Academic Objectives:
Ch. 1.1
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What is economics?
What are the factors of Production?
What is the goal of Entrepreneurship?
Ch. 1.2
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Why is scarcity a basic problem of economics?
What issues must producers address to distribute resources?
Why do producers study productivity?
Ch. 1.3
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Why is sacrifice an important element of economic choice?
What assumptions are involved in creating a production possibilities curve?
Why might future production possibilities differ from current production possibilities?
Ch. 1.4
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What are the difficulties associated with barter?
Why is true self-sufficiency rare?
What are the economic benefits of interdependence?
Ch. 2.1
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How are the three basic economic questions answered in traditional, command and market
economies?
What are the roles of self-interest and incentives in a market economy?
What types of mixed economies exist today?
Ch. 2.2
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What are the basic principles of free enterprise in the United States?
What re the two markets of the circular flow model?
How does the circular flow model reflect exchange?
Ch. 2.3
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How do nations decide how to use scarce resources?
What are the major goals of U.S. economic policy?
Why do economic goals sometimes conflict?
Ch. 3.1
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How does demand differ from the quantity demanded?
What does the law of demand state?
What do demand schedules and demand curves illustrate?
Ch. 3.2
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What does it mean for a product’s demand to shift?
What factors can shift demand for a product?
How do substitute goods differ from complementary goods?
Ch. 3.3
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What is demand elasticity?
What is the difference between elastic and inelastic demand?
How is demand elasticity measured?
Ch. 4.1
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What is the difference between supply and quantity supplied?
What does the law of supply state?
What do supply schedules and supply curves illustrate?
What is supply elasticity?
Ch. 4.2
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What does it mean for a product’s supply to shift?
What determinants might cause a product’s supply curve to shift?
How does a tax differ from a subsidy?
Ch. 4.3
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Why do producers look at productivity when making supply decisions?
How do varying levels of input affect the levels of output?
How do changes in production costs affect producers’ supply decisions?
Ch. 5.1
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What is the role of the price system?
What are the benefits of the price system?
What re the limitations of the price system?
Ch. 5.2
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What is market equilibrium?
How does the price system handle product surpluses and shortages?
How do shifts in demand and supply affect market equilibrium?
Ch. 5.3
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Why do governments sometimes set prices?
What do governments try to accomplish through price floors, price ceilings, and rationing?
What happens when governments manage prices?
Ch. 6.1
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What is perfect competition?
What is monopolistic competition?
How do sellers differentiate their products under monopolistic competition?
Ch. 6.2
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How is oligopoly structured?
What is a monopoly?
What types of monopolies exist?
What factors affect price in oligopolies and monopolies?
Ch. 6.3
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What was the relationship between the U.S. government and business before the 1800’s?
What was the purpose of early antitrust legislation?
How has the government enforced antitrust legislation?
Ch. 10.1
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How do economists calculate gross domestic product?
What are some of the limitations of gross domestic product?
What other statistics do economists use to measure the economy?
Ch. 10.2
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What are the four phases of the business cycle?
What factors influence the business cycle?
What are the three leading indicators used to determine the current phase of the business
cycle and predict where the economy is heading?
Ch. 10.3
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Why is economic growth important?
What are the requirements of economic growth?
What is the relationship between economic growth and productivity?
Ch. 11.1
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What is the unemployment rate?
What are the four major types of unemployment?
What are the main economic costs of high unemployment?
Ch. 11.2
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What do economists look at when evaluating price changes over time?
What causes inflation?
What are the two main price indexes that economists use to measure inflation?
Ch. 11.3
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How do economists determine the number of poor people in the United States?
How do economists measure the distribution of income?
What policies does the U.S. government use to reduce the income gap and decrease
poverty?