Suppose that in a PPF graph, wheat is on the vertical axis and jets are on the horizontal axis. Moving down along the PPF, the
A) number of jets increases and the opportunity cost of jets increases.
B) amount of wheat increases and the opportunity cost of wheat increases.
C) number of jets increases and the opportunity cost of jets decreases.
D) amount of wheat increases and opportunity cost of wheat decreases.
E) opportunity cost of jets and wheat both increase.
The correct answer and explanation is :
The correct answer is:
A) number of jets increases and the opportunity cost of jets increases.
Explanation:
A production possibilities frontier (PPF) shows the trade-off between two goods—in this case, wheat (on the vertical axis) and jets (on the horizontal axis).
- Moving down along the PPF means producing more jets while giving up wheat (since resources are scarce).
- As more jets are produced, the opportunity cost of producing additional jets typically increases because resources are not perfectly adaptable to both industries.
- This increasing opportunity cost reflects the law of increasing opportunity costs, meaning that as production shifts toward more jets, more and more wheat must be sacrificed per additional jet.
Thus, as we move down along the PPF:
✅ The number of jets increases
✅ The opportunity cost of jets increases
This matches option A.