Friday, November 11, 2011

11/11/11

  • A perfectly inelastic curve, which would be a vertical line, is impossible
  • Almost everything has a substitute
  • Checks are always split (ex: health care)
    • 50 % expenditures government
    • 40 % expenditures insurance
  • Income and consumption are different from prices and consumption
  • Cross-price Elasticity
    • pizza price increases, burrito quantity demanded increases"+" substitutes
    • pizza price increases, burrito quantity demanded decreases"-" complements
  • Income Elasticity: % change in quantity demanded / % change in income
    • > 0 = "normal goods"
    • < 0 = "inferior goods" 
    • Example: Income = $50,000 Environment spending= $500 Elasticity for environment= 2
      • income increases by 20%
      • environment spending increases by 40%
        • $500 + $200 
      • 40%(change in quantity demanded) / 20%(change in income) = 2(income elasticity)
  • Producers produce more when quantity demanded rises
    • they primarily care about the relative opportunity cost
    • mountain bike maker vs table maker
      • the inputs needed to make the mountain bike have more foregone opportunities which is why mountain bike inputs have more value
  • Other costs matter besides price
  • Relative Opportunity Costs greatly matter in decisions
  • What are Costs?
    • they are anything that consumes resources
    • however They Have To be Attached to Two Important Factors
      • Actions
        • a sacrifice must be incurred
        • "what does it cost to obtain a college education" is not a complete statement
      • To Whom
        • "what is the cost of you obtaining a college education" is a complete statement
        • distinguishes relative opportunity cost
  • Talent vs Opportunity
    • the person with more foregone opportunities is more valued (paid more) than someone who is more talented but has less foregone opportunities 
    • skilled workers are paid more than unskilled workers only if their skills are valued somewhere else
  • Costs and Supply: Quantity Supplied vs Law of Supply
    • quantity supplied= amount of a good that firms are willing and able to produce at a particular price
    • law of supply = when the price of a good rises, seller will produce more of the good

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