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Economics flashcards

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Topic 1: Scarcity and choice

Scarcity and the basic economic problem
Scarcity: unlimited wants set against limited resources. The basic economic problem: scarcity forces choices over what to make, how to make it and who gets it.
Economic good vs free good
Economic good: uses scarce resources to supply, so it has a cost of provision. Free good: needs no resources to supply, so it has no price. A good free at the point of use is still an economic good.
Needs vs wants
Need: something required to survive or avoid serious harm. Want: something desired beyond a need; wants are unlimited. The line depends on time and place.
Positive vs normative statement
Positive: describes or predicts; evidence can check it. Normative: expresses an opinion on what ought to happen (a value judgement).
Sustainability
Using resources to satisfy today's needs in a way that leaves future generations able to satisfy their own.
Market, planned and mixed economies
Market: private decisions coordinated by prices; private ownership. Planned: a central authority decides allocation; mostly state ownership. Mixed: market and government both allocate, in varying proportions.
The margin and rationality
The margin: the point of deciding on one more or one less unit. Rationality: acting consistently to maximise a goal using the information available.
Economic agents
Consumers, workers, firms and the government: the decision makers whose choices allocate resources.
Strengths and weaknesses of a free market economy
Strengths: incentives to innovate and cut costs, wide choice, prices respond to wants. Weaknesses: public goods missing, externalities ignored, merit goods under-consumed, unequal income and wealth.
Opportunity cost
The value of the best option passed over when choosing. It is a single next best alternative, not every option rejected.
Opportunity cost vs trade-off
Trade-off: the relationship of accepting less of one thing to get more of another. Opportunity cost: the value of the specific next best option lost.
PPF (PPC): definition and productive efficiency
The boundary of the largest output pairings of two goods with every resource fully and efficiently employed and technology fixed. Any point on it is productively efficient.
PPF: movement along vs shift
Movement along: a choice between the two goods (opportunity cost shown by the slope). Shift: a change in capacity, outward from more or better resources or technology, inward from loss of resources.
Accounting cost vs opportunity cost
Accounting cost records money paid out. Opportunity cost adds the value of the best alternative use of owned resources and time.
Specialisation vs division of labour
Specialisation: concentrating on a narrow range of goods or services; can apply to a person, firm, region or country. Division of labour: splitting a production process into tasks, a separate worker on each.
Advantages and disadvantages of the division of labour
Advantages: workers become skilled and quick, less time switching tasks, use of specialist machinery, higher output per worker. Disadvantages: boredom, lower motivation, and dependence on every stage working.
Barter vs money
Barter: direct exchange of goods for goods; it needs a double coincidence of wants. Money: anything generally accepted as payment (a medium of exchange), which makes specialisation and trade easier.
Functions of money
Medium of exchange, measure of value (unit of account), store of value, and method of deferred payment.

Topic 2: How competitive markets work

Resource allocation
How scarce resources are shared between competing uses: what is produced, how, and for whom.
Functions of the price mechanism
Signalling: prices tell buyers and sellers about scarcity. Rationing: a higher price limits demand to the supply available. Incentive: a higher price rewards producers for supplying more.
Incentive
A reward or penalty that changes the pay-off of a choice, and so changes behaviour.
Allocation under a planned price vs a market price
A planned price held below equilibrium causes a shortage, so goods are allocated by queuing or rationing. A market price adjusts until quantity demanded equals quantity supplied.
The usual objectives assumed for consumers, firms and government
Consumers: maximise utility (satisfaction). Firms: maximise profit. Government: maximise the welfare of society.
Maximisation vs satisficing
Maximisation: choosing the option that gives the greatest value of an objective, subject to a constraint. Satisficing: aiming for a satisfactory outcome rather than the maximum.
Profit maximisation vs revenue maximisation
Profit maximisation: output where MR = MC. Revenue maximisation: output where MR = 0. Maximising revenue is not the same as maximising profit.
Principal-agent problem
The agent's (managers') aims differ from the principal's (shareholders'), and information is unequal, so managers may pursue pay, status or growth instead of profit.
Corporate social responsibility
Voluntary action by a firm for its stakeholders (workers, community, environment) beyond what the law requires.
Contraction of demand vs decrease in demand
Contraction: a movement along the demand curve after a rise in the good's own price. Decrease: a leftward shift caused by anything else.
Consumer surplus and producer surplus
Consumer surplus: the most buyers would pay minus the price paid; area beneath demand, above price. Producer surplus: price received minus the least sellers would accept; area above supply, below price.
Shortage vs surplus
Shortage (excess demand): quantity demanded above quantity supplied, so price tends to rise. Surplus (excess supply): quantity supplied above quantity demanded, so price tends to fall.
Joint supply vs competitive supply
Joint: one process yields two or more products (beef and leather). Competitive: producers can switch inputs between products, so the goods compete for resources.
Derived vs composite demand
Derived: demand for a good or factor because of demand for what it helps to make. Composite: one good is wanted for several uses.
Diagram: a fall in the cost of raw materials
Supply shifts right. At the old price there is excess supply, so price falls; quantity demanded extends to a new equilibrium at a lower price and higher quantity.
PED, YED, XED and PES formulae
PED = %ΔQd ÷ %ΔP. YED = %ΔQd ÷ %Δ income. XED = %ΔQd of A ÷ %ΔP of B. PES = %ΔQs ÷ %ΔP. Percentage change = change ÷ starting value × 100.
A shop cuts price from £20 to £19 and sales rise from 250 to 270. PED, and what happens to revenue?
Price −5%, quantity +8%. PED = 8 ÷ −5 = −1.6, elastic. Revenue rises from £5,000 to £5,130.
Inferior good, necessity and luxury (YED)
Inferior: YED below 0. Necessity: YED between 0 and 1. Luxury: YED above 1.
Substitutes vs complements (XED)
Substitutes: XED positive (a rise in B's price raises demand for A). Complements: XED negative.
Determinants of PES
Time period, spare capacity, level of stocks, and ease of switching factors of production. Supply is more elastic in the long run.
Why do firms and government care about PED?
Firms: a price rise raises revenue only if demand is inelastic. Government: indirect taxes on inelastic goods raise more revenue but change behaviour less.
Productive efficiency
Output produced at the lowest possible average cost: MC = AC, the lowest point of AC; on the PPF.
Allocative efficiency
Resources go to the goods society values most: P = MC (with externalities, MSB = MSC).
Economic efficiency, static vs dynamic
Economic efficiency: productive and allocative together. Static: at one point in time, given resources and technology. Dynamic: over time, through investment and innovation, so cost curves shift down.
X-inefficiency
Cost above the lowest possible for the output (actual AC above efficient AC), often from weak competitive pressure.
Fixed costs £150 a day; at 30 jars TVC is £210. Find TC, AC, AFC and AVC.
TC = £360. AC = 360 ÷ 30 = £12.00. AFC = 150 ÷ 30 = £5.00. AVC = 210 ÷ 30 = £7.00. Check: 5.00 + 7.00 = 12.00.
MC formula, and how MC relates to AC
MC = rise in TC ÷ rise in Q (equal to the rise in TVC). When MC is below AC, AC falls; MC cuts AC at its minimum.
Law of diminishing returns
With at least one factor fixed (short run), adding more of a variable factor eventually makes marginal product fall, so marginal cost rises. Diminishing returns are not negative returns (TP falling).
TR, AR and MR
TR = P × Q. AR = TR ÷ Q, which equals price. MR = change in TR ÷ change in Q.
Normal vs supernormal profit
Normal profit: the least return that keeps resources in their present use; counted within TC. Supernormal profit: TR above TC.
Internal vs external economies of scale
Internal: LRAC falls as the firm itself grows (a movement along LRAC). External: every firm's costs fall as the industry grows (LRAC shifts down).
Types of internal economies of scale
Technical (larger, more efficient machinery), purchasing (bulk buying), financial (cheaper borrowing), managerial (specialist managers), marketing and risk-bearing.
Diseconomies of scale
A rise in LRAC as scale rises, from communication and coordination problems, slower decisions and poor motivation in very large firms.
Minimum efficient scale (MES)
The smallest output at which LRAC reaches its lowest level.
Economies of scale vs diminishing returns
Economies of scale: long run, all factors varied. Diminishing returns: short run, at least one factor fixed.

Topic 3: Market failure and government intervention

Market failure
The free market fails to allocate resources efficiently (MSB is not equal to MSC), so too much or too little is produced or consumed.
Public good (OCR description)
Non-excludable and non-rival (non-diminishable), also non-rejectable, with a zero marginal cost of an extra user.
Free-rider problem
Users get the benefit of a non-excludable good while leaving the cost to others, so it cannot be sold profitably and the market may not provide it.
Merit good vs demerit good
Merit good: under-consumed because consumers undervalue its benefits. Demerit good: over-consumed because consumers underestimate its harm or overestimate its benefit.
Quasi-public good
A good with some public-good features, or with them only up to a point, such as a road that becomes congested (rival) at busy times.
Externality, and the social cost and benefit identities
A cost or benefit that lands on someone outside the transaction and is left out of the price. MSC = MPC + MEC. MSB = MPB + MEB.
Diagram: negative production externality
MSC lies above MPC (supply). The market produces where MPC = MPB; the social optimum, where MSC = MSB, is lower. The welfare loss is the triangle between MSC and MSB over the extra output.
Diagram: positive consumption externality
MSB lies above MPB (demand). The market consumes less than the social optimum where MSB = MSC. The welfare loss is the triangle between MSB and MSC over the missing output.
The three roles of the environment
Provider of resources (raw materials, energy, water, food), provider of amenities (landscape, clean air, recreation) and absorber of waste, up to a limit.
Tradable pollution permit
A tradable right to emit a set amount, with the total capped. It fixes the quantity of pollution and lets trading set the price, so cuts are made where they are cheapest.
Information failure
Economic agents lack, or misjudge, the information needed for a good decision, so price signals mislead and resources are misallocated.
Asymmetric information
Buyer and seller hold unequal knowledge about the good, as in second-hand cars, insurance or financial advice.
Moral hazard
A change in behaviour after risk has been transferred, because the person no longer bears the full cost (for example, taking less care once insured).
Asymmetric information vs moral hazard
Asymmetric information is unequal knowledge, before or at the deal. Moral hazard is changed behaviour after cover is given.
Ways to reduce information failure
Information provision and campaigns, compulsory labelling and disclosure, regulation of advice and standards, guarantees and independent ratings.
Indirect tax on a demerit good: effect
Supply shifts left by the tax; price rises and quantity falls towards the social optimum. Tax revenue is a transfer; the deadweight-loss triangle is the welfare cost. It works less when demand is inelastic.
Subsidy on a merit good: effect
Supply shifts right by the subsidy; price falls and consumption rises towards the social optimum. Cost to government = subsidy per unit × new quantity.
Maximum price vs minimum price
Maximum price: set below equilibrium; causes a shortage. Minimum price: set above equilibrium; causes a surplus.
Buffer stock scheme
An agency buys when the price falls to the floor and sells from stock when it reaches the ceiling, to keep the price within a band.
Regulation vs tradable permits
Regulation sets a fixed rule for each firm. Permits fix the total and let trading decide the price and who cuts.
Other forms of intervention
State provision (of public and merit goods), information provision, and extending property rights.
Government failure
Intervention that makes the allocation of resources worse, causing a net welfare loss.
Market failure vs government failure
Market failure: the market gets the allocation wrong. Government failure: the intervention gets it wrong.
Causes of government failure
Distortion of price signals, unintended consequences (such as black markets), excessive administrative costs, and information gaps such as not knowing the true size of an externality.
Why might a minimum price on a farm product cause government failure?
Set above equilibrium it creates a surplus the government must buy and store or destroy, at a cost to taxpayers, while consumers pay more.

Topic 4: Economic policy objectives and indicators of macroeconomic performance

Economic growth, and nominal vs real GDP
Growth: more output over time, shown by the percentage rise in real GDP. Nominal GDP: output at the prices of the time. Real GDP: output at constant (base-year) prices.
Nominal GDP 2,200 (index 100) then 2,310 (index 104). Real growth?
Real GDP in year 2 = 2,310 ÷ 104 × 100 = 2,221.15. Real growth = 21.15 ÷ 2,200 = 0.96%, although nominal growth was 5.0%.
Actual vs potential growth
Actual: a rise in actual output, using spare capacity. Potential: a rise in capacity (LRAS or the PPF shifts outwards).
Recession
A fall in real output; commonly two quarters in a row of falling real GDP. A slowdown (slower-rising output) is not a recession.
Sustained vs sustainable growth
Sustained: continues over a long period without being cut short by instability. Sustainable: does not damage the environment or deplete resources future generations need.
Primary, secondary and tertiary sectors
Primary: extracting or harvesting natural resources. Secondary: manufacturing and construction. Tertiary: services.
Unemployed vs economically inactive
Unemployed: without a job, actively seeking work and available to start. Inactive: outside the labour force, neither in a job nor searching (students, carers, retired people).
Population 16+ 30.0m, employed 19.2m, unemployed 0.8m. Unemployment rate?
Labour force = 19.2 + 0.8 = 20.0m. Unemployment rate = 0.8 ÷ 20.0 × 100 = 4.0%.
LFS vs claimant count
LFS: a survey using the ILO definition (without work, available and looking). Claimant count: those claiming unemployment-related benefits, from benefit records.
Cyclical vs structural vs frictional unemployment
Cyclical: too little demand in a downturn. Structural: a mismatch of skills or location after the economy's structure changes. Frictional: between jobs while searching.
Full employment vs zero unemployment
Full employment: everyone who wants and is able to work at the going wage can find work; frictional and voluntary unemployment still remain.
Inflation, deflation and disinflation
Inflation: a continuing rise in prices across the economy. Deflation: a continuing fall in average prices. Disinflation: the rate of inflation slows, but prices still rise.
Index vs inflation rate
An index of 108 says prices are 8% above the base year. The inflation rate compares two index values: (new − old) ÷ old × 100.
Demand-pull vs cost-push inflation
Demand-pull: AD shifts right, raising output as well as prices. Cost-push: SRAS shifts left, lowering output while prices rise.
CPI vs RPI
Different averaging methods, different treatment of housing costs (RPI includes mortgage interest payments) and slightly different household coverage.
Why aim for low and stable inflation rather than zero?
A little inflation lets real wages adjust without cutting money pay and keeps the economy away from the risks of deflation.
Consequences of high inflation
Lower real value of savings and fixed incomes, menu and shoe-leather costs, uncertainty that deters investment, and loss of international competitiveness.
Level vs rate of change vs trend
Level: where a series stands at one date. Rate of change: the percentage change from one period to the next. Trend: the general direction over several years.
Unemployment rises from 5.0% to 7.0% of the labour force. Is that a 2% rise?
No: it is a rise of 2.0 percentage points. With the same labour force, the number unemployed has risen by 40% (from 1.2m to 1.68m of 24.0m).
A real GDP index rises from 100 to 121.6 over 8 years. Average annual growth?
Compound: 1.216^(1/8) − 1 = 2.47% a year. A simple average (21.6 ÷ 8 = 2.7%) overstates it.
Real GDP is 200, then 214, then 207. Growth each year?
Year 2: (214 − 200) ÷ 200 = 7.0%. Year 3: (207 − 214) ÷ 214 = −3.27%. Output is still 3.5% above the start.
UK trends to recall: 2008–09 and 2021 onwards
2008–09: deep recession after the financial crisis; Bank Rate cut to 0.5% in March 2009. 2021 onwards: inflation surge (CPI peaked at 11.1% in October 2022); Bank Rate raised to 5.25% by August 2023.
Comparing the UK with other economies: what to check
Same year, definition and unit; totals or per head; how far starting levels differ; one year or an average; and what the indicator leaves out (distribution, job quality, environment).

Topic 5: Aggregate demand and aggregate supply

Injections vs leakages (withdrawals)
Injections: investment, government spending, exports. Leakages: saving, taxation, imports. Equilibrium in the flow: withdrawals equal injections.
Physical vs monetary flows
Physical: goods, services and factor services. Monetary: payments for them, moving in the opposite direction.
The three methods of measuring national income
Output: sum of value added. Income: sum of factor incomes (wages, rent, interest, profit). Expenditure: C + I + G + (X − M).
National income multiplier
The eventual change in income divided by the injection that started it. k = 1 ÷ MPW, where MPW = MPS + MRT + MPM.
MPW is 0.5. An injection of 30bn. Final change in national income?
k = 1 ÷ 0.5 = 2. Income rises by 2 × 30 = 60bn (the rise in real GDP is smaller if prices rise).
Aggregate demand and its components
Planned spending on home-produced output at each price level. AD = C + I + G + (X − M).
APC vs MPC
APC = C ÷ Yd. MPC = ΔC ÷ ΔYd. APC + APS = 1 and MPC + MPS = 1.
Influences on consumption and investment
Consumption: income, interest rates, wealth, confidence, credit. Investment: expected demand (the accelerator), interest rates, confidence, technology, government policy.
Accelerator
Net investment depends on the change in output (income), not its level: net investment = v × ΔY.
Movement along AD vs shift of AD
A change in the price level moves the economy along AD. A change in planned spending on any component at every price level shifts it.
Aggregate supply
Planned real output of all producers at each price level.
SRAS vs LRAS (OCR definitions)
SRAS: when some costs, especially nominal wages, are fixed; slopes upwards. LRAS: productive capacity once costs and prices have adjusted; depends on factors and technology.
What shifts SRAS?
Changes in costs of production: wages, raw material and energy prices, import prices, indirect taxes. A cost rise shifts SRAS left.
What shifts LRAS?
Changes in the quantity or quality of factors: technology, education and skills, investment, labour force size, and institutions.
Keynesian vs classical LRAS
Keynesian: horizontal with a lot of spare capacity, then rising, then vertical at full capacity. Classical: vertical at the full-capacity output.
Diagram: AD rises in an economy with spare capacity
Price level on the vertical axis, real output on the horizontal. AD shifts right; real output rises a lot and the price level only a little.
Diagram: AD rises near full capacity
AD shifts right where AS is steep or vertical: mostly a higher price level (demand-pull inflation), with little extra real output.
Diagram: a cost-push shock
SRAS shifts left. The price level rises and real output falls: stagflation (falling output with rising prices).
Diagram: an increase in productive capacity
LRAS shifts right. Real output can rise without a higher price level, or with a lower one.
Macroeconomic equilibrium
The price level and real output where AD equals SRAS.
Long-run equilibrium
AD, SRAS and LRAS all meet at one point: output is at potential.
Potential output
Output at the economy's capacity, shown by the LRAS curve. A negative output gap means actual output is below it.
Why is the rise in real GDP smaller than the shift of AD?
The AD shift equals injection × multiplier at a given price level, but as AD rises along an upward-sloping SRAS, part of the extra demand raises prices instead of output.

Topic 6: The application of policy instruments

Average vs marginal tax rate
Average: tax over total income. Marginal: the rate on the extra income. In a progressive system, the marginal rate exceeds the average rate.
Progressive vs regressive tax: how to test
Look at the average rate, not the amount paid. Progressive: the average rate rises with income. Regressive: it falls. Proportional: it stays the same.
Direct vs indirect tax
Direct: on income, profit and wealth. Indirect: on spending. The legal payer of an indirect tax is the seller, but the burden may fall on the buyer.
Budget position vs fiscal stance
Position is the balance (surplus, deficit or balanced). Stance is the direction policy pushes demand: expansionary, contractionary or neutral.
Budget deficit vs national debt
Deficit: spending exceeds revenue in a year (a flow). Debt: the stock of outstanding government borrowing on one date. A deficit adds to the debt.
Automatic stabilisers vs discretionary policy
Automatic stabilisers: parts of the budget that offset output swings with no new decision (tax receipts fall and benefits rise in a downturn). Discretionary: a deliberate change in spending or taxes.
Monetary policy instruments
The policy interest rate (which commercial rates follow), the money supply, quantitative easing and the exchange rate, used to influence AD.
What happens to AD when the policy rate is cut?
Borrowing is cheaper and saving less rewarding, so C and I rise; mortgage payments fall; the currency may depreciate, raising net exports. AD shifts right after a time lag.
Quantitative easing (QE)
The central bank creates electronic money to buy assets, usually government bonds, from financial institutions, lowering long-term interest rates.
Inflation rate targeting
A published numerical inflation target that guides policy; in the UK the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee sets Bank Rate to meet the government's CPI target.
Real interest rate
Approximately the nominal rate minus inflation. Exactly (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. Nominal 5% with expected inflation 3%: 1.05 ÷ 1.03 − 1 = 1.9%.
Supply-side policy
Measures that raise the quality or quantity of factors of production, or make markets work better, so potential output grows (LRAS shifts right).
Market-based vs interventionist supply-side policies
Market-based: deregulation, tax cuts, privatisation, labour market flexibility. Interventionist: state-funded education and training, infrastructure, subsidies for R&D.
Tax 30% and benefits lost at 45% of net pay. Effective marginal rate on an extra 100?
Net after tax = 70. Benefit lost = 0.45 × 70 = 31.5. Kept = 38.5, so the effective marginal rate is 61.5%.
Strengths and limits of supply-side policies
Strengths: can raise growth while lowering inflation and unemployment. Limits: long time lags, uncertain effects, cost to the budget, and some (such as benefit cuts) can widen inequality.
Policy conflict (trade-off)
Pursuing one objective moves another away from its target. Conflicts are weaker when the economy has spare capacity.
Conflict: low unemployment vs low inflation
Raising AD cuts cyclical unemployment, but near capacity it bids up wages and prices: demand-pull inflation.
Conflict: economic growth vs the current account
Rising incomes raise imports. With an MPM of 0.2, a rise in income of 50 raises imports by 10, worsening the current account.
Conflict: growth vs the environment
More output uses more resources and raises emissions and other external costs, unless growth is decoupled from environmental harm.
Policy mix
Using several instruments together (fiscal, monetary, supply-side) so that one can offset the side effects of another.

Topic 7: The global context

Absolute vs comparative advantage
Absolute: fewer resources per unit, or more output from the same resources. Comparative: giving up less of other goods to make a good (lower opportunity cost).
Export price index 108, import price index 96. Terms of trade?
108 ÷ 96 × 100 = 112.5, an improvement of 12.5%: each unit of exports buys more imports.
Terms of trade vs trade balance
Terms of trade: a price ratio (export prices ÷ import prices). Trade balance: a money value (exports − imports). Better terms of trade can still lower export revenue if demand is elastic.
Benefits and costs of international trade
Benefits: lower prices, more choice, economies of scale, specialisation by comparative advantage. Costs: job losses in import-competing industries, dependence on others, exposure to world shocks.
Unit labour cost and international competitiveness
ULC = labour cost ÷ output. Competitiveness is the ability to sell against foreign rivals; it rises when ULC falls relative to rivals, and with non-price factors such as quality.
Balance of payments
The account of every payment crossing a country's border, in either direction, in a stated time span. Credits are money in; debits are money out.
The current account
Trade in goods, trade in services, income (primary) and current transfers (secondary).
The accounting identity
Current account + capital account + financial account + errors and omissions = 0, so a current account deficit is matched by net inflows elsewhere.
Causes of a current account deficit
Fast growth raising imports, high inflation or unit labour costs, a strong exchange rate, low productivity and a narrow export base.
Expenditure-reducing vs expenditure-switching policies
Reducing: lowers total demand, and so imports. Switching: shifts demand from foreign to home goods (depreciation, tariffs).
Floating vs fixed exchange rate system
Floating: market forces set the rate. Fixed (pegged): the central bank commits to a target rate, using reserves and interest rates to defend it.
Appreciation and depreciation vs revaluation and devaluation
Appreciation and depreciation: a rise or fall in a floating currency. Revaluation and devaluation: an official upward or downward resetting of a pegged rate.
What makes a currency appreciate?
Higher demand for it or lower supply: higher interest rates than abroad (hot money), stronger exports, inward investment, lower inflation than abroad, and speculation that it will rise.
Effects of a depreciation
Exports cheaper abroad and imports dearer, so net exports and AD may rise; inflation tends to rise through import prices. The current account improves only if PEDx + PEDm > 1 (Marshall-Lerner).
J-curve
After a depreciation the trade balance first worsens, because demand for exports and imports is inelastic in the short run, then improves as buyers adjust.
A currency falls 20% (0.50 to 0.40 foreign units). By how much do import prices in home currency rise?
By 25%: a good costing 1 foreign unit cost 2.00 home units and now costs 2.50. A fall in one currency is not an equal rise in the other.