PART I INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS 4 © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall...

PART I INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

4

© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Principles of Macroeconomics 9e by Case, Fair and Oster

Demand and Supply

Applications

Fernando & Yvonn Quijano

Prepared by:

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© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Principles of Macroeconomics 9e by Case, Fair and Oster 2 of 22

4PART I INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

Demand and Supply

Applications The Price System: Rationing and Allocating ResourcesPrice RationingConstraints on the Market and Alternative Rationing MechanismsPrices and the Allocation of ResourcesPrice Floors

Supply and Demand Analysis: An Oil Import FeeSupply and Demand and Market EfficiencyConsumer SurplusProducer SurplusCompetitive Markets Maximize the Sum of Producer and Consumer SurplusPotential Causes of DeadweightLoss from Under- and Overproduction

Looking Ahead

CHAPTER OUTLINE

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The Price System: Rationing and Allocating Resources

Price rationing: The process by which the price system allocates goods and services to consumers when there is a shortage.

Suppose in 2008 that 15,000 square miles of lobstering waters off the coast of Maine are closed. The supply curve shifts to the left. Before the waters are closed, the lobster market is in equilibrium at the price of $11.50 and a quantity of 81 million pounds. The decreased supply of lobster leads to higher prices, and a new equilibrium is reached at $16.10 and 60 million pounds.

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The adjustment of price is the rationing mechanism in free markets. Price rationing means that whenever there is a shortage exists, the price of the good will rise until equilibrium is reached.

There is some price that will clear any market, even if supply is strictly limited. In an auction for a unique painting, the price (bid) will rise to eliminate excess demand until there is only one bidder willing to purchase the single available painting.

Price Rationing: The Market for a Rare Panting

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On occasion, both governments and private firms decide to use some mechanism other than the market system to ration an good in shortage.

Regardless of the rationale, two things are clear:

1. Attempts to bypass price rationing in the market and use alternative rationing devices are more costly than they seem.

2. Often, such attempts distribute costs and benefits among households in unintended ways.

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Oil, Gasoline, and OPEC

Price Ceiling: When a maximum legal price is charged for a good.

In 1974, a ceiling price of $0.57 cents per gallon of gasoline was imposed. The equilibrium price was $1.50 per gallon.

At $0.57 per gallon, there was a shortage in the market.

Because the price system was not allowed to function, a governmental rationing system was used to distributed the available supply of gasoline.

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Queuing: Waiting in line as a means of distributing goods and services

Favored Customers: Those who receive special treatment from dealers during situations of excess demand

Alternative Rationing Mechanisms

Ration Coupons: Tickets or coupons that entitle individuals to purchase a certain amount of a given product per month

Black Market: A market in which illegal trading takes place at market-determined prices

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Concert by a Popular Musician

The face value of a ticket to the Justin Timberlake concert on September 16, 2007, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was $50. The Staples Center holds 20,000. The supply curve is vertical at 20,000.

At $50, the quantity supplied is below the quantity demanded. The diagram shows that the equilibrium price was $300.

On E-Bay, some tickets were sold at $16,000 each.

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No matter how good the intentions of private organizations and governments, it is very difficult to prevent the price system from operating and to stop willingness to pay from asserting itself.

Every time an alternative is tried, the price system seems to sneak in the back door. With favored customers and black markets, the final distribution may be even more unfair than that which would result from simple price rationing.

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Price changes resulting from shifts of demand in output markets cause profits to rise or fall.

Profits attract capital and enable firms to pay higher wages. Higher wages attract labor and encourage workers to acquire skills.

At the core of the system, supply, demand, and prices in input and output markets determine the allocation of resources and the ultimate combinations of things produced.

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The Price Mechanism at Work for Shakespeare

Every summer, New York City puts on free performances of Shakespeare in the Park. The true cost of a ticket is $0 plus the opportunity cost of the time spent in line.

Some high school/college students pick up tickets by waiting in line. They then turn around and sell tickets to more affluent Shakespeare lovers.


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Price Floor: When a minimum legal price is charged for a good.

The Minimum Wage: When the government sets the market wage above the equilibrium wage.

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Supply and Demand Analysis: An Oil Import Fee

The U.S. Market for Crude Oil, 1989

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Supply and Demand and Market Efficiency

Consumer Surplus: The difference between the maximum amount a person is willing to pay for a good and its current market price.

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Producer Surplus: The difference between the market price and the cost of production for the firm.

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Competitive Markets maximize the sum of PS and CS

Total producer and consumer surplus is greatest where supply and demand curves intersect at equilibrium.

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Dead-weight Loss: The net loss of producer and consumer surplus from underproduction or overproduction.

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Potential Causes of Deadweight Loss From Under- and Overproduction

When supply and demand interact freely, competitive markets produce what people want at least cost, that is, they are efficient.

There are a number of naturally occurring sources of market failure:

• Monopoly power gives firms the incentive to underproduce and overprice

•Taxes and subsidies may distort consumer choices

• External costs such as pollution and congestion may lead to over- or underproduction of some goods

• Price floors and price ceilings may have the same effects.

PART I INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS 4 © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall...

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Transcript of PART I INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS 4 © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall...