1/7/25, 4:46 AM Econ Summary
Scarcity: the lack of enough resources to satisfy all desired uses of those resources
Factors of Production
Labor
Capital
Entrepreneurship
Land
Economics: the study of how best to allocate scarce resources among competing uses
Efficiency: the economic goal of this “best” or “optimal” allocation
Opportunity Cost: the most desired goods or service forgone to obtain something else
Production Possibilities: the combination of final goods and services that could be produced in
a given time period with all available resources and the best technology
Market Failure: If the market does not produce the mix of goods that society desires, market
failure is said to occur, the government has an opening to step in
Government Failure: when the government can do the opposite, or impose such high costs that
a failure occurs
Normative Analysis: focuses on “what should be” and is based on opinions and judgements
Positive Analysis: focuses on “what is” and is based on facts
Macroeconomics: The study of aggregate economic behavior, of the economy as a whole
Microeconomics: The study of individual behavior in the economy, of the components of the
larger economy
Ceteris Paribus: the assumption of nothing else changing
The Factor Market: when businesses are the buyers
The Product Market: where goods and services are sold and bought
Consumers
They are owners of factors of production (e.g., labor) who supply them to business firms
in the factor market and earn income
They purchase goods and services in the product market
Business Firms
They produce goods and services for the product market using the factors of production
they bought from their owners in the factor market
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Governments
They acquire resources in the factor market and provide services to both consumers and
firms
International Participants
They supply imports and purchase exports in the product market and buy and sell
resources in the factor market
Market: exists wherever an exchange (transaction) takes place
Demand: the ability and willingness to buy specific quantities of a good at alternative prices in a
given time period, ceteris paribus
The Law of Demand: in a given time period, the quantity demanded of a good increases as its
price falls, ceteris paribus (and vice versa)
Inverse relationship between price (P) and quantity demanded (Qd)
A downward-sloping curve on a market diagram
A demand behavior change is shown by shifting the demand curve
Increase in demand: shift the curve right
Decrease in demand: shift the curve left
Changing the Demand
Demand increases (shifts right) when
Taste for the good increases
Income increases
Price of a substitute rises
Price of a complement falls
Future prices are expected to rise
Number of buyers increases
Vice versa, and demand decreases (shifts left)
Movements vs Shifts
Change in Quantity Demanded: movement along a demand curve in response to a change
in price
Change in Demand: a shift of the demand curve due to a change in one or more of the
determinants of demand, but NOT in response to a change in price
Supply: the ability and willingness to sell specific quantities of a good at alternative prices in a
given time period, ceteris paribus.
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Scarcity: the lack of enough resources to satisfy all desired uses of those resources
Factors of Production
Labor
Capital
Entrepreneurship
Land
Economics: the study of how best to allocate scarce resources among competing uses
Efficiency: the economic goal of this “best” or “optimal” allocation
Opportunity Cost: the most desired goods or service forgone to obtain something else
Production Possibilities: the combination of final goods and services that could be produced in
a given time period with all available resources and the best technology
Market Failure: If the market does not produce the mix of goods that society desires, market
failure is said to occur, the government has an opening to step in
Government Failure: when the government can do the opposite, or impose such high costs that
a failure occurs
Normative Analysis: focuses on “what should be” and is based on opinions and judgements
Positive Analysis: focuses on “what is” and is based on facts
Macroeconomics: The study of aggregate economic behavior, of the economy as a whole
Microeconomics: The study of individual behavior in the economy, of the components of the
larger economy
Ceteris Paribus: the assumption of nothing else changing
The Factor Market: when businesses are the buyers
The Product Market: where goods and services are sold and bought
Consumers
They are owners of factors of production (e.g., labor) who supply them to business firms
in the factor market and earn income
They purchase goods and services in the product market
Business Firms
They produce goods and services for the product market using the factors of production
they bought from their owners in the factor market
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, 1/7/25, 4:46 AM Econ Summary
Governments
They acquire resources in the factor market and provide services to both consumers and
firms
International Participants
They supply imports and purchase exports in the product market and buy and sell
resources in the factor market
Market: exists wherever an exchange (transaction) takes place
Demand: the ability and willingness to buy specific quantities of a good at alternative prices in a
given time period, ceteris paribus
The Law of Demand: in a given time period, the quantity demanded of a good increases as its
price falls, ceteris paribus (and vice versa)
Inverse relationship between price (P) and quantity demanded (Qd)
A downward-sloping curve on a market diagram
A demand behavior change is shown by shifting the demand curve
Increase in demand: shift the curve right
Decrease in demand: shift the curve left
Changing the Demand
Demand increases (shifts right) when
Taste for the good increases
Income increases
Price of a substitute rises
Price of a complement falls
Future prices are expected to rise
Number of buyers increases
Vice versa, and demand decreases (shifts left)
Movements vs Shifts
Change in Quantity Demanded: movement along a demand curve in response to a change
in price
Change in Demand: a shift of the demand curve due to a change in one or more of the
determinants of demand, but NOT in response to a change in price
Supply: the ability and willingness to sell specific quantities of a good at alternative prices in a
given time period, ceteris paribus.
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