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Midterm
midterm
48
Economics
Undergraduate 1
02/27/2007

Additional Economics Flashcards

 


 

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Term
Economics
Definition
study of scarcity, the implications of scarcity and society's attempt to overcome scarcity
Term
Markets
Definition
generally a good way to organize economic activity: markets create wealth
Term
Scarcity
Definition
our wants are relatively unlimited by our resources
Term
Opportunity Cost
Definition
highest valued alternative forgone
1. subjective
2. monetary v. non-monetary
3. changes
Term
Sunk Cost
Definition
not a cost at all, incurred already, irrelevant to economic decision making
Term
Rationing Devices
Definition
Organizational principles or rules governing the production and distribution of goods
Term
3 types of rationing devices
Definition
1. market based economy
2. mixed economy
3. centrally planned economy
Term
Market
Definition
an institution through which buying and selling takes place, generate prices
Term
Prices
Definition
a rationing device, ability and willingness to pay
Term
Private Property Rights
Definition
1. right to use
2. right to exclude
3. right to transfer

ownership, established and enforced by government
Term
Law of Increasing Cost
Definition
not all production use the same resources
Term
Law of Comparative Advantage
Definition
an individual, company or country should specialize in the production of that good or service in which they have the lowest opportunity cost to them and trade with others that do like wise
Term
Specialization
Definition
lowers the production cost
1. learning by doing
2. no switching cost (division of labor)
3. mass production (economies of scale)
4. specialized innovation
Term
First Law of Demand
Definition
the quantity demanded that good is inversely related to the price of the good, holding everything else constant (cetris paribus)
Term
Substitution effect
Definition
if prices go down, relatively speaking, another product is more expensive in comparison to our product
Term
Declining Marginal Value
Definition
the more we consume of a good, the less we value it, and the less we're willing to pay for it
Term
First Law of Supply
Definition
Price of a good and the quantity supplied is positively supplied is positively related - holding everything else constant
Term
Structure of Production Cost
Definition
1. technological change (productivity)
a. inter-industry-across industries
b. intra-industry-unique to the industry
2. structure of input costs
3. production relationships (economies of scale)
Term
Producer Surplus
Definition
Difference between actual price sellers receive and minimum amount they would have been willing to accept
Term
Taxation
Definition
sales tax, payroll tax, gas tax, cigarettes tax, NOT income tax
Term
Stationary Burden
Definition
partly legally obligated to collect and pay tax to proper authority (seller)
Term
Commercial Banking
Definition
Webster Bank, Peoples
take in deposit, lend money, checks
Term
Investment Banks
Definition
"wall street", Goldman Sacks, UBS, Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley
investment banking services-advise companies on best way to raise money
Term
Hedge Fund
Definition
relatively unregulated
a private investment organization
invests in gold, silver, etc.
Term
Statutory Burden
Definition
changing the stationary instance of the tax does not affect the economic instance
Term
FICA
Definition
used to pay for social security and medicare 15% statutory burden
1/2 paid by employee (7.5%)
1/2 paid by employer (7.5%)
Term
Reasons Why A Country Has A Comparative Advantage
Definition
1. Differences in endowment of resources
2. Differences in acquired resources - labors, physical capital
3. Differences in specialized knowledge and technology
4. External economies (advantages of centralized location)
Term
Price Elasticity of Demand
Definition
how responsive consumers are to the changes in the price of a good
Term
Price Elasticity of Supply
Definition
How responsive are producers of good x in the price of good x
Term
Cross price elasticity of demand
Definition
how responsive the consumers of good x are to changes in price of good y
Term
Income elasticity of demand
Definition
how responsive are consumers of good x to changes in income
Term
Elasticity (formula)
Definition
Q1-Q2/(Q1+Q2)/2 / P1-P2/(P1+P2)/2
Term
Elastic/Inelastic/Unitary Elastic
Definition
<1 Inelastic
>1 Elastic
=1 Unitary Elastic
Term
Total Revenue
Definition
total revenue = price x quantity = total expenditures consumers pay
Term
Factors of Elasticity
Definition
1. Time-more time, more elastic
2. % of income spent on good, less spent, more elastic
3. # of substitutes, less substituts, more inelastic
4. how broadly the good is defined, less broadly, more elastic
Term
Sherman Anti Trust Act (1890)
Definition
1. Prohibits "restraints against trade"
2. Prohibits "monopolies and attempts to monopolize"
Term
Monopoly
Definition
single seller in market
Federal trade commission
anti trust division of justice department
Term
Merger
Definition
horizantal-merger of companies in the same market
vertical-merger of companies in the same chain of supply (nike buying footlocker)
conglomerate-merger of companies in differenct markets
Term
E=0 perfectly inelastic
Definition
E=infinity perfectly elastic
Term
Cross Price Elasticity
Definition
E<0 Complements
E> Subsitutes

as demand of good y goes down, so does the demand of good x
Term
Income elasticity of demand
Definition
>0 normal good, as income increases, demand increases
<0 inferior good
>1 luxury good (normal good) demand for good shifting greater than increase in income
Term
Tax Burden and Elasticities
Definition
as the demand becomes more inelastic, the burden of the tax is shifted more to buyers (and vice versa)
as the supply becomes more elastic, the burden of the tax is shifted more to buyers (and vice versa)
Term
Externalities and Public Goods
Definition
benefit or cost that affects someone who is not directly involved in the production, distribution or consumption of the good
negative externality-a "cost"
positive externality-a "benefit"
Term
Causes of Externalities
Definition
1. lack of well defined or enforced private property rights
2. high transaction costs
Term
Coase Theorem
Definition
if transaction costs are low, private bargaining will result in an efficient solution to the problem of externalities
Term
Pubic Solutions to Externality
Definition
1. Pigovian Tax
2. Tax negative externality
3. Command and control
4. Command and control/CAP and trade rules
Term
Reasons for Externalities
Definition
1. Ill defined private property rights
2. Too high transaction costs (difficult to enforce private property rights)
Term
types of goods
Definition
private-exclusive and rivalry
public-nonexclusive and nonrivalry, free rider problem, hide true purposes
common property/open access-nonexclusiv but rivalry, leads to over exploitation
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