1. Macroeconomics ECON 2301 Summer Session 1, 2008
Marilyn Spencer, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
June 3, 2008

2. Out-of-Class Quiz #1 4 points Before class on Tuesday, June 10 :
Create an Islander account.
me so that I will have your address. Include your name and your course & section numbers.
My address is
4 points

3. Chapter 2, Economics: Trade-Offs, Comparative Advantage, and
the Market System

4. Managers Making Choices at BMW
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Use a production possibilities frontier to analyze opportunity cost and trade-offs.
Understand comparative advantage and explain how it is the basis for trade.
Explain the basic idea of how a market system works. 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES 2
… Over the years, BMW’s managers have faced strategic as well as tactical business decisions... 3

5. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Real-world Trade-offs
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1
Production Possibilities Frontiers and Real-world Trade-offs
Scarcity The situation in which unlimited wants exceed the limited resources available to fulfill those wants.
Production possibilities frontier (PPF) A curve showing the maximum attainable combinations of two products that may be produced with available resources.
Opportunity cost The highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity.

6. What happens to a country that produces a combination of goods that uses all of the resources available in the economy?
a. The country is operating on its production possibilities frontier.
b. The country is maximizing its opportunity cost.
c. The country has eliminated scarcity.
d. All of the above.

7. What happens to a country that produces a combination of goods that uses all of the resources available in the economy?
a. The country is operating on its production possibilities frontier.
b. The country is maximizing its opportunity cost.
c. The country has eliminated scarcity.
d. All of the above.

8. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Real-world Trade-offs
Graphing the Production Possibilities Frontier
2 - 1
BMW’s Production Possibilities Frontier

9. Refer to the graph below
Refer to the graph below. Which of the following best represents the tradeoff faced by BMW between producing SUVs and roadsters?
a. Any point on the graph represents that tradeoff.
b. The tradeoff between B and C.
c. The tradeoff between F and G.
d. The tradeoff between C and G.

10. Refer to the graph below
Refer to the graph below. Which of the following best represents the tradeoff faced by BMW between producing SUVs and roadsters?
a. Any point on the graph represents that tradeoff.
b. The tradeoff between B and C.
c. The tradeoff between F and G.
d. The tradeoff between C and G.

11. 2 - 1 Drawing a PPF for Rosie’s Boston Bakery LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Hours Spent Making
Quantity Made
Choice
Cakes
Pies A 5 B 4 1 2 C 3 D 6 E 8 F 10
Drawing a PPF for Rosie’s Boston Bakery

12. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Real-world Trade-offs
2 - 2
Increasing Marginal Opportunity Cost
Increasing Marginal Opportunity Costs

13. Trade-offs and Tsunami Relief 2 - 1
More funds for tsunami relief meant less funds for other charities.

14. Refer to the graph below
Refer to the graph below. What is the opportunity cost of moving from pt. B to pt. C?
a. 200 SUVs.
b. 400 SUVs.
c. 200 roadsters.
d. 400 roadsters.

15. Refer to the graph below
Refer to the graph below. What is the opportunity cost of moving from point B to point C?
a. 200 SUVs.
b. 400 SUVs.
c. 200 roadsters.
d. 400 roadsters.

16. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Real-world Trade-offs
Economic Growth
2 - 3
Economic Growth
Economic Growth The ability of the economy to produce increasing quantities of goods and services.

17. Refer to the graph below
Refer to the graph below. Which graph best represents the concept of economic growth?
a. The graph on the left.
b. The graph on the right.
c. Both graphs.
d. Neither graph.

18. Refer to the graph below
Refer to the graph below. Which graph best represents the concept of economic growth?
a. The graph on the left
b. The graph on the right.
c. Both graphs.
d. Neither graph.

19. Trade Specialization and Gains from Trade
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2
Trade
Specialization and Gains from Trade
2 - 4
Production Possibilities for You and Your Neighbor, Without Trade
Trade The act of buying or selling.

20. Trade:
Specialization and Gains from Trade
2 - 5
Gains from Trade

21. Trade: Absolute Advantage vs. Comparative Advantage
Absolute advantage The ability of an individual, firm, or country to produce more of a good or service than competitors using the same amount of resources.
Comparative advantage The ability of an individual, firm, or country to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than other producers.
Opportunity cost of picking 1 pound of apples
Opportunity cost of picking 1 pound of cherries
You
1 pound of cherries
1 pound of apples
Your neighbor
2 pounds of cherries
.5 pound of apples
Don’t Confuse Absolute Advantage and Comparative Advantage

22. Refer to the graphs below. Each graph represents one country
Refer to the graphs below. Each graph represents one country. Which country has a comparative advantage in the production of shirts?
a. Country A.
b. Country B.
c. Neither country.
d. Both countries.

23. Refer to the graph below. Each graph represents one country
Refer to the graph below. Each graph represents one country. Which country has a comparative advantage in the production of shirts?
a. Country A.
b. Country B.
c. Neither country.
d. Both countries.

24. Trade: Comparative Advantage & the Gains from Trade
The basis for trade is comparative advantage, not absolute advantage.
Individuals, firms, and countries are better off if they specialize in producing goods and services for which they have a comparative advantage and obtain the other goods and services they need by trading.

25. 2 - 2 Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2
Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade
CANADA
UNITED STATES
Honey
(in tons)
Maple syrup 60 50 10 45 40 20 30 15
BEFORE TRADE
AFTER TRADE
Honey
(in tons)
Maple syrup
Canada 30 15 20
United States 10 40

26. LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3
The Market System
Market A group of buyers and sellers of a good or service and the institution or arrangement by which they come together to trade.
Product Markets Markets for goods—such as computers—and services—such as medical treatment.
Factor markets Markets for the factors of production, such as labor, capital, natural resources, and entrepreneurial ability.

27. The Market System: The Circular Flow of Income
Two key groups participate in markets:
A household consists of all the individuals in a home.
Firms are suppliers of goods and services.

28. The Market System: The Circular Flow of Income
2 - 6
The Circular-Flow Diagram
Circular-flow diagram A model that illustrates how participants in markets are linked.

29. The Market System: Gains from Free Markets The Market Mechanism
Free market A market with few government restrictions on how a good or service can be produced or sold, or on how a factor of production can be employed.
The Market Mechanism
Individuals usually act in a rational, self-interested way. Adam Smith understood that people’s motives can be complex.
In a famous phrase, Adam Smith said that firms would be led by the “invisible hand” of the market to provide consumers with what they wanted.

30. According to Adam Smith, which of the following is true?
a. Markets work because producers, aided by government, ensure that neither too many nor too few goods are produced.
b. Market prices can come to reflect the prices desired by consumers.
c. Individuals usually act in a rational, self-interested way.
d. All of the above.

31. According to Adam Smith, which of the following is true?
a. Markets work because producers, aided by government, ensure that neither too many nor too few goods are produced.
b. Market prices can come to reflect the prices desired by consumers.
c. Individuals usually act in a rational, self-interested way.
d. All of the above.

32. The Market System The Role of the Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Someone who operates a business, bringing together the factors of production—labor, capital, and natural resources—to produce goods and services.
Story of the Market System in Action: “I, Pencil”
2 - 2
The market coordinates the activities of the many people spread around the world who contribute to the making of a pencil.

33. Generally speaking, for a market system to work, individuals must:
a. Be very cautious in their approach to saving and investment.
b. Take risks and act in rational, self-interested ways.
c. Be able to evaluate and understand all available options.
d. Consult people who have experience.

34. Generally speaking, for a market system to work, individuals must:
a. Be very cautious in their approach to saving and investment.
b. Take risks and act in rational, self-interested ways.
c. Be able to evaluate and understand all available options.
d. Consult people who have experience.

35. The Market System: The Legal Basis of a Successful Market System
PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY
Property rights The rights individuals or firms have to the exclusive use of their property, including the right to buy or sell it.
ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS
Property Right in Cyberspace: Napster, Kazaa, and iTunes
2 - 3
Metallica sued to stop copyright infringement of their songs on the Internet.

36. BMW’s Net Profit Rises 2.5% as New Models Benefit Sales

37. Absolute advantage
Circular-flow diagram
Comparative advantage
Economic growth
Entrepreneur
Factor markets
Free Market
Market
Opportunity cost
Product markets
Production possibilities frontier
Property rights
Scarcity
Trade

38. Assignments to be completed before class June 5:
Read Chapter 3 & also read Review Questions 1-9 on pp , and Problems and Applications 1, 3, 7, 9, 15 & 21 on pp
Read Chapter 5 & also read Review Questions 1, 2, 4 & 5 on p. 159, and Problems and Applications 2, 3a, 7, 8, 9 & 10 on pp