经济学课后习题答案.docx

1、经济学课后习题答案ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND PROBLEMS QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. As rich as America is, how can our resources possibly be “scarce?”LO: 1 AACSB: Analytic BT: ApplyMany believe that America has become rich because of the abundance of our natural resources. Others believe our democ

2、ratic political system or our market-driven economic system play significant roles in our relative financial success. Regardless, as rich as America is, we still want more. The concept of scarcity, in the case of America, is the lack of enough resources to satisfy all American consumer desires. Ther

3、efore, resources are scarce in the U.S. because the desire for these resources is greater than the amount we possess.2. What opportunity costs did you incur in reading this chapter?LO: 2 AACSB: Analytic BT: ApplyThere are many other things you could have done with your time instead of reading this c

4、hapter. The most desired activity you gave up is the opportunity cost.（你有时间可以做许多其他的事情而不是阅读本章。你放弃了你最想做的活动就是机会成本。）3. How would you answer the question in the News Wire on page 5? Why?LO: 3 AACSB: Analytic BT: ApplyThere was a spike of anxiety in 2008-09 regarding the ability of the U.S. economy to con

5、tinuously crank out more goods. Today many Americans still worry about the resiliency of our economic system and our many resource limitations. The general definition of economics the study of how best to allocate scarce resources among competing uses allows for the potential of brilliant minds to h

6、elp the economy continue to grow. Additional resources, new technologies, insightful entrepreneurial strategies, and great minds working on economic development provide tremendous hope for future growth in our economy and the associated increase in our standard of living. 4. Why might it be necessar

7、y to reduce consumer spending in order to attain faster economic growth? Would it be worth the sacrifice?LO: 2 AACSB: Reflective Thinking BT: CreateOne choice any society must make is whether to use its resources to produce consumer goods or whether to produce capital with those same resources. To i

8、ncrease economic growth it may be necessary to produce more capital. As a result, it may be necessary to reduce output of consumer goods so resources are available to produce more capital goods. Whether it is worth the sacrifice depends on which one society values more, current consumption or future

9、 consumption. 5. In a purely private market economy, how is the FOR WHOM question answered? Is that optimal?LO: 3 AACSB: Reflective Thinking BT: CreateFOR WHOM? is one of the three basic economics questions. The other two questions determine how large of an economic pie to bake (WHAT?) and how we wi

10、ll bake it (HOW?). This FOR WHOM question deals with how to slice the pie. Should some get larger or smaller slices than others? The focus is on how an economys output is distributed across members of society. In a purely private market economy, those who are willing and able to purchase a slice of

11、pie will receive the slice. Markets are efficient; however, neither markets nor governments always have the right answers. There are certainly times (market failure) when the market generates suboptimal economic outcomes. 6. Why doesnt North Korea reduce its military and put more resources into food

12、 production (News Wire, p. 11)? What is the optimal mix of “guns” and “butter” for a nation?LO: 3 AACSB: Reflective Thinking BT: CreateNorth Korea doesnt reduce its military and put more resources into food production because the North Korean government apparently believes that a large military esta

13、blishment is essential to their well-being and security. The optimal mix of “guns” and “butter” depends on values and, therefore, the answer to this question will depend on the values of the individual or in this case, the government answering it.7. If taxes on the rich were raised to provide more h

14、ousing for the poor, how would the willingness to work be affected? What would happen to total output?LO: 3 AACSB: Analytic BT: AnalyzeGiven the standard assumptions about market participant reactions, we would expect that those being taxed more would reconsider their choices between work and leisur

15、e. Since their reward for working would now be less (after taxes) they could be expected to work less. Poor people, too, might work less if they get free or subsidized housing. Changes in the work incentives facing both the rich and the poor would lead to less total output.8. What kind of knowledge

16、must central planners possess to manage an economy efficiently?LO: 4 AACSB: Analytic BT: AnalyzeA central planner will make all the decisions for an economy including what goods are produced, at what prices they are sold, and who gets to have them. For example, a central planner places workers at a

17、bread factory, tells them how much bread to bake, and specifies who is allowed to eat this bread. The WHAT, HOW, and FOR WHOM outcomes are all directed by the central government (planner). A central planner would need to be omniscient in order to manage an economy efficiently. He/she would need to k

18、now the desires of consumers, consumer ability to pay, productivity of inputs (such as capital and labor), and technological capabilities. It is simply unreasonable to believe that a central planner could ever have such vast and comprehensive knowledge.9. POLICY PERSPECTIVES Why cant we produce at p

19、oint X2 in Figure 1.6? Will we ever get there?LO: 5 AACSB: Analytic BT: AnalyzeX2 is beyond the resources available for production because it is outside of the curve. The only way to get there would be to increase the resources available.10. POLICY PERSPECTIVES What public sector or private sector o

20、utput would you cut back in order to make more resources available for increased health care?LO: 2 AACSB: Analytic BT: AnalyzeEveryone wants more and better health care, and nearly everyone agrees that even the poorest members of society need reliable access to doctors and hospitals. Yet, the resour

21、ces used to expand health care services could be used to produce something else. The opportunity costs of expanded health care are the other goods we could have produced (and consumed) with the same resources. These other goods include military spending, education spending, infrastructure (roads, in

22、ternet, sewage) development, and police protection, just to name a few. PROBLEMS1. According to Figure 1.1, what is the peace dividend (releasing resources from military purposes) from reducing military output from 0G to 0E? Answer: 0D 0FExplanation:In Figure1.1, the move from 0G to 0E along the mil

23、itary goods axis moves the economy from point X to point C on the production possibilities curve. As a result, the economy will move from 0F to 0D and gain additional consumer goods.(从0G到0E沿轴移动的军事物资经济从X点到C点在生产可能性曲线的移动。因此，经济将从中获得更多的消费品.)LO 01-02Topic: The Central Problem of ScarcityTopic: Three Basic

24、 Economic Questions AACSB: AnalyticBlooms: Level 2 Understand2. Draw a production-possibilities curve based on Table 1.1, labeling combinations A-F. What is the opportunity cost of increasing missile production (a) From 50 to 100?(b) From 0 to 150?Answers:(a) 15 houses(b) 45 housesExplanation: (a) T

25、he opportunity cost of increasing production from 50 to 100 missiles is a reduction in the production of houses from 90 to 75, or a loss of 15 houses. (b) Increasing missile production from 0 missiles (point A) to 150 missiles (point D) results in a loss in the production of houses from 100 to 55, o

26、r 45 houses.LO 01-02Topic: Three Basic Economic QuestionsAACSB: AnalyticBlooms: Level 3 Apply3. Assume that it takes six hours of labor time to paint a room and three hours to sand a floor. If all 24 hours were spent painting (a) How many rooms could be painted by one worker? (b) If a decision were

27、made to sand two floors, how many painted rooms would have to be given up? (c) Illustrate with a production-possibilities curve. Answers:(a) 4 room(s) painted(b) 1 room(s) painted(c)Explanation:(a) If a worker spends 24 hours painting rooms and he/she can paint one room in 6 hours then this worker c

28、an paint 4 rooms (= 24 hours / 6 hours per room).(b) Because it takes 3 hours to sand 1 floor, it would take a worker 6 hours to sand 2 floors. Therefore, a worker must give up painting 1 room, which also takes 6 hours to complete.(c) The various production possibilities are plotted with “Rooms Pain

29、ted” on the vertical axis and “Floors Sanded” on the horizontal axis. Thus, if a worker spends all of his/her time painting, 4 rooms can be painted (0, 4). On the other hand, if a worker spends all of his/her time sanding, 8 floors can be sanded (8, 0). The three alternative points in between those

30、two extremes are (2, 3), (4, 2), and (6, 1). LO 01-01Topic: The Central Problem of ScarcityTopic: Three Basic Economic QuestionsAACSB: AnalyticBlooms: Level 4 Analyze4. Suppose it takes 4 hours of labor time to hang sheetrock in a room and 2 hours to tape and plaster a wall. If one person spent an e

31、ntire 8 hour day hanging sheetrock,(a) How many rooms could be hung?(b) Illustrate with a production-possibilities curve.(c) If another worker became available for an 8 hour workday, illustrate the resulting change in production possibilities.Answers:(a) 2 rooms hung(b) & (c)Explanation: (a) If it t

32、akes 4 hours to hang sheetrock in a room and a worker spends an entire 8 hour workday doing this, 2 rooms can be completed within this time.(b) One worker can use all of his or her 8 hour day and hang either 2 rooms of sheetrock or 4 walls of tape and plaster. Thus, the two endpoints are 0 walls 2 rooms (0, 2) and 4 walls 0 rooms (4, 0).(c) With two workers each putting in an 8 hour workday, the production-possibilities curve would shift to the right (a