to the financial management principles above.

2. Applications: State the financial management principle that appears to be violated in each of the following cases and explain how it is violated:

(a) A corporation is maximizing sales growth and the price of its corporate stock is falling.

(b) A highly paid financial manager in the auto industry quit his job to set up his own small auto repair shop, which is expected to incur a loss for the first three years then earn normal profits.

1. The Houston Chronicle reported that in Houston, the average price of new homes has decreased, while at the same time, the number of new homes sold has increased. This situation could be explained by which one of the following: (draw curves before answering)

  1. An Increase in demand
  2. An Increase in supply
  3. A Decrease in demand
  4. A Decrease in supply

2. In another market, the average price of new homes fell, while at the same time, the number of new homes sold decreased. The situation would best be explained by (Draw the curves before answering)

  1. An Increase in Demand
  2. An Increase in Supply
  3. A Decrease in demand
  4. A Decrease in supply

3. A consumer is said to have achieved maximum total utility when:

  1. Purchases of Good A give the same satisfaction as purchases of Good B.
  2. Purchases of the last dollar spent on Good A give the same satisfaction as purchases of the last dollar spent on Good B.
  3. The average purchases per dollar of Good A give the same satisfaction as the average purchases per dollar of Good B.
  4. The total utility derived from Good A is the same as the marginal utility derived from Good B.

4. You are given the following information about a firm's present output position: MPP (Marginal Physical Product) of Land = 12; MPP of Labor = 16; Price of Land = $2; Price of Labor = $4. With no additional money to spend, this firm should:

5. A firm achieves the least cost in production by substituting factors until

  1. their factor prices are equal
  2. their marginal products are equal to the factor prices
  3. their marginal products are each equal to zero
  4. the ratios of their marginal product equal the ratio of their prices
  5. none of the above

6.The economy is currently on its production possibilities frontier (PPF). A politician says that it is possible to get more of everything--more infrastructure, more schools, more national defense, more spending on social programs, and so on. The politician is

  1. correct if he is assuming a rightward-shifting PPF.
  2. incorrect if he is assuming a rightward-shifting PPF.
  3. correct if he is assuming a PPF that does not change.
  4. none of the above

7. Assume your swimsuit business is at its maximum profit position, and one new change occurs: consumer incomes decrease. If swimsuits are normal goods, the equilibrium price of swimsuits will __________, and the CONSUMER surplus will ________.

  1. increase, increase
  2. decrease, decrease
  3. increase, decrease
  4. decrease, increase

8. Firms that shuts-down in the short-run still must pay:

  1. Marginal cost
  2. Variable cost
  3. Fixed cost
  4. Total cost

9. The term externalities refer to:

  1. Black-market economic activity.
  2. The impact on markets of imported goods.
  3. The costs and benefits of a market activity borne by a third party.
  4. The inequitable distribution of income.

10. If full external costs are not internalized, firms will tend to allocate more of society's scarce resources to produce than is societally warranted, and if full external benefits are not internalized, firms will allocate less of society's resources to produce than is societally justified. True/False.

11. Joe was very careful about smoking in his home until he bought a fire insurance policy. After buying the policy, he became careless. His attitude is: "I'm insured. What do I care if this place burns down; I'll just collect the money". Joe's attitude is an example of ______________.

12. Megatrust Bank had historically scrutinized loans very carefully and extended them, only to persons whom they considered very creditworthy. They made relatively few loans. However, after the government provided guarantees to sub-prime loans, Megatrust relaxed its standards and increased its loan volume. (And its default rate as well.) This is an example of _______________.

13. In the short-run, if a perfectly competitive firm finds itself operating at a loss, it will

  1. Reduce the size of its plant to lower fixed costs.
  2. Raise the price of its product.
  3. Shut down.
  4. Continue to operate as long as it covers its variable cost.

14. If income today is more equally distributed than it was in 1960, a Lorenz Curve depicting today's distribution would be

  1. More bowed and to the left of the 1960's curve.
  2. More bowed and to the right of the 1960's curve.
  3. Less bowed and to the left of the 1960' curve.
  4. Less bowed and to the right of the 1960's curve.

15. Which of the following statements is true?

  1. As output increases, the average fixed cost becomes smaller and smaller.
  2. Average fixed cost does not change as output increases.
  3. The marginal cost curve intersects the average fixed cost curve at its minimum point.
  4. When marginal cost is greater than average fixed cost, average fixed cost increases.
  5.  

16. A firm in any of the market structures we have studied will maximize its profit (or minimizes its loss) when its

  1. Average costs are at a minimum
  2. Marginal revenue and marginal cost are the same.
  3. Marginal revenue is less than marginal cost.
  4. Marginal revenue is zero.

17. If the demand for a good increase, when the price of other good increases, these goods are

  1. Capital goods
  2. Substitute goods
  3. Complementary goods
  4. Luxury goods

18. Which of the following pairs of products are complementary goods?

  1. mobile phones and laptops
  2. pens and pencils
  3. sugar and artificial sweeteners
  4. radios and television
  5. toothbrushes and toothpaste

19. The amount of a good that is given up to produce another good is:

  1. Scarcity
  2. Specialization
  3. Opportunity cost
  4. Trade
  5. Efficiency

20. The most important characteristic of the equilibrium price is that it:

  1. Guarantees that producers earn a profit.
  2. Increases the quantity demanded.
  3. Clears the market.
  4. Decreases the quantity supplied.

21. Rank the following market structures based on the number of participating firms: From the fewest number of firms to the most number of firms:

  1. Oligopoly
  2. Perfect Competition
  3. Monopoly
  4. Monopolistic Competition

22. If firms in a monopolistically competitive market are earning economic profits which of the following scenarios would best reflect the change facing incumbent firms as the market adjusts to its new equilibrium?

  1. an increase in demand
  2. a decrease in demand
  3. a downward shift in their marginal cost curve
  4. an upward shift in their marginal cost curve


23. If labor in Mexico is less productive than labor in the United States in all areas of production, 

  1. neither nation can benefit from trade
  2. Mexico can benefit from trade but the United States cannot
  3. Mexico will not have a comparative advantage in any good
  4. both nations can benefit from trade

24. Which of the following statements is false?

  1. The typical monopolistically competitive firm could reduce its average total cost if it produced more output.
  2. Monopolistically competitive firms advertise to increase the elasticity of the demand curve they face.
  3. Expensive advertising might help consumers if it is a signal that the product is good.
  4. Brand names acquired at great cost might help consumers by assuring quality.

25. Suppose the state of Wyoming passes a law that increases the tax on cigarettes. As a result, smokers who live in Wyoming start purchasing their cigs in surrounding states. Which of the following principles does this best illustrate:

  1. people respond to incentives
  2. rational people think at the margin
  3. a trademark can make everyone better off
  4. markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity