Principles of Microeconomics
By Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen
28239-1
Principles of Microeconomics
Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen
Published by:
Flat World Knowledge, Inc. One Bridge Street Irvington, NY 10533
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Printed in North America
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21
Brief Contents
About the Authors Acknowledgments Preface
Economics: The Study of Choice Confronting Scarcity: Choices in Production Demand and Supply Applications of Demand and Supply Elasticity: A Measure of Response Markets, Maximizers, and Efficiency The Analysis of Consumer Choice Production and Cost Competitive Markets for Goods and Services Monopoly The World of Imperfect Competition Wages and Employment in Perfect Competition Interest Rates and the Markets for Capital and Natural Resources Imperfectly Competitive Markets for Factors of Production Public Finance and Public Choice Antitrust Policy and Business Regulation International Trade The Economics of the Environment Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination Socialist Economies in Transition Appendix A: Graphs in Economics
Index
1
2
4
7Chapter 1
7 8
12 17 21 23
25Chapter 2
25 26 30 40 49 55
57Chapter 3
57 58 65 72 83 88
89Chapter 4
89 90 97
102 107 110
111Chapter 5
111
112 123
Contents
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Preface
Economics: The Study of Choice
Start Up: Economics in the News Defining Economics The Field of Economics The Economists’ Tool Kit Review and Practice Endnotes
Confronting Scarcity: Choices in Production
Start Up: Tightening Security at the World’s Airports Factors of Production The Production Possibilities Curve Applications of the Production Possibilities Model Review and Practice Endnotes
Demand and Supply
Start Up: Crazy for Coffee Demand Supply Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium Review and Practice Endnotes
Applications of Demand and Supply
Start Up: A Composer Logs On Putting Demand and Supply to Work Government Intervention in Market Prices: Price Floors and Price Ceilings The Market for Health-Care Services Review and Practice Endnotes
Elasticity: A Measure of Response
Start Up: Raise Fares? Lower Fares? What’s a Public Transit Manager To Do? The Price Elasticity of Demand Responsiveness of Demand to Other Factors
127 132 137
139Chapter 6
139 140 149 155 161 165
167Chapter 7
167 168 174 183
192 197
199Chapter 8
199 200 214 219 223
225Chapter 9
225 226 229 239 247 251
253Chapter 10
253 253 258 266 271
275Chapter 11
275
Price Elasticity of Supply Review and Practice Endnotes
Markets, Maximizers, and Efficiency
Start Up: A Drive in the Country The Logic of Maximizing Behavior Maximizing in the Marketplace Market Failure Review And Practice Endnotes
The Analysis of Consumer Choice
Start Up: A Day at the Grocery Store The Concept of Utility Utility Maximization and Demand Indifference Curve Analysis: An Alternative Approach to Understanding Consumer Choice Review and Practice Endnotes
Production and Cost
Start Up: Street Cleaning Around the World Production Choices and Costs: The Short Run Production Choices and Costs: The Long Run Review and Practice Endnotes
Competitive Markets for Goods and Services
Start Up: Life on the Farm Perfect Competition: A Model Output Determination in the Short Run Perfect Competition in the Long Run Review and Practice Endnotes
Monopoly
Start Up: Surrounded by Monopolies The Nature of Monopoly The Monopoly Model Assessing Monopoly Review and Practice
The World of Imperfect Competition
Start Up: eBay Needs Google, Google Needs eBay, and Neither Trusts the Other
276 283 290 295 298
299Chapter 12
299 301 308 315 322 326
327Chapter 13
327 328 333 341 347 350
351Chapter 14
351 352 362 365 370 374
375Chapter 15
375 375 385 394 398 401
403Chapter 16
403 404 409 412 418 420
Monopolistic Competition: Competition Among Many Oligopoly: Competition Among the Few Extensions of Imperfect Competition: Advertising and Price Discrimination Review and Practice Endnotes
Wages and Employment in Perfect Competition
Start Up: College Pays The Demand for Labor The Supply of Labor Labor Markets at Work Review and Practice Endnotes
Interest Rates and the Markets for Capital and Natural Resources
Start Up: Building the “Internet in the Sky” Time and Interest Rates Interest Rates and Capital Natural Resources and Conservation Review and Practice Endnotes
Imperfectly Competitive Markets for Factors of Production
Start Up: Hockey Players Frozen Out Price-Setting Buyers: The Case of Monopsony Monopsony and the Minimum Wage Price Setters on the Supply Side Review and Practice Endnotes
Public Finance and Public Choice
Start Up: Where Your Tax Dollars Go The Role of Government in a Market Economy Financing Government Choices in the Public Sector Review and Practice Endnotes
Antitrust Policy and Business Regulation
Start Up: The Plastic War Antitrust Laws and Their Interpretation Antitrust and Competitiveness in a Global Economy Regulation: Protecting People from the Market Review and Practice Endnotes
421Chapter 17
421 422 431 433 440 443
445Chapter 18
445 446 455 462 466
467Chapter 19
467 469 474 484 489 493
495Chapter 20
495 496 500 504 510 512
513Chapter 21
513 523 529
539
International Trade
Start Up: Trade Winds The Gains from Trade Two-Way Trade Restrictions on International Trade Review and Practice Endnotes
The Economics of the Environment
Start Up: A Market for Carbon Emissions Maximizing the Net Benefits of Pollution Alternatives in Pollution Control Review and Practice Endnotes
Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination
Start Up: Poverty in the United States Income Inequality The Economics of Poverty The Economics of Discrimination Review and Practice Endnotes
Socialist Economies in Transition
Start Up: The Collapse of Socialism The Theory and Practice of Socialism Socialist Systems in Action Economies in Transition: China and Russia Review and Practice Endnotes
Appendix A: Graphs in Economics
How to Construct and Interpret Graphs Nonlinear Relationships and Graphs without Numbers Using Graphs and Charts to Show Values of Variables
Index
About the Authors
LIBBY RITTENBERG Libby Rittenberg has been a Professor of Economics at Colorado College in Colorado Springs since 1989. She teaches principles of economics, intermediate macroeconomic theory, comparative economic systems, and international political economy. She received her B. A. in economics-mathematics and Spanish from Simmons College and her Ph.D. in economics from Rutgers University.
Prior to joining the faculty at Colorado College, she taught at Lafayette College and at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Management. She served as a Fulbright Scholar in Istanbul, Turkey, and as a research economist at Mathematica, Inc. in Prin- ceton, New Jersey.
Dr. Rittenberg specializes in the internationally oriented areas of economics, with numerous articles in journals and books on comparative and development economics. Much of her work focuses on transition issues and on the Turkish economy.
She has been very involved in study abroad education and has directed programs in central Europe and Turkey.
TIM TREGARTHEN There is one word that captures the essence of Dr. Timothy Tregarthen—inspiring. Tim was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1975. Yet, he continued a remarkable academic career of teaching and research. In 1996, he published the first edition of his principles of economics textbook to great acclaim, and it became widely used in colleges around the country. That same year, MS made him wheelchair-bound. The disease forced his retirement from teaching at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 1998. He lost the use of his arms in 2001 and has been quadriplegic ever since. In 2002, Tim’s doctor expected him to die.
He was placed in the Pikes Peak Hospice program and was twice given his last rites by his priest. UCCS Chancellor Shockley- Zalabak says, “I really thought that Tim would die in hospice. That’s what the doctors told me, and I really believed that. I remember one day they called me and told me to try to come see him. They didn't expect him to live through the night.”
Not only did he live through the night, but he eventually recovered to the point that he moved from hospice to a long-term care facility. There, he never let his disease get him down. In fact, he turned back to his love of writing and teaching for inspiration. He obtained a voice-activated computer, recruited a coauthor, Libby Rittenberg of Colorado College, and turned his attention to revis- ing his principles of economics book. Flat World Knowledge is honored to publish a new, first edition relaunch of this wonderful book, and proud to bring Tim’s incredible talents as a teacher back to life for future generations of students to learn from.
In addition to completing the rewrite of his textbook, Tim recently completed an autobiography about the thirty-two years he has had MS, titled Suffering, Faith, and Wildflowers. He is nearing completion of a novel, Cool Luck, based on the life of a friend. It is the story of a young couple facing the husband’s diagnosis of ALS—Lou Gehrig’s disease. Remarkably, in 2007, he was able to return to the classroom at UCCS, where he had taught economics for twenty-seven years. In January of 2009, Tim married Dinora Montenegro (now Dinora Tregarthen); the couple lives in San Gabriel, California.