Answers to the Review Quiz

© 2023 Pearson Education, Inc.Answers to the Review Quiz Page 2

• List some examples of the scarcity that you face.

Examples of scarcity common to students include not enough income to afford both tuition and a nice car, not enough learning capacity to study for both an economics exam and a chemistry exam in one night, and not enough time to allow extensive studying and extensive socializing.

• Find examples of scarcity in today’s headlines.

A headline in The New York Times on June 17, 2021 was “What is a Megadrought?” The story defined a megadrought as a “period of extreme dryness that lasts for decades.” It then pointed out that the Western United States has suffered from drought conditions since 2000 and because of climate change the drought may continue. The entire story points out the role of scarcity because it is concerned with the scarcity of water, which is a vital resource.

• During the Covid-19 pandemic, what incentives did you face and how did you respond?

In some locales students and others faced incentives to wear a facemask, because if they did not wear a mask they could not legally enter particular stores and if they did so anyway, they might be fined. Some students and others faced the incentive to work remotely because that was the type of job being offered.Many students faced the incentive to take classes remotely because this was how almost all classes were offered.

• Find an example of the distinction between microeconomics and macroeconomics in today’s

headlines.Microeconomics: On June 17, 2021 a headline in East Bay Times was “The Housing Market Is So Hot Buyers Are Paying $1 Million Over Asking Price.” This story covers a microeconomic topic because it discusses how the choices of individuals and the interactions of the choices in the housing market have forced prices higher. Macroeconomics: On June 17, 2021, a headline in The Wall Street Journal was “Fed Pencils In Earlier Interest-Rate Increase.” This story covers a macroeconomic topic because it concerns interest rates, which affects the national economy.Page 7

• Describe the broad facts about what, how, and for whom goods and services are produced.

What gets produced is significantly different today than in the past. Today the U.S. economy produces more services, such as medical operations, teaching, and hair styling, than goods, such as pizza, automobiles, and computers. How goods and services are produced is by businesses determining how the factors of production, land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship, are combined to make the goods and services we consume. Land includes all natural resources, both renewable natural resources such as wood, and nonrenewable natural resources such as natural gas. Labor’s quality depends on people’s human capital. In the U.S. economy, human capital obtained through schooling has increased over the years with far more people completing high school and attending college than in past years. Finally, for whom are goods and services to be produced depends on the way income is distributed to U.S. citizens. This distribution is not equal; the 20 percent of people with the lowest income earn about 5 percent of the nation’s total income while the 20 percent of people with the highest incomes earn about 50 percent of 1

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© 2023 Pearson Education, Inc.total income. On the average, men earn more than women, whites more than non-whites, and college graduates more than high school graduates.

• Give some examples to illustrate the potential for conflict between self-interest and the social

interest during the Covid-19 pandemic.The decision whether to wear a facemask shows the potential conflict between self-interest and social interest. It was in the self-interest of some people to not wear a mask, possibly because they felt the mask was too constraining, but it was in the social interest to do so because it helped limit the spread of the disease. Similarly, it was in the self-interest of owners and employees of bars and restaurants to remain open at 100 percent capacity, but it was in the social interest to close them and, when they were allowed to reopen, to do so at a reduced capacity. It was in the self-interest of some parents to have their child (or children) attend school, perhaps because attendance helped the child learn or because the parents lacked daycare, but it was in the social interest to have schools closed and use remote classes.Page 10

• Explain the idea of a tradeoff and think of three tradeoffs that you have made today.

A tradeoff reflects the point that when someone gets one thing, something else must be given up. What is given up is the opportunity cost of whatever is obtained. Three examples of tradeoffs that are common to students include: a) When a student sleeps in rather than going to his or her early morning economics class, the student trades off additional sleep for study time. The opportunity cost of the decision is a lower grade on the exam. b) When a student running late for class parks his or her car illegally, the student trades off saving time for the risk of a ticket. The potential opportunity cost of the decision is the goods and services that cannot be purchased if the student receives an expensive parking ticket. c) A student trades off higher income by spending time during the day working at a part-time job for less time spent at leisure time and study. The opportunity cost for the higher income is less leisure and lower grades in classes.

• Explain what economists mean by rational choice and think of three choices that you’ve made

today that are rational.A rational choice is one that compares the costs and benefits of the different actions and then chooses the action that has the greatest benefit over cost for the person making the choice. Three rational choices made by students include: a) The choice to skip breakfast to go to class. In this case the benefit is the higher grade in the class and the cost is the breakfast forgone. b) The choice to stop talking with a friend on the phone and start studying for an impending exam. In this case the benefit is the resulting higher grade in the class and the cost is the conversation forgone. c) The choice to do laundry today rather than watch television. In this case the benefit is the fact the student will have clean clothes to wear and the cost is the loss of the entertainment the television show would have provided.

• Explain why opportunity cost is the best forgone alternative and provide examples of some

opportunity costs that you have faced today.When a decision to undertake one activity is made, often many alternative activities are no longer possible.Often these activities are mutually exclusive so only the highest valued alternative is actually forgone. For instance, the decision to go to a student’s 8:30 AM class eliminates the possibility of sleeping in during the hour and of jogging during the hour. But in this case, it is impossible to both sleep in and to jog during the hour, so the opportunity cost cannot be both activities. What is lost is only the activity that otherwise would have been chosen—either sleeping in or jogging—which is whatever activity would have been chosen, that is, the most highly valued of the forgone alternatives. For students, attending class, doing homework, studying for a test are all activities with opportunity costs.

• Explain what it means to choose at the margin and illustrate with three choices at the margin

that you have made today.Choosing at the margin means choosing to do a little more or a little less of some activity. Three common examples students encounter are: a) When a student faces a chemistry and an economics final exam in one 2 / 4

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day, the student must determine whether spending the last hour studying a little more chemistry or a little more economics will yield a better contribution (marginal benefit) to his or her overall GPA. b) A college student buying a computer must decide whether the marginal benefit of adding 1 GB of additional memory is worth the marginal cost of the additional memory. c) A student football fan with a choice of a cheap seat in the student bleachers located at the far end of the playing field or a more expensive seat located on the 30 yard line must determine whether the marginal benefit of watching the game from a better seat is worth the marginal cost of the higher ticket price.

• Explain why choices you made during the Covid-19 pandemic were in your self-interest. Why

might your choices not have been in the social interest?People making rational decisions in their self-interest about actions compare the marginal benefits to themself to the marginal costs to themself. Therefore people’s choices are in their self-interest because they are looking at their marginal benefits and marginal costs. Some of these choices may not have been in the social interest because the social interest includes costs imposed on other people. For example, in many college towns students visited nightclubs and did not socially distance nor wear masks because to these students the marginal benefit of socializing exceeded the marginal cost they incurred, say the likelihood of catching coronavirus. But this was not in the social interest because if the student was infected, then he or she in turn might infect others, including some high-risk individuals. The cost to the other people from catching COVID-19 is ignored by students who visited nightclubs with socially distancing or masking.Page 11

• Distinguish between a positive statement and a normative statement and provide examples

associated with the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.A positive statement is a description of how the world is. It is testable. A normative statement is a description of how the world ought to be. It is, by its very nature, not testable because there is no universally approved criterion by which the statement can be judged. “I will be vaccinated as quickly as possible,” is a positive statement—it might not be true, but it is testable. “I will be vaccinated because I think it is a good idea,” is a normative statement. Whether someone agrees with it depends on his or her interpretation of what makes for a “good” idea. “The percentage of the population fully vaccinated in my state is over 60 percent” is a positive statement—again, it might not be true, but it is testable. “The percentage of the population fully vaccinated in my state is too low” is a normative statement because it depends on people’s personal interpretation of what is “too low.”

• What is a model? Can you think of a model that you might use in your everyday life?

A model is a description of some aspect of the economic world. It includes only those features that are necessary to understand the issue under study. An economic model is designed to reflect those aspects of the world that are relevant to the user of the model and ignore the aspects that are irrelevant. A typical model is a GPS map. It reflects only those aspects of the real world that are relevant in assisting the user in reaching his or her destination and avoids using information irrelevant to travel.

• How do economists try to disentangle cause and effect?

Economists use models to understand some aspect of the economic world. Testing the predictions of models makes it necessary to disentangle cause and effect. To overcome this problem, economists have three methods of testing their models: Using a natural experiment, using a statistical investigation, and using economic experiments. A natural experiment is a situation that arises in the ordinary course of life in which one factor being studied varies and the other factors are the same. This method allows the economist to focus on the effect from the factor that differs between the two situations. A statistical investigation looks for correlations between variables but then determining whether the correlation actually reflects causation can be difficult. An economic experiment puts people into decision making situations and then varies the relevant factors one at a time to determine each factor’s effect. 3 / 4

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• How is economics used as a policy tool?

Individuals, businesses, and governments use economics as a policy tool. Individuals use the economic ideas of marginal benefit and marginal cost when making decisions for such topics as attending college, paying cash or credit for a purchase, and working. Businesses also use the concepts of marginal benefit and marginal cost when making decisions about what to produce, how to produce, and even how many hours to stay open. Finally governments also use marginal benefit and marginal cost when deciding issues such as the level of property taxes, the amount to fund higher education, or the level of a tariff on Brazilian ethanol.Page 14

• What types of jobs do economists do?

Economists are found in a large variety of jobs. Many of these jobs are analysts of various sorts. Some economists are market research analysts—they work with data on sales and try to predict a product’s success and the price that should be set for it. Other economists are financial analysts—they work with data on interest rates, stock and bond prices to try to forecast the cost of borrowing and the returns that can be expected on investments. Still other economists work as budget analysts—they use data on an organization’s cash inflows (its receipts) and its outflows (its payments) in order to prepare plans forecasting future cash flows.

• What are the skills needed for an economics job?

Economists need five important skills:

 Critical-thinking skills: Economists need the ability to use logical thinking to clarify and then solve real- world problems. Analytical skills: Economists must be able to use economic ideas and tools to analyze data to determine important patterns and reach logical conclusions. Math skills: Economists need to be able to use mathematical and statistical tools to explore and analyze data to reach valid conclusions. Writing skills: Economists must be able to clearly write reports presenting ideas, conclusions from any analysis and reasons why the conclusions are valid. Oral communication skills: Economists need the ability to orally explain ideas, conclusions, and the reasons why the conclusions are correct to a variety of people, including those with little knowledge of economics.

• What is the range and median level of economists’ pay? How do they compare to other college

majors?Economists’ pay ranges from $56,500 to $139,600 a year and has a median salary of $105,100 a year.Students who earn a PhD in economics typically earn about $150,000 a year by mid-career. Economists who work as analysts have incomes that range from an average of $55,000 a year for market research analysts to $82,000 a year for financial analysts. Midcareer, petroleum engineering and operations research majors earn more than applied economics majors but the salaries for economics majors are higher than most other majors, such as chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, and corporate accounting and finance.

• Why is the underrepresentation of women and minorities in economics an economic problem?

The underrepresentation of women and minorities in economics is an economic problem because the outcome is inefficient. The marginal benefit of women and minorities working as economists exceeds their marginal cost. Resources are not being allocated efficiently. With a more diverse group of economists, likely more diverse questions will be studied in more diverse ways. This exploration should increase the quality and accuracy of economists’ advice and predictions.

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