Lecture Business economics - Lecture 2: Introduction to business economics

In this chapter: See how economists apply the methods of science, consider how assumptions and models can shed light on the world, learn two simple models - the circular flow and the production possibilities frontier, distinguish between microeconomics and macroeconomics,...

Lecture 2

Part I: Introduction to Business economics Part II: Market forces of supply and demand

Instructor: Prof.Dr.Qaisar Abbas

Course code: ECO 400

Lecture 2

Part I: Introduction to Business

economics

Instructor: Prof.Dr.Qaisar Abbas

Course code: ECO 400

Thinking Like an Economist

Economics trains you to

• Think in terms of alternatives

• Evaluate the cost of individual and social choices

• Examine and understand how certain events and issues are related

The economic way of thinking

• Involves thinking analytically and objectively

• Makes use of the scientific method

The Scientific Method: Observation, Theory, and More Observation

•Uses abstract models to help explain how a complex, real world operates

•Develops theories, collects, and analyzes data to evaluate the theories

The Role of Assumptions

•Economists make assumptions in order to make the world easier to understand

•The art in scientific thinking is deciding which assumptions to make

• Economists use different assumptions to answer different questions

Thinking Like an Economist

Economic Models

•Economists use models to simplify reality in order to improve our understanding

of the world

• Two of the most basic economic models include:

• The Circular Flow Diagram

• The Production Possibilities Frontier

Our First Model: The Circular-Flow Diagram

The circular-flow diagram is a visual model of the economy that shows

how dollars flow through markets among households and firms.

Thinking Like an Economist

Thinking Like an Economist

Firms

• Produce and sell goods and services

• Hire and use factors of production

Households

• Buy and consume goods and services

• Own and sell factors of production

Markets for Goods and Services

• Firms sell

• Households buy

Markets for Factors of Production

• Households sell

• Firms buy

Factors of Production

• Inputs used to produce goods and services

• Land, labor, and capital

Thinking Like an Economist

Our Second Model: The Production Possibilities Frontier

•The production possibilities frontier is a graph that shows the combinations of output that

the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of production and the

available production technology

Thinking Like an Economist

The Economist As Policy Advisor

•When economists are trying to explain the world, they are scientists

•When economists are trying to change the world, they are policy advisor

Positive Versus Normative Analysis

•Positive statements are statements that attempt to describe the world as it is.

• Called descriptive analysis

•Normative statements are statements about how the world should be.

•Called prescriptive analysis

•Positive or Normative Statements?

• An increase in the minimum wage will cause a decrease in employment among the least-skilled

POSITIVE

• Higher federal budget deficits will cause interest rates to increase

POSITIVE

Thinking Like an Economist

Positive or Normative Statements?

• The income gains from a higher minimum wage are worth more than any slight reductions in employment

NORMATIVE

• State governments should be allowed to collect from tobacco companies the costs

of treating smoking-related illnesses among the poor

NORMATIVE

Why Economists Disagree?

•They may disagree about the validity of alternative positive theories about how the world works

•They may have different values and, therefore, different normative views about what

policy should try to accomplish

Lecture 2

Part II- Market forces of supply and

demand

Instructor: Prof.Dr.Qaisar Abbas

Course code: ECO 400

Lecture Outline

1 Markets and competition

2 Demand curve

3 Market demand vs individual demand

4 Shifts in demand curve

•Supply and demand are the two words that economists use most often.

•Supply and demand are the forces that make market economies work.

•Modern microeconomics is about supply, demand, and market equilibrium.

Markets and competition

• A market is a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service.

•The terms supply and demand refer to the behavior of people as they interact with one another in markets

•Buyers determine demand

•Sellers determine supply

Competitive Markets

•A competitive market is a market in which there are many buyers and sellers

so that each has a negligible impact on the market price.

Competition: Perfect and Otherwise

Perfect Competition

• Products are the same

• Numerous buyers and sellers so that each has no influence over price

• Buyers and Sellers are price takers

Monopoly

• One seller, and seller controls price

Oligopoly

• Few sellers

• Not always aggressive competition

Monopolistic Competition

• Many sellers

• Slightly differentiated products

• Each seller may set price for its own product

•Quantity demanded is the amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to

purchase

Law of Demand

• The law of demand states that, other things equal, the quantity demanded of a

good falls when the price of the good rises

The Demand Curve: The Relationship between Price and Quantity

Demanded

•Demand Schedule

The demand schedule is a table that shows the relationship between the price of

the good and the quantity demanded E.g Ahmad’s demand schedule is

following

Demand Curve

• The demand curve is a graph of the relationship between the price of a good and

the quantity demanded E.g Ahmad’s demand curve is following

Market Demand versus Individual Demand

•Market demand refers to the sum of all individual demands for a particular good or service

•Graphically, individual demand curves are summed horizontally to obtain the market demand curve

Shifts in the Demand Curve

•Change in Quantity Demanded

• Movement along the demand curve

• Caused by a change in the price of the product

Changes in Quantity Demanded

Shifts in the Demand Curve

Variables That Influence Buyers

• Consumer income

• Prices of related goods

• Tastes

• Expectations

• Number of buyers

Change in Demand

• A shift in the demand curve, either to the left or right

• Caused by any change that alters the quantity demanded at every price

Shifts in the Demand Curve

Consumer Income

• As income increases the demand for a normal good will increase.

• As income increases the demand for an inferior good will decrease.

Consumer Income (Normal Good)

Consumer Income (Inferior Good)

Shifts in the Demand Curve

Prices of Related Goods

• When a fall in the price of one good reduces the demand for another good, the

two goods are called substitutes.

• When a fall in the price of one good increases the demand for another good, the

two goods are called complements.

Variables That Influence Buyers