Economics Chapter 3 A—Demand, Supply, and the Market Process
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following would most likely increase the demand for peanut butter?
a decrease in the price of jelly, a good that is often used with peanut butter
the discovery that excessive consumption of peanut butter is harmful to one’s health
crop failures that raise the price of peanuts
the invention of a new product that consumers think is a good substitute for peanut butter
2. Producers are willing to offer greater quantities for sale at higher prices because
they have the incentive to pay the increasing opportunity cost of resources necessary to
attract them from alternative uses
they will decrease their profits by expanding production at higher prices
the government orders them to do so
lower prices attract new firms, which have higher costs of production
they hire superior quality, higher-priced resources as production expands
3. If DeShawn only pays $25,000 to purchase a new car even though he would have been willing to pay
as much as $35,000 for the car, this indicates that
DeShawn is an irrational consumer.
The seller earned a $10,000 profit on the sale of the car.
DeShawn reaped $10,000 of consumer surplus from the transaction.
The seller received $10,000 worth of producer surplus on the transaction.
4. The number of people willing to buy tickets to the Super Bowl is invariably greater than the number of
tickets (and seats) available. This is evidence that the price of the tickets is
higher than the equilibrium price.
equal to the equilibrium price since the number of tickets bought equals the number sold.
lower than the equilibrium price.
higher than the equilibrium price when the demand is inelastic but lower when the demand
is elastic.
5. “A reduction in gasoline prices caused the demand for gasoline to increase. The lower gas prices also
led to an increase in demand for large cars, causing their prices to rise.” These statements