Ch. 2: The Economic Problem.

Ch. 2: The Economic Problem. • Topics • Production Possibilities Frontier & Oppurt. Cost • Efficient Allocation of resources • Trade-off between current and future production. • Gains from specialization and trade • Importance of property rights and markets

Production Possibilities and Opportunity Cost Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) • boundary between combinations of goods and services that can be produced and those that cannot. To illustrate PPF, • Assume economy produces only two goods at a time and hold the quantities of all other goods and services constant. • Assume everything else remains the same (ceteris paribus) except the two goods we’re considering.

PPF and Efficiency Coconuts • Combinations of goods can be classified as • Attainable • Productively efficient • Productively inefficient • Unattainable Fish

PPF and Opportunity Cost • Measuring opportunity cost using the PPF. • Opportunity cost of 1 million pizzas at • C • D • |Slope of PPF| = opportunity cost of pizza

Production Possibilities and Opportunity Cost • Opportunity cost of 1 million CDs • At C • At D • |Inverse of PPF slope| = opportunity cost of CDs

Law of IMOC • The Law of Increasing Marginal Opportunity Cost • As the quantity produced of each good increases, so does its opportunity cost. • Causes concave (bowed away from origin) PPF

What is the marginal opportunity cost of the 4th car? TVs per day • 10 TVs • 5 TVs • 3 TVs • 1 TV 20 17 15 10 0% 0 1 2 3 4 5 Cars per day 30

A combination of 3 cars and 12 TVS would be TVs per day • efficient • inefficient • unattainable 20 17 15 10 0% 0 1 2 3 4 5 Cars per day 30

The opportunity cost of an additional TV is higher at TVs per day • A • B 20 A 17 15 B 10 0% 0 1 2 3 4 5 Cars per day 30

Using Resources Efficiently • This figure illustrates the marginal cost of pizza. • As pizza production increases, the opportunity cost and the marginal cost of pizza increases. • The Law of IMOC implies concavity of PPF

Using Resources Efficiently • A graph of marginal opportunity cost is upward sloping because of Law of IMOC.

Using Resources Efficiently • MarginalBenefit (MB) of a good or service • Reflects a person’s “preferences” • Measures the benefit received from consuming one more unit of it. • Can be measured by the amount that a person is willing to pay for an additional unit of a good or service. • Law of Decreasing MB (Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility) • the more we have of any good or service, the smaller is its MB and the less we are willing to pay for an additional unit of it. • MB Curve shows the relationship between the marginal benefit of a good and the quantity of that good consumed.

Using Resources Efficiently • The Marginal Benefit curve slopes downward to reflect Law of Decreasing Marginal Benefit .

Using Resources Efficiently • Two kinds of efficiency • Productive efficiency: • When we cannot produce more of any one good without giving up some other good • producing at a point on the PPF. • Allocative efficiency • When we cannot produce more of any one good without giving up some other good that we value more highly • producing at the point on the PPF that we prefer above all other points. • MB of last unit = MC of last unit

Allocative Efficiency If Q<500, why should production increase? If Q>500, why should production decrease? MB, MC measured in CDs MC MB 2.5 # of pizzas (in millions)

Allocative Efficiency If MC increases, how would allocatively efficient level change? If MB increases, how would allocatively efficient level change? MB, MC measured in CDs MC MB 2.5 # of pizzas (in millions)

Using Resources Efficiently • The point of allocative efficiency • point at which marginal benefit equals marginal cost. • determined by the quantity at which MB=MC • Changes as preferences (MB) or costs (MC) change.

Suppose that for health reasons, people prefer more tomatoes in their diet. This will cause the allocatively efficient amount of tomato production to increase because ____. • MC decreases • MC increases • MB increases • MB decreases 0% 24

Economic Growth • Economic Growth • expansion of PPF • Increases the standard of living • Determinants of economic growth: • Technological change • Capital accumulation • Physical or human

Economic Growth • How will the choice between consumer and capital goods affect future economic growth? • What kind of government policies can affect location on PPF? Consumer goods Capital Goods

Gains From Trade • Comparative Advantage • A person has a comparative advantage in production of a good if that person can produce the good at a lower opportunity cost than anyone else. • Absolute advantage • A person has an absolute advantage in an activity if that person can produce more of the good in a given amount of time than anyone else.

Gains From Trade Who has absolute advantage in coconuts fish Who has comparative advantage in coconuts fish Coconuts per day 15 Mary 9 Bill 9 10 Fish per day

Gains From Trade • Suppose no trade and on PPF. • If Bill produces 3 fish, he can produce ____ coconuts. • If Mary produces 6 fish, she can produce ____ coconuts. • World production is ____ fish and ___ coconuts. • If specialize and trade • world production could be ____ fish and ____ coconuts. • What are the gains from trade? Coconuts per day 15 Mary 9 Bill 9 Fish per day 10

Gains From Trade Coconuts per day What is the “world” PPF for Mary & Bill? Fish per day

Gains From Trade • Nations can gain from specialization and trade • Because the gains from trade arise from comparative (not absolute) advantage, people can gain from trade even if they have an absolute advantage in all commodities.

Gains from Trade Revisited Suppose there is a small island economy with 20 Irish and 10 Germans. Each Irish can catch either 10 fish or gather 40 coconuts in a day. Each German can catch either 6 fish or 30 coconuts in a day.

The ___ have the comparative advantage in fish and the ___ have the comparative advantage in coconuts. • Irish; Irish • Germans; Germans • Irish; Germans • Germans; Irish 0% 30

Draw PPF Here

If everyone split their time equally between fishing and coconuts, total production would be ______ fish and _____ coconuts. • 130; 550 • 160; 680 • 200; 600 • 240; 800 0% 30

Based upon the PPF, if production is organized efficiently and 130 fish are produced, _____ coconuts can be produced. • 360 • 520 • 580 • 640 0% 30

Based upon the PPF, if production is organized efficiently and 130 fish are produced along with the maximum possible number of coconuts, the fish would be produced by _____ and the coconuts would be produced by _____. • Only Irish; Only Germans • Irish and Germans; Only Irish • Only Irish; Irish and Germans • Irish and Germans; Irish and Germans. 0% 30

The Market Economy • Trade is organized using two key social institutions: • Property rights • Markets • Property Rights • the social arrangements that govern ownership, use, and disposal of resources, goods or services. • Markets • any arrangement that enables buyers and sellers to get information and do business with each other.

Ch. 2: The Economic Problem.