ECON 212 Chapter 1 Test

Any point inside the production possiblities curve

Inefficient yet attainable

Any point outside the production possibilities curve

Unattainable

Any point on the production possibilities curve

Efficient

If two variables are directly related, the relationship will have a graph that:

Upward sloping line

Does unemployment shifts the production possibilities curve to the left?

False

If economic resources are perfectly interchangeable between the two products shown on a production possibilities graph:

Straight line

Consider an economy that is producing inside its production possibilities curve. This economy could move closer towards its production possibilities curve by:

Employing more of its available resources

Does the slope of a graph measure the rate of change in one variable as the other variable changes?

True

The maximum combinations of products that can be produced

Production possibilities curve

In a graph of the production possibilities curve, the two axes of the graph indicate the:

Quantities of the two products that a nation can produce

An economic model is a purposeful simplification of reality, whose function includes:

Analyzing the behavior of a typical or average consumer or firm

A movement from one point to another along the production possibilities curve would imply that:

Society is producing a different combination of outputs

The role of the entrepreneur in society is to:

Bring the factors of production together and take the risks of producing

What gives the production of possibilities curve its bowed out shape?

Law of increasing opportunity cost

What is the law of increasing opportunity cost?

As the production of a particular good increases, the opportunity cost of producing an additional unit rises

Other-things-equal assumption

It is the assumption that factors other than those being considered do not change

The assumption that what is true for one individual or part of a whole is necessarily true for a group of individuals or the whole

Fallacy of composition

Imagine an ideal scenario where world peace prevails and all nations are led by peace-minded leaders. In such a world, the:

MB for defense goods would shift left

A schedule or curve that shows various combinations of two products a consumer can purchase with a specific money income

Budget line

The economic perspective includes three elements:

Scarcity and choice, purposeful behavior, and marginal analysis

The independent variable is:

The cause or the source

Economic systems differ in ____ and ____

Who owns the factors of production, the method used to motivate, coordinate, and direct economic activity

____ ensures that entrepreneurs and private businesses are free to obtain and use economic resources to produce their choice of goods and services

Freedom of enterprise

____ rests on the private ownership of property and on freedom of enterprise and freedom of choice.

The market system

____ means using the resources of an individual, firm, region, or nation to produce one or a few goods or services rather than the entire range of goods and services.

Specialization

The market system answers five fundamental questions:

What goods and services will be produced?
How will the goods and services be produced?
Who will get the goods and services?
How will the system accommodate change?
How will the system promote progress?

Two reasons why command systems failed

The coordination problem and the incentive problem

The place where households sell and business buy

Resource market

The place where households buy and businesses sell

Product market

In the circular flow diagram, resources flow ____

Counter-clockwise

All the income in the economy flows to

Households

Market system shields employees and suppliers from ____ but they receive no ____

Business risk, profit

Two benefits of restricting business risk to owners are:

Attracting inputs and focusing attention

What is the driving force for a market economy?

Self-interest

Total revenue - Total cost

Profit

How will the system change?

Changes in consumer taste, technology, and resource prices

How will the system progress?

Technological advancements, creative destruction, capital accumulation

What is the incentive problem of command economies?

No adjustments for surplus or shortage

Which of the following would be primarily determined in the resource markets?

The wage rates for computer programmers and engineers

According to the circular flow model of the market system, when resource-owners' money income is rising, then the costs to business firms must be falling.

False

In a capitalist system, the decisions and actions of millions of consumers and firms are highly coordinated by:

Markets and prices

A corporation is a type of business firm where the debt of the firm is considered its owners' personal responsibility.

False

Capital accumulation in a market system results from:

Dollar votes by entrepreneurs and business owners

Insurance companies facilitate the transfer of risk from:

Those who have a low-risk tolerance to those with high risk-tolerance

Competition is more likely to exist when:

There is easy entry into and exit out of industries

Are maximum profits what motivate consumers to decide who will get the goods and services in a market system?

False

What, according to economist Donald Boudreaux in the "Last Word" section of the chapter, best explains why the market system is not a random, chaotic mess?

Private property rights encourage mutual accommodation that leads to an arrangement of resources that is productive

Is it true/false that if people tried to produce as much of what they need on their own, then this would lead to a more efficient use of the economy's resources?

False

Does the concept of consumer sovereignty refers to the situation where consumers have the right to vote for the board of directors of large corporations?

False

In a market system, the task of assessing and managing the business risk of a firm is taken on by the firm's:

Entrepreneurs

Even with the use of money, exchange and trade cannot occur if there is no coincidence of wants

False

A required element for specialization to lead to an increase in the satisfaction of society's wants is:

Exchange and trade

In a market system, the income earned by owners of natural resources is called interest income

False

Is the choice of the most efficient production technique not affected by how much buyers want to buy the product?

True

Which of the following is necessary to make a trade in a barter economy?

A coincidence of wants

Competition in a market system denotes a condition where:

The diffusion of economic power limits its potential abuse

Creative destruction" in a market system is brought about by:

Entrepreneurship

In a market system, as one industry expands while another contracts, resources will flow:

From one industry due to the changes in resource prices paid by firms

The "invisible hand" concept refers to the:

Guiding function of prices in a market system

A characteristic of centrally planned economies is that:

The price is relatively unimportant in allocating resources

The simple circular flow model shows that workers and capital-owners offer their services to firms through the:

Resource Markets

Which of the following guides sensible decisions regarding the management of business risk in a market system?

Profit and loss system

In a market system, a firm's employees are typically shielded from business risk by:

Wage contracts

What is the purpose of competition?

To act as a regulating force in the marketplace

In order to know whether a demand is large or small, you need to include ____

Time

The determinants of demand are ____

Tastes, number of buyers, income, prices of related goods, and consumer expectations

The determinants of supply are ____

Resource prices, technology, taxes and subsidies, prices of other goods, producer expectations, number of sellers

Any price above the equilibrium price results in ____

Surplus

Any price below the equilibrium price results in ____

Shortage

Demand essentially reflects the ____ of the good

Marginal benefit

Supply reflects the ____ of producing the good

Marginal cost

One problem that could arise from price ceilings is ____

Black markets

One problem that could arise from price floors is ____

The government might deal with the surplus situation by imposing taxes on those goods

Price ceilings lead to ____ while price floors lead to ____

Shortage, surplus

The production of any particular good in the least costly way

Productive efficiency

The particular mix of goods and services most highly valued by society

Allocative efficiency

Productive efficiency can/cannot occur without allocative efficiency

Can

Allocative efficiency can/cannot occur without productive efficiency

Cannot

If the resources of an economy are being used inefficiently, it would be ____

Possible to increase production of all goods simultaneously

What will people do because information is costly to acquire?

They will rationally choose not to become fully informed when making decisions

Consumers buy less of a good as its price increases because ____

Substitute goods are now relatively cheaper, the income of consumers has effectively decreased

An increase in the price of one substitute good causes an ____ in demand for the other

Increase

Which of the following events would decrease producer surplus?

Sellers' costs increase and the price of the good stays the same

Land used to grow corn could also be used to grow soybeans. Which of the following is true when the farmer plants soybeans and the market price of corn rises?

The opportunity cost of producing soybeans increases

Which of the following statements is true when collective decision making is utilized to resolve economic questions regarding the allocation of resources?

Central planning and political bargaining will replace market forces

Which would best explain a decrease in both the price and the quantity of a product over a period of time?

A decrease in the price of a substitute good

In the market system, do prices tend to guide resources from less important to more important uses as the market system accommodates change?

True

In a market system, do entrepreneurs start up businesses in order to earn a high salary?

False

The law of demand states that as price increases, other things being equal, the quantity of the product demanded increases

False

The rationale for the law of demand can best be understood on the basis of:

Diminishing marginal utility

When one speaks of "demand" in a particular market, this refers to:

The whole demand curve

The substitution effect suggests that, a lower price, you have the incentive to substitute the more expensive product for similar products that are relatively less expensive

False

If price falls, there will be an increase in demand

False

For demand, price changes ____ not ____

Quantity demanded, demand

Any point inside the production possiblities curve

Inefficient yet attainable

Any point outside the production possibilities curve

Unattainable

Any point on the production possibilities curve

Efficient

If two variables are directly related, the relationship will have a graph that:

Upward sloping line

Does unemployment shifts the production possibilities curve to the left?

False

If economic resources are perfectly interchangeable between the two products shown on a production possibilities graph:

Straight line

Consider an economy that is producing inside its production possibilities curve. This economy could move closer towards its production possibilities curve by:

Employing more of its available resources

Does the slope of a graph measure the rate of change in one variable as the other variable changes?

True

The maximum combinations of products that can be produced

Production possibilities curve

In a graph of the production possibilities curve, the two axes of the graph indicate the:

Quantities of the two products that a nation can produce

An economic model is a purposeful simplification of reality, whose function includes:

Analyzing the behavior of a typical or average consumer or firm

A movement from one point to another along the production possibilities curve would imply that:

Society is producing a different combination of outputs

The role of the entrepreneur in society is to:

Bring the factors of production together and take the risks of producing

What gives the production of possibilities curve its bowed out shape?

Law of increasing opportunity cost

What is the law of increasing opportunity cost?

As the production of a particular good increases, the opportunity cost of producing an additional unit rises

Other-things-equal assumption

It is the assumption that factors other than those being considered do not change

The assumption that what is true for one individual or part of a whole is necessarily true for a group of individuals or the whole

Fallacy of composition

Imagine an ideal scenario where world peace prevails and all nations are led by peace-minded leaders. In such a world, the:

MB for defense goods would shift left

A schedule or curve that shows various combinations of two products a consumer can purchase with a specific money income

Budget line

The economic perspective includes three elements:

Scarcity and choice, purposeful behavior, and marginal analysis

The independent variable is:

The cause or the source

Economic systems differ in ____ and ____

Who owns the factors of production, the method used to motivate, coordinate, and direct economic activity

____ ensures that entrepreneurs and private businesses are free to obtain and use economic resources to produce their choice of goods and services

Freedom of enterprise

____ rests on the private ownership of property and on freedom of enterprise and freedom of choice.

The market system

____ means using the resources of an individual, firm, region, or nation to produce one or a few goods or services rather than the entire range of goods and services.

Specialization

The market system answers five fundamental questions:

What goods and services will be produced?
How will the goods and services be produced?
Who will get the goods and services?
How will the system accommodate change?
How will the system promote progress?

Two reasons why command systems failed

The coordination problem and the incentive problem

The place where households sell and business buy

Resource market

The place where households buy and businesses sell

Product market

In the circular flow diagram, resources flow ____

Counter-clockwise

All the income in the economy flows to

Households

Market system shields employees and suppliers from ____ but they receive no ____

Business risk, profit

Two benefits of restricting business risk to owners are:

Attracting inputs and focusing attention

What is the driving force for a market economy?

Self-interest

Total revenue - Total cost

Profit

How will the system change?

Changes in consumer taste, technology, and resource prices

How will the system progress?

Technological advancements, creative destruction, capital accumulation

What is the incentive problem of command economies?

No adjustments for surplus or shortage

Which of the following would be primarily determined in the resource markets?

The wage rates for computer programmers and engineers

According to the circular flow model of the market system, when resource-owners' money income is rising, then the costs to business firms must be falling.

False

In a capitalist system, the decisions and actions of millions of consumers and firms are highly coordinated by:

Markets and prices

A corporation is a type of business firm where the debt of the firm is considered its owners' personal responsibility.

False

Capital accumulation in a market system results from:

Dollar votes by entrepreneurs and business owners

Insurance companies facilitate the transfer of risk from:

Those who have a low-risk tolerance to those with high risk-tolerance

Competition is more likely to exist when:

There is easy entry into and exit out of industries

Are maximum profits what motivate consumers to decide who will get the goods and services in a market system?

False

What, according to economist Donald Boudreaux in the "Last Word" section of the chapter, best explains why the market system is not a random, chaotic mess?

Private property rights encourage mutual accommodation that leads to an arrangement of resources that is productive

Is it true/false that if people tried to produce as much of what they need on their own, then this would lead to a more efficient use of the economy's resources?

False

Does the concept of consumer sovereignty refers to the situation where consumers have the right to vote for the board of directors of large corporations?

False

In a market system, the task of assessing and managing the business risk of a firm is taken on by the firm's:

Entrepreneurs

Even with the use of money, exchange and trade cannot occur if there is no coincidence of wants

False

A required element for specialization to lead to an increase in the satisfaction of society's wants is:

Exchange and trade

In a market system, the income earned by owners of natural resources is called interest income

False

Is the choice of the most efficient production technique not affected by how much buyers want to buy the product?

True

Which of the following is necessary to make a trade in a barter economy?

A coincidence of wants

Competition in a market system denotes a condition where:

The diffusion of economic power limits its potential abuse

Creative destruction" in a market system is brought about by:

Entrepreneurship

In a market system, as one industry expands while another contracts, resources will flow:

From one industry due to the changes in resource prices paid by firms

The "invisible hand" concept refers to the:

Guiding function of prices in a market system

A characteristic of centrally planned economies is that:

The price is relatively unimportant in allocating resources

The simple circular flow model shows that workers and capital-owners offer their services to firms through the:

Resource Markets

Which of the following guides sensible decisions regarding the management of business risk in a market system?

Profit and loss system

In a market system, a firm's employees are typically shielded from business risk by:

Wage contracts

What is the purpose of competition?

To act as a regulating force in the marketplace

In order to know whether a demand is large or small, you need to include ____

Time

The determinants of demand are ____

Tastes, number of buyers, income, prices of related goods, and consumer expectations

The determinants of supply are ____

Resource prices, technology, taxes and subsidies, prices of other goods, producer expectations, number of sellers

Any price above the equilibrium price results in ____

Surplus

Any price below the equilibrium price results in ____

Shortage

Demand essentially reflects the ____ of the good

Marginal benefit

Supply reflects the ____ of producing the good

Marginal cost

One problem that could arise from price ceilings is ____

Black markets

One problem that could arise from price floors is ____

The government might deal with the surplus situation by imposing taxes on those goods

Price ceilings lead to ____ while price floors lead to ____

Shortage, surplus

The production of any particular good in the least costly way

Productive efficiency

The particular mix of goods and services most highly valued by society

Allocative efficiency

Productive efficiency can/cannot occur without allocative efficiency

Can

Allocative efficiency can/cannot occur without productive efficiency

Cannot

If the resources of an economy are being used inefficiently, it would be ____

Possible to increase production of all goods simultaneously

What will people do because information is costly to acquire?

They will rationally choose not to become fully informed when making decisions

Consumers buy less of a good as its price increases because ____

Substitute goods are now relatively cheaper, the income of consumers has effectively decreased

An increase in the price of one substitute good causes an ____ in demand for the other

Increase

Which of the following events would decrease producer surplus?

Sellers' costs increase and the price of the good stays the same

Land used to grow corn could also be used to grow soybeans. Which of the following is true when the farmer plants soybeans and the market price of corn rises?

The opportunity cost of producing soybeans increases

Which of the following statements is true when collective decision making is utilized to resolve economic questions regarding the allocation of resources?

Central planning and political bargaining will replace market forces

Which would best explain a decrease in both the price and the quantity of a product over a period of time?

A decrease in the price of a substitute good

In the market system, do prices tend to guide resources from less important to more important uses as the market system accommodates change?

True

In a market system, do entrepreneurs start up businesses in order to earn a high salary?

False

The law of demand states that as price increases, other things being equal, the quantity of the product demanded increases

False

The rationale for the law of demand can best be understood on the basis of:

Diminishing marginal utility

When one speaks of "demand" in a particular market, this refers to:

The whole demand curve

The substitution effect suggests that, a lower price, you have the incentive to substitute the more expensive product for similar products that are relatively less expensive

False

If price falls, there will be an increase in demand

False

For demand, price changes ____ not ____

Quantity demanded, demand