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- 1. © 2009 South-Western,a part of Cengage Learning, all rights reserved C H A P T E R Consumers, Producers, Consumers, Producers, and the Efficiency of Markets and the Efficiency of Markets Economics P R I N C I P L E S O F P R I N C I P L E S O F N. Gregory Mankiw N. Gregory Mankiw 7
- 2. In this chapter, Inthis chapter, look for the answers to these questions: look for the answers to these questions: What is consumer surplus? How is it related to the demand curve? What is producer surplus? How is it related to the supply curve? Do markets produce a desirable allocation of resources? Or could the market outcome be improved upon? 2
- 3. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 3 Welfare Economics Recall, the allocation of resources refers to: how much of each good is produced which producers produce it which consumers consume it Welfare economics studies how the allocation of resources affects economic well-being. First, we look at the well-being of consumers.
- 4. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 4 Willingness to Pay (WTP) A buyer’s willingness to pay for a good is the maximum amount the buyer will pay for that good. WTP measures how much the buyer values the good. name WTP Anthony $250 Chad 175 Flea 300 John 125 Example: 4 buyers’ WTP for an iPod
- 5. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 5 WTP and the Demand Curve Q: If price of iPod is $200, who will buy an iPod, and what is quantity demanded? A: Anthony & Flea will buy an iPod, Chad & John will not. Hence, Qd = 2 when P = $200. name WTP Anthony $250 Chad 175 Flea 300 John 125
- 6. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 6 WTP and the Demand Curve Derive the demand schedule: 4 John, Chad, Anthony, Flea 0 – 125 3 Chad, Anthony, Flea 126 – 175 2 Anthony, Flea 176 – 250 1 Flea 251 – 300 0 nobody $301 & up Qd who buys P (price of iPod) name WTP Anthony $250 Chad 175 Flea 300 John 125
- 7. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 7 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 0 1 2 3 4 WTP and the Demand Curve P Qd $301 & up 0 251 – 300 1 176 – 250 2 126 – 175 3 0 – 125 4 P Q
- 8. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 8 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 0 1 2 3 4 About the Staircase Shape… This D curve looks like a staircase with 4 steps – one per buyer. P Q If there were a huge # of buyers, as in a competitive market, there would be a huge # of very tiny steps, and it would look more like a smooth curve.
- 9. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 9 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 0 1 2 3 4 WTP and the Demand Curve At any Q, the height of the D curve is the WTP of the marginal buyer, the buyer who would leave the market if P were any higher. P Q Flea’s WTP Anthony’s WTP Chad’s WTP John’s WTP
- 10. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 10 Consumer Surplus (CS) Consumer surplus is the amount a buyer is willing to pay minus the amount the buyer actually pays: CS = WTP – P name WTP Anthony $250 Chad 175 Flea 300 John 125 Suppose P = $260. Flea’s CS = $300 – 260 = $40. The others get no CS because they do not buy an iPod at this price. Total CS = $40.
- 11. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 11 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 0 1 2 3 4 CS and the Demand Curve P Q Flea’s WTP P = $260 Flea’s CS = $300 – 260 = $40 Total CS = $40
- 12. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 12 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 0 1 2 3 4 CS and the Demand Curve P Q Flea’s WTP Anthony’s WTP Instead, suppose P = $220 Flea’s CS = $300 – 220 = $80 Anthony’s CS = $250 – 220 = $30 Total CS = $110
- 13. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 13 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 0 1 2 3 4 CS and the Demand Curve P Q The lesson: Total CS equals the area under the demand curve above the price, from 0 to Q.
- 14. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 14 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q $ CS with Lots of Buyers & a Smooth D Curve The demand for shoes D 1000s of pairs of shoes Price per pair At Q = 5(thousand), the marginal buyer is willing to pay $50 for pair of shoes. Suppose P = $30. Then his consumer surplus = $20.
- 15. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 15 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q CS with Lots of Buyers & a Smooth D Curve The demand for shoes D CS is the area b/w P and the D curve, from 0 to Q. Recall: area of a triangle equals ½ x base x height Height = $60 – 30 = $30. So, CS = ½ x 15 x $30 = $225. h $
- 16. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 16 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q How a Higher Price Reduces CS D If P rises to $40, CS = ½ x 10 x $20 = $100. Two reasons for the fall in CS. 1. Fall in CS due to buyers leaving market 2. Fall in CS due to remaining buyers paying higher P
- 17. 17 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 1015 20 25 P Q demand curve A. Find marginal buyer’s WTP at Q = 10. B. Find CS for P = $30. Suppose P falls to $20. How much will CS increase due to… C. buyers entering the market D. existing buyers paying lower price $ A C T I V E L E A R N I N G A C T I V E L E A R N I N G 1 1 Consumer surp Consumer surplus lus
- 18. A C TI V E L E A R N I N G A C T I V E L E A R N I N G 1 1 Answers Answers 18 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 P $ Q demand curve A. At Q = 10, marginal buyer’s WTP is $30. B. CS = ½ x 10 x $10 = $50 P falls to $20. C. CS for the additional buyers = ½ x 10 x $10 = $50 D. Increase in CS on initial 10 units = 10 x $10 = $100
- 19. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 19 Cost and the Supply Curve name cost Jack $10 Janet 20 Chrissy 35 A seller will produce and sell the good/service only if the price exceeds his or her cost. Hence, cost is a measure of willingness to sell. Cost is the value of everything a seller must give up to produce a good (i.e., opportunity cost). Includes cost of all resources used to produce good, including value of the seller’s time. Example: Costs of 3 sellers in the lawn-cutting business.
- 20. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 20 Cost and the Supply Curve 3 35 & up 2 20 – 34 1 10 – 19 0 $0 – 9 Qs P Derive the supply schedule from the cost data: name cost Jack $10 Janet 20 Chrissy 35
- 21. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 21 Cost and the Supply Curve $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 0 1 2 3 P Q P Qs $0 – 9 0 10 – 19 1 20 – 34 2 35 & up 3
- 22. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 22 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 0 1 2 3 Cost and the Supply Curve P Q At each Q, the height of the S curve is the cost of the marginal seller, the seller who would leave the market if the price were any lower. Chrissy’s cost Janet’s cost Jack’s cost
- 23. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 23 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 0 1 2 3 Producer Surplus P Q Producer surplus (PS): the amount a seller is paid for a good minus the seller’s cost PS = P – cost
- 24. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 24 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 0 1 2 3 Producer Surplus and the S Curve P Q PS = P – cost Suppose P = $25. Jack’s PS = $15 Janet’s PS = $5 Chrissy’s PS = $0 Total PS = $20 Janet’s cost Jack’s cost Total PS equals the area above the supply curve under the price, from 0 to Q. Chrissy’s cost
- 25. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 25 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q PS with Lots of Sellers & a Smooth S Curve The supply of shoes S 1000s of pairs of shoes Price per pair Suppose P = $40. At Q = 15(thousand), the marginal seller’s cost is $30, and her producer surplus is $10.
- 26. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 26 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q PS with Lots of Sellers & a Smooth S Curve The supply of shoes S PS is the area b/w P and the S curve, from 0 to Q. The height of this triangle is $40 – 15 = $25. So, PS = ½ x b x h = ½ x 25 x $25 = $312.50 h
- 27. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 27 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q How a Lower Price Reduces PS If P falls to $30, PS = ½ x 15 x $15 = $112.50 Two reasons for the fall in PS. S 1. Fall in PS due to sellers leaving market 2. Fall in PS due to remaining sellers getting lower P
- 28. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 1015 20 25 P Q supply curve A. Find marginal seller’s cost at Q = 10. B. Find total PS for P = $20. Suppose P rises to $30. Find the increase in PS due to… C. selling 5 additional units D. getting a higher price on the initial 10 units 28 A C T I V E L E A R N I N G A C T I V E L E A R N I N G 2 2 Producer surplus Producer surplus
- 29. A C TI V E L E A R N I N G A C T I V E L E A R N I N G 2 2 Answers Answers 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 P Q supply curve A. At Q = 10, marginal cost = $20 B. PS = ½ x 10 x $20 = $100 P rises to $30. C. PS on additional units = ½ x 5 x $10 = $25 D. Increase in PS on initial 10 units = 10 x $10 = $100 29
- 30. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 30 CS, PS, and Total Surplus CS = (value to buyers) – (amount paid by buyers) = buyers’ gains from participating in the market PS = (amount received by sellers) – (cost to sellers) = sellers’ gains from participating in the market Total surplus = CS + PS = total gains from trade in a market = (value to buyers) – (cost to sellers)
- 31. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 31 The Market’s Allocation of Resources In a market economy, the allocation of resources is decentralized, determined by the interactions of many self-interested buyers and sellers. Is the market’s allocation of resources desirable? Or would a different allocation of resources make society better off? To answer this, we use total surplus as a measure of society’s well-being, and we consider whether the market’s allocation is efficient. (Policymakers also care about equality, though are focus here is on efficiency.)
- 32. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 32 Efficiency An allocation of resources is efficient if it maximizes total surplus. Efficiency means: The goods are consumed by the buyers who value them most highly. The goods are produced by the producers with the lowest costs. Raising or lowering the quantity of a good would not increase total surplus. = (value to buyers) – (cost to sellers) Total surplus
- 33. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 33 Evaluating the Market Equilibrium Market eq’m: P = $30 Q = 15,000 Total surplus = CS + PS Is the market eq’m efficient? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q S D CS PS
- 34. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 34 Which Buyers Consume the Good? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q S D Every buyer whose WTP is ≥ $30 will buy. Every buyer whose WTP is < $30 will not. So, the buyers who value the good most highly are the ones who consume it.
- 35. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 35 Which Sellers Produce the Good? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q S D Every seller whose cost is ≤ $30 will produce the good. Every seller whose cost is > $30 will not. So, the sellers with the lowest cost produce the good.
- 36. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 36 Does Eq’m Q Maximize Total Surplus? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q S D At Q = 20, cost of producing the marginal unit is $35 value to consumers of the marginal unit is only $20 Hence, can increase total surplus by reducing Q. This is true at any Q greater than 15.
- 37. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 37 Does Eq’m Q Maximize Total Surplus? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q S D At Q = 10, cost of producing the marginal unit is $25 value to consumers of the marginal unit is $40 Hence, can increase total surplus by increasing Q. This is true at any Q less than 15.
- 38. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 38 Does Eq’m Q Maximize Total Surplus? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 P Q S D The market eq’m quantity maximizes total surplus: At any other quantity, can increase total surplus by moving toward the market eq’m quantity.
- 39. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 39 Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand “Man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. Adam Smith, 1723-1790 Passages from The Wealth of Nations, 1776 He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favor, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them… It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest….
- 40. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 40 Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand “Every individual…neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it…. Adam Smith, 1723-1790 Passages from The Wealth of Nations, 1776 He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.” an invisible hand
- 41. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 41 The Free Market vs. Govt Intervention The market equilibrium is efficient. No other outcome achieves higher total surplus. Govt cannot raise total surplus by changing the market’s allocation of resources. Laissez faire (French for “allow them to do”): the notion that govt should not interfere with the market.
- 42. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 42 The free market vs. central planning Suppose resources were allocated not by the market, but by a central planner who cares about society’s well-being. To allocate resources efficiently and maximize total surplus, the planner would need to know every seller’s cost and every buyer’s WTP for every good in the entire economy. This is impossible, and why centrally-planned economies are never very efficient.
- 43. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 43 CONCLUSION This chapter used welfare economics to demonstrate one of the Ten Principles: Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity. Important note: We derived these lessons assuming perfectly competitive markets. In other conditions we will study in later chapters, the market may fail to allocate resources efficiently…
- 44. CONSUMERS, PRODUCERS, ANDTHE EFFICIENCY OF MARKETS 44 CONCLUSION Such market failures occur when: a buyer or seller has market power – the ability to affect the market price. transactions have side effects, called externalities, that affect bystanders. (example: pollution) We’ll use welfare economics to see how public policy may improve on the market outcome in such cases. Despite the possibility of market failure, the analysis in this chapter applies in many markets, and the invisible hand remains extremely important.
- 45. CHAPTER SUMMARY CHAPTER SUMMARY The height of the D curve reflects the value of the good to buyers—their willingness to pay for it. Consumer surplus is the difference between what buyers are willing to pay for a good and what they actually pay. On the graph, consumer surplus is the area between P and the D curve. 45
- 46. CHAPTER SUMMARY CHAPTER SUMMARY The height of the S curve is sellers’ cost of producing the good. Sellers are willing to sell if the price they get is at least as high as their cost. Producer surplus is the difference between what sellers receive for a good and their cost of producing it. On the graph, producer surplus is the area between P and the S curve. 46
- 47. CHAPTER SUMMARY CHAPTER SUMMARY To measure of society’s well-being, we use total surplus, the sum of consumer and producer surplus. Efficiency means that total surplus is maximized, that the goods are produced by sellers with lowest cost, and that they are consumed by buyers who most value them. Under perfect competition, the market outcome is efficient. Altering it would reduce total surplus. 47
Editor's Notes
- #1 This is a very theoretical chapter. Most students in principles-level courses are a bit less patient with theory than with real-world applications. However, you can tell your students that learning the material in this chapter will pay off in (at least) two ways. First, the tools introduced in this chapter (consumer & producer surplus, welfare economics) are used extensively in the real world to assess the costs and benefits of policies and market imperfections. When does a policy do more harm than good? Who does the policy make better off, and who is made worse off? How do the total gains to the winners compare to the total losses incurred by the losers? The following two chapters will use the tools of welfare economics to analyze taxes and international trade (including restrictions on trade). Students typically find these applications very interesting, and they are much easier to learn after students have a good working knowledge of the material covered in this chapter. Second, this chapter illuminates one of the most important ideas in economics: Adam Smith’s invisible hand, a.k.a. the principle that markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity. Note that this analysis assumes perfect competition. When this assumption fails, the market on its own may not maximize society’s well-being. We will study such market failures in later chapters, and we’ll use the tools of welfare economics to see how public policy can improve on the market outcome in such cases.
- #4 FYI: The four guys in this example are the members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the corresponding example from the textbook, Mankiw uses the Beatles.
- #6 Give your students a few moments to fill in the table. Then reveal the answers. Tell them that they have just constructed the demand schedule for iPods. Next, we will use the demand schedule to draw the demand curve (just like in Chapter 4 when we first covered demand schedules & curves).
- #7 The table on this slide consists of the 1st and 3rd columns of the table on the preceding slide. The numbers in these columns are the demand schedule for iPods, and give us the demand curve shown in the graph on this slide. The animation is as follows: When P is $301 or higher, Qd is zero. That part of the table is highlighted when the upper-most segment of the demand curve is revealed. If the price falls to $300, then Qd increases to 1. If the price is anywhere in the range $251-300, Qd = 1. If the price falls to $250, then Qd increases to 2. If the price is anywhere in the range $176-250, Qd = 2. …and so forth.
- #8 After the previous slide, most of your students will probably understand where this D curve comes from, but its staircase-like shape will seem quite odd to them. Point out that it has 4 “steps,” one for each buyer. Suppose there were 10 buyers instead of 4; how many steps would it have? Ten, of course. If there were 20 buyers, this D “curve” would have 20 steps. A perfectly competitive market has a huge number of buyers. Suppose there were 10,000 buyers in the market for iPods (a tiny fraction of the actual number of buyers!). Then, the number of steps would be 10,000. In relation to the graph, each step would be insignificantly small, and the D curve would look like a smooth curve rather than a staircase – even though it really is a staircase – one with 10,000 infinitesimally small steps.
- #9 When Q = 1, the height of the demand curve is $300, which is Flea’s willingness to pay, or how much he values an iPod. At any price higher than $300, Flea leaves the market; hence, at Q = 1, Flea is the marginal buyer. When Q = 2, the height of the demand curve is $250, which is Anthony’s willingness to pay, or how much he values an iPod. At any price higher than $250, Anthony leaves the market; hence, at Q = 2, Anthony is the marginal buyer. And so forth. The lesson here is summarized in the text on the right side of the screen: At each Q, the height of the D curve tells you the marginal buyer’s willingness to pay, or how much that buyer values the good.
- #11 The area of any rectangle equals base times height. For the green rectangle on this slide, base = 1 height = $300 – 260 = $40 area = 1 x $40 = $40
- #12 The entire green area (total CS) can be divided into two rectangles: The first (and leftmost) represents Flea’s CS. It has a height of $80 and a width of 1. The second represents Anthony’s CS. It has a height of $30 and a width of 1. The sum of these two rectangular areas equals total CS.
- #13 The text in the yellow box summarizes the lesson of the two preceding slides.
- #14 In “normal” or edit mode, the text appears to overlap with the vertical axis label. Don’t worry – in “Slide Show” or presentation mode, the axis labels disappear before the text appears.
- #15 Some students mistake the upper vertical intercept ($60 in this example) for the height of the blue triangle: they forget to subtract off the height of the bottom of the triangle from the height of the top of the triangle. So, the first one or two times, it might be worthwhile to show them how to find the height of the triangle.
- #16 The book shows how a lower price increases CS.
- #19 The material on cost, producer surplus, and the supply curve is analogous to the material earlier on WTP, consumer surplus, and the demand curve. Therefore, this section provides a bit less detail and should move a little more quickly.
- #20 Your students should be able to figure out how to get the Qs numbers in the second column of the table.
- #21 The derivation of the staircase-supply curve is analogous to that of the staircase demand curve in the earlier example. Hence, the animation is not as detailed.
- #22 For your students’ future reference, you might also note that we can use the term “marginal cost” as short-hand for “cost of the marginal seller.”
- #30 It might help to say “participating in the market” means buying and selling. It might also help to say that CS measures the net benefit to buyers: the value they get from the good is the gross benefit, minus what they pay leaves the net benefit, or CS. Similarly, PS is the net benefit to sellers. I did not put “net benefit” on this slide because it is not in the book. But if you wish, you may add it. After showing this slide in class, I show my students a short scene from the movie “Pretty Woman” as an example of these concepts. In this scene, Julia Roberts is taking a bubble bath in Richard Gere’s hotel room (don’t worry – there’s no nudity!). Gere comes into the bathroom and they negotiate a price for her to “be at his beck and call” for one week. After bargaining for a few seconds, they agree on a price of $3000. A minute later, he says he would have paid $4000 (his willingness to pay), and she says she would have accepted $2000 (her “cost”). From this, we can deduce that CS = $1000, PS = $1000, and total surplus = $2000. If this transaction did not occur, then these characters would not have received these “gains from trade.” Disclaimer: We officially urge you to consult with your institution’s legal advisor to verify that showing this brief clip in your class does not violate any copyright laws. We accept no responsibility in this matter. For example, we absolutely do not recommend that you rent “Pretty Woman” on DVD, download a free evaluation copy of a program like AoA DVD Ripper from the website www.aoamedia.com, and use that software to create a video clip of the above-described segment of Pretty Woman from the DVD, a video clip which could then be moved to the computer in your classroom to be shown in your classroom presentation of this chapter. We urge you to respect the intellectual property of others, and all copyright laws.
- #31 Is the market’s allocation of resources desirable? This question is important, because the answer to it has implications for the proper role and scope of government. If the market’s allocation is generally desirable, then the role of government should be limited to the protection of property rights, national defense and so forth. If not, then public policy may potentially be able to improve upon the market’s allocation.
- #34 It may be worth reminding your students that, at each Q, the height of the D curve is the marginal buyer’s valuation of the good. Hence, the buyers from 0 to 15 all value the good at least as much as the price, so they will purchase the good at the market price. The buyers from 15 on up value the good less than $30, so they won’t buy the good.
- #35 Because the height of the S curve tells us seller’s costs, we can determine the following: The sellers of the first 15 units have cost < $30, so it is worthwhile for them to produce the good. The other sellers have cost > $30, so they will not sell the good if P = $30.
- #36 This slide shows that, if we are starting from a Q greater than the market equilibrium quantity, we can increase total surplus by reducing Q. The slide demonstrates this for one particular Q (20), but it is true for any Q greater than the equilibrium quantity. Thus, if we continue to reduce Q, total surplus will continue to increase – until we get to the equilibrium quantity.
- #37 This slide shows that, if we are starting from a Q less than the market equilibrium quantity, we can increase total surplus by increasing Q. The slide demonstrates this for one particular Q (10), but it is true for any Q below the equilibrium quantity. Thus, if we continue to increase Q, total surplus will continue to increase – until we get to the equilibrium quantity.
- #38 This slide summarizes the lesson of the preceding two slides.
- #39 This and the following slide contain passages from The Wealth of Nations. It would be hard to overstate the impact of the ideas in these passages. I have included them here because students should be able to better understand and appreciate their significance after having just seen the analysis of market efficiency. If you’re pressed for time, you might delete the first of these two slides, as it is probably less important than the second one. The passages on this first slide convey the sense that the economy is made up of a completely uncoordinated mass of individuals, each acting in his or her own self interest. On the next slide, Smith discusses the invisible hand.
- #42 Example of central planner: the Communist leaders of the former Soviet Union.
- #44 The italicized terms market power and externalities will be formally defined in later chapters.