Supply and Demand Test

Thursday February 28, 2013 – Periods 2, 3, 6, 7

     Chapter test on supply, demand, and equilibrium.

Change in Supply and Demand

Friday February 22, 2013 – Periods 2, 3, 6, 7

     Today we practiced changes in market equilibrium. We began with a review of supply and demand shifters. Then we worked on graphing shifts in supply and demand. A market moves to a new equilibrium when there is a shift in either supply or demand. In the short term, a shortage will occur if quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied, a surplus will occur if quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded. Market price and quantity sold adjust, and buyers and sellers change their behavior over time.

Equilibrium

Thursday February 21, 2013 – Periods 2, 3, 6, 7

     Today we learned that together, supply and demand explain how prices are determined and how markets function. The price at which the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied is the equilibrium price.

    A shortage occurs when the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied. Shortages put pressure on prices to rise. A surplus occurs when the quantity demanded is less than the quantity supplied. Surpluses put pressure on prices to fall.

Supply v Quantity Supplied

Wednesday February 20, 2013 – Periods 2, 3, 6, 7

     Today we completed supply worksheets and tested our understanding of supply graphs.

Supply

Tuesday Fenruary 19, 2013 – Periods 2, 3, 6, 7

     Supply, like demand, is another important concept. Supply is defined as the quantities of output that producers will bring to market at each and every price. Like demand, supply can be presented in the form of a supply schedule, or graphically as a supply curve.

Individual producers have their own supply curves, and the market supply curve is the sum of individual supply curves. The Law of Supply states that more output will be offered for sale at higher prices and less at lower prices. A change in quantity supplied is represented by a movement along the supply curve, whereas a change in supply is represented by a shift of the supply curve to the left or right. Changes in supply, STORES, are caused by changes in: subsidies and taxes, technology/ productivity, government regulations, the cost of inputs, expectations, and the number of sellers in the market. Supply elasticity describes how producers will change the quantity they supply in response to a change in price.

A supply curve is the graph that shows the relationship between price and quantity supplied. A change in supply of a particular item shifts the entire supply curve to the left or right. When a business wants to expand, it has to consider the law of diminishing returns to decide how much expansion will help the business.

Elasticity of Demand and Supply

Wednesday February 29, 2012 – Periods 1 & 3
Thursday March 1, 2012 – Periods 4 & 6

Today we learned that the degree in which a demand or supply curve reacts to a change in price is elasticity. Elasticity varies among products because some products that are necessities are more insensitive to price changes because consumers would continue buying these products despite price increases. A price increase of a good or service that is considered less of a necessity will deter more consumers because buying the product will be too high a cost.

A good or service is considered to be elastic if a slight change in price leads to a large change in the quantity demanded or supplied. Usually these kinds of products are readily available in the market and consumers may not necessarily need them in their daily life. An inelastic good or service is one in which changes in price experience only modest changes in the quantity demanded or supplied. These goods tend to be things that are more of a necessity to the consumer in their daily life.

  If there is a large decrease in the quantity demanded with a small increase in price, the demand curve looks flatter, or more horizontal. This flatter curve means that the good or service in question is elastic.

  Inelastic demand is represented with a much more upright curve as quantity changes little with a large movement in price.

  Elasticity of supply works similarly. If a change in price results in a big change in the amount supplied, the supply curve appears flatter and is considered elastic.

  If a change in price only results in a minor change in the quantity supplied, the supply curve is steeper and is inelastic.

There are three main factors that influence a demand’s price elasticity. The first factor is the availability of substitutes. This is probably the most important factor influencing the elasticity of a good or service. The more substitutes, the more elastic the demand will be.

The second influential factor is the amount of income available to spend on the good – This factor affecting demand elasticity refers to the total a person can spend on a particular good or service. If there is an increase in price and no change in the amount of income to spend on the good, there will be an elastic reaction in demand.

The third influential factor is time. If the price of a good or service goes up and there are very few available substitutes, consumers will most likely continue buying the product. This means that the good or service is inelastic because the change in price will not have a significant influence on the quantity demanded. If consumers find that they cannot afford to spend the extra cost and begin to buy less of the product over a period of time, the price elasticity of the good or service for that consumer becomes elastic in the long run.

There are four main factors that affect the elasticity of supply. The first factor is spare production capacity If there is plenty of spare capacity then a business should be able to increase its output without a rise in costs. Therefore supply will be elastic in response to a change in demand. The supply of goods and services is often most elastic in a recession, when there is plenty of spare labor and capital resources available to step up output as the economy recovers.

The second factor is stocks of finished products and components If stocks of raw materials and finished products are at a high level then a firm is able to respond to a change in demand quickly by supplying these stocks onto the market and supply will be elastic. Conversely when stocks are low, dwindling supplies force prices higher and unless stocks can be replenished, supply will be inelastic in response to a change in demand.

The third factor is the ease and cost of factor substitution If both capital and labor resources are mobile then the elasticity of supply for a product is higher than if capital and labor cannot easily and quickly be switched

Finally, the fourth factor is the time period involved in the production process. Supply is more elastic the longer the time period that a firm is allowed to adjust its production levels.

Supply

Friday February 17, 2012 – Periods 4 & 6
Tuesday February 21, 2012 – Periods 1 & 3

Today we learned that supply is defined as the quantities of output that producers will bring to market at each and every price. Supply can be presented in the form of a supply schedule, or graphically as a supply curve. The Law of Supply states that more output will be offered for sale at higher prices and less at lower prices. A change in quantity supplied is represented by a movement along the supply curve, whereas a change in supply is represented by a shift of the supply curve to the left or right. Changes in supply are caused by changes in the cost of inputs, productivity, technology, taxes, subsidies, expectations, government regulations, and the number of sellers in the market.