Demand

Here comes the most anticipating topic of all,the demand and supply. The demand and supply theory is a powerful yet applicable throughout the economic syllabus.

The demand schedule for an individual specifies the units of a good or service that the individual is willing and able to purchase at alternative prices during a given period of time. The relationship between price and quantity demanded is inverse: more units are purchased at lower prices because of a substitution effect and an income effect. As a commodity's price falls,an individual normally purchases more of this goods since he or she likely to substitute it for other goods whose price has remain unchanged. Also, when a commodity's price falls,the purchasing power of an individual with a given income increases,allowing for greater purchases of the commodity. When graphed, the inverse relationship between the price and quantity demanded appears as an negatively sloped demand curve.A market demand schedule specifies the units of a good or service all individuals in the market are willing and able to purchase at alternative prices. Here is a simple demand graph to demonstrate how the demand works.

When the price per unit(top) is 400pound, consumers tend to demand less for the good,whereby as the price drops,the demand for the good or services escalates. Here is an easy example,when the price of a good,let say a Playstation 3 drops about 20%,more people will start demanding for the gaming console. The market demand for a good and services are not only ''possess'' by the commodity's price, but also by the price of other goods and services,disposable income,wealth,tastes and the size of the market. The relationship is presented as ceteris paribus.

The market demand curve shifts up and to the right when there is an increased preference for the commodity ,when incomes increase, and when substitute commodities* rises and/or the price of a complementary good declines.

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A common error made by the beginning economics student is failure to differentiate between a change in demand and a change in quantity demanded.A change in demand refers to a shift of the demand curve because a variable other than price has changed. A change in quantity demanded occurs when there is a change in the commodity's price,resulting in a movement along an existing demand curve.

Scarcity and the Market System

As we have seen, two of the most important economic decisions faced by a society are deciding what goods and services to produce and how to allocate resources among their competing uses. The combination of goods and services produced can be resolved by government command or through market system. In command economy, a central planning board determines the mix of output. The experience by the changing economic and political event in the command economies of Eastern Europe and the former USSR.

In a market economy, economic decisions are decentralized and are made by the collective wisdom of the marketplace, i.e., prices resolve the three fundamental economic questions of what,how and for whom. The only goods and services produced are those that individuals are willing to purchase at a price sufficient to cover the cost of producing them. Because resources are scarce, goods and services produced are sold(distributed) to those who are willing and have the money to pay the prices.

Most countries have a mixed economy, a mixture of both command and market economies. For example, the United States has primarily a market economy, although the government produces some goods,such as roads,and finances these expenditures by taxing the income of individuals and businesses. The government may also regulate how the market operates,such as with minimum wage laws.

Production-Possibility Frontier(PPF)

A production possibility frontier shows the maximum number of alternative combinations of goods and services that a society can produce at a given time when there is full utilization of economic resources and technology.The production possibility frontier depicts not only limited production capability and therefore the problem of scarcity,but also the concept of opportunity cost arise.Here is a simple PPF graph.

figure 1.1

figure 1.2

However, the production possibility frontier shifts outward over time as more resources become available and/or technology is improved. Growth in an economy productive capability is depicted in figure 1.2 by the outward shift of the PPF from PP1 to PP2. Points on the PPF are considered to be efficient. Points within the frontier are inefficient,and point outside the PPF are unattainable. Positions outside the PPF are unattainable since the frontier defines the maximum amount that can be produced at a given time. Positions within the frontier are inefficient because some resources are either unemployed or underemployed.

Opportunity Cost

All decision requires opportunity costs. An opportunity cost is what is sacrificed to implement an alternative action, i.e. what is given up to produce or obtain a particular good or service. For example, the opportunity cost of expanding a country's military arsenal is the decreases production of non military goods and services. Opportunity costs are found in every situation in which scarcity necessitates decision making.

Opportunity cost is the value-monetary or otherwise-of the next best alternative,or which is given up. This concept is used in both macroeconomics and microeconomics.

Scarcity

Economics is the study of scarcity- the study of the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy human wants.People's material wants, for the most part,are unlimited. Output, on the other hand, is limited by the state of technology and the quantity and quality of the economics resources. Thus, the production of each goods and services involves cost.A good is defined as a physical item such as a book or a car, and a service is something provided to you such as insurance.

Scarcity is a fundemental problem for every society on this planet. Decisions must be made regarding what needed to be produece, how to produce and whom to produce.

-What to be produce involves decisions about the kinds and quantity of goods and services

-How to produce requires decisions about what techniques to use and how economic resources(or factors of production) are to be combined in producing output. The economic resources used to produce goods and services are :

- Land. The economy's natural resources-such as land,trees and minerals

Labour. The mental and physical skills of individualist in a society.

Capital. Goods such as tools,machinery,factories used in production or to facilitate production.

-To Whom to produces involves decisions on the distribution of output among members of a society.

These decisions trigger opportunity cost.