Economic Thinking

According to this pie chart, which age group made up almost 38% of the population in the year 1970?

19 and under

Sam wants to improve his GPA. to earn a 4.0 this semester. His prior GPA was a 2.75. Imagine that there is an equation that says his new GPA could be calculated based on the number of hours he spends studying, his class attendance, and his prior GPA. Written as an equation, it is Grade = (0.50 x hours spent studying) + (0.25 x class attendance hours) + (0.25 x prior GPA). Sam plans to attend class for 4 out of 4 hours each week. Use the equation to determine approximately how many hours per week Sam needs to study to earn a 4.0.

4.6 hours

Economic capital is productive, so it does NOT include

Money

Every day, 500 airplanes in San Francisco incur an additional 30 minutes of airport delays when flying into or out of the airport. In Chicago, the delays amount to 15 minutes for 1,200 airplanes. If the price of time is $30/hour in San Francisco and $20/hour in Chicago, which airport incurs the largest opportunity cost?

San Francisco

Imagine that a high school junior sold her old car at the end of the summer and now has the funds from the sale in her bank. She decides to purchase a much needed new automobile instead of saving that money to pay for her senior trip coming up next year. From an economist's perspective, which of the following statements about this decision is likely to be true?

The decision is rational in the sense that it reflects the junior's preference for a new automobile over a senior trip.

Which topic below best applies to microeconomics?

The price that a farmer asks for her watermelons.

Functions are often described as cause and effect in economics. In an economics function, if the variable is on the right-hand side and is doing the explaining, it represents a(n) ________?

cause

What are the factors of production?

land, economic capital, labor, entrepreneurship

If Mikael decides to go out with his friends instead of study for his biology test, what is the opportunity cost?

less preparation for his biology test

Charlie is researching the relationship between the number of hours he spends on social media and his success in his classes. He sets up an equation to better understand the implications of this relationship. This describes a ________.

mathematical function.

If an economist is trying to predict the outcome from particular causes, what is the best tool(s) for her to use in order to test out her economic model?

mathematical functions

What will we never do in a world of scarcity?

meet all of society's wants

If trade between nations is prohibited,

nations will be unable to specialize in what they are good at and therefore end up consuming less.

Darryl is starting a company helping people put up and take down holiday lights on their homes. He determines that the larger the house, the more likely people are to use his company to put up their lights. If Darryl were to plot the relationship between home size and willingness to pay for holiday light installation services, the line on the graph would show a

positive slope.

Society gains advantages through trade because of its ability to

specialize resources to the uses where opportunity cost is minimized.