Microeconomics
Variable costs are the costs that
vary with the quantity of output produced.
Which of the following scenarios illustrates the law of demand?
Kathleen eats more steak when the price is low, and less when the price is high.
An equilibrium price is:
determined by the intersection of the demand and supply curves.
According to the marginal principle, keep increasing quantity until the marginal benefit of an additional item is _____ the marginal cost of an additional item.
equal to
As a result of technological innovation, automated water pumps are being installed on the farms of Kenyan tomato farmers. As a result of the increased use of automated water pumps, the equilibrium price of tomatoes will:
fall, due to a rise in supply.
An individual demand curve is a graph:
that plots the quantity of an item that someone plans to buy, at each price.
Paint and paintbrushes are complements. If the price of paint rises, we can expect:
the demand for paintbrushes to decrease.
An equilibrium in a market occurs:
when the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded.
Dependencies between your own choices reflect the fact that:
you have limited resources
The cost-benefit principle states that _____ are the incentives that shape decisions.
costs and benefits
Decisions should reflect the _____ costs, rather than just the _____ costs.
opportunity; financial
The opportunity costs of attending college include the:
potential income that could be earned working
Which principle tells you that the true cost of something is the next best alternative you have to give up to get it?
the opportunity cost principle
A downward-sloping demand curve implies:
there is an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded.
What is quantity supplied?
It is the amount of an item that a seller is willing to sell at a particular price.
How is the economic surplus generated by a decision calculated?
It is the total benefits minus total costs arising from the decision.
In a voluntary economic transaction between a buyer and a seller, _____ can earn economic surplus from the transaction.
both the buyer and the seller
A normal good is:
a good for which higher income causes an increase in demand.
Graphically, the equilibrium quantity can be identified as the:
quantity corresponding to the intersection of the demand and supply curves.
A shortage occurs when:
quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied.
Kevin Williamson goes to a local coffee shop and orders a medium-sized latte. His willingness to pay for that latte is $6. The price of the latte is $2. The cost to the coffee shop to produce the latte is $1. How much economic surplus does Kevin gain when he purchases the latte?
$4
The United Kingdom plans to end the use of gas-powered and diesel-powered cars by the year 2040. At the same time, car manufacturers, such as General Motors and Nissan, are increasing the number of electric car models they produce. Based on this information, which of the following statements is/are correct? (i) If the supply of new electric cars is greater than the demand for new electric cars, then the price of electric cars will fall in the future. (ii) The demand for gasoline will fall in the future. (iii) The demand for electricity will rise in the future. (iv) The demand for diesel will rise in the future.
(i), (ii), and (iii)
Which of the following are correct about fixed costs? (i) They do not change with the level of production in the short run. (ii) They include variable costs. (iii) They are present even when the firm is producing zero units. (iv) They are irrelevant to marginal cost.
(i), (iii), and (iv)
Which of the following scenarios depicts a seller who is following the Rational Rule for Sellers?
American Airlines determines the marginal cost of an extra passenger to be $75 and sells a discount seat for $250.
A bakery hires a baker who can make 15 cakes per day. The bakery then decides to hire a second baker who will use the kitchen at the same time as the first baker. The bakery finds that the second baker can produce only an additional nine cakes per day. What concept does this scenario illustrate?
Diminishing marginal product
Which of the following is NOT a factor that can shift supply?
The market price of a product.
You eat M&Ms every day. When you go to the store to buy some, you find that M&Ms are more expensive than they were last month. Which of the following could explain why M&Ms are more expensive?
The supply of cacao beans, used to produce chocolate, has fallen around the world.
You're shopping online, and you place an item in your virtual cart. Two days later, you return to the virtual cart to check out and find that the item is now more expensive. Assuming that the market is competitive, what could explain the price increase?
There is a shortage of the item.
Why are supply curves typically upward-sloping?
They slope upward because higher prices lead individual businesses to supply a larger quantity and more businesses are willing to supply goods and services.
Quantity demanded is on the horizontal axis when you plot a demand curve and shows the:
amount of a good that a person is willing to buy at each price.
Graphically, shortages will always occur:
at prices below the equilibrium price.
Joshua Murphy is planning on studying late into the night for his economics exam. How many cups of coffee should he buy tonight?
benefit of purchasing one more coffee equals the marginal cost
The key to using the cost-benefit principle is to think about _____ aspects of a decision.
both financial and non-financial
You are considering whether you should go out to dinner at a restaurant with your friend. The meal is expected to cost you $50, you typically leave a 20% tip, and a round-trip Uber ride will cost you $15. You value the restaurant meal at $30 and the time spent with your friend at $50. You should ____ to dinner with your friend because the benefit of doing so is _____ than the cost.
go; greater
Suppose that you have a pumpkin stall at a farmer's market, and the Halloween season arrives. You know that your customers will want to buy many pumpkins to decorate their houses and make pumpkin pies. Which of the following is a likely result of this scenario?
You can charge a higher price per pumpkin.
A seller at a farmer's market wants $10 for a bag of 10 apples. You think his price is too high, so you counter with an offer of $6 for the bag. The seller then offers you a much smaller bag of five apples for $6. You bargain again, and the seller lets you buy the 10 apples for $8. This scenario is an example of:
a market in action.
The Rational Rule for Sellers says that a seller should sell one more unit of an item if the price is:
greater than or equal to the marginal cost.
When there is a shortage of highly skilled workers in a particular region:
highly skilled workers can negotiate higher salaries.
The interdependence principle:
implies that buyers decisions are affected by many factors other than the price of an item.
The principle that your best choice depends on your other choices, the choices others make, developments in other markets, and expectations about the future is known as the _____ principle.
interdependence
Diminishing marginal benefit:
is when buying an additional item yields a smaller marginal benefit than the previous item.
A rational buyer will:
keep buying a product until marginal benefit equals price.
Nerida Kyle could either commute to work via Uber or purchase a new car. The average cost of her one-way Uber trip is $15. Nerida works five days a week for 50 weeks a year. Based solely on avoiding the cost of an Uber, Nerida should purchase a car if the cost of the car is _____ than _____ per week.
less; $150
The __________ suggests, decisions about quantities are best made incrementally.
marginal principle
A market consists of ten similar suppliers that are making the same supply decisions. To find the market supply of these ten suppliers, you:
multiply the individual supply of one of the suppliers by ten.
When you calculate marginal costs, they should include:
only variable costs.