Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO ECONOMICS!
Self-Check Questions
1. What is scarcity? Can you think of two causes of scarcity?
Solution: Scarcity means human wants for goods and services exceed the available supply.
Supply is limited because resources are limited. Demand, however, is virtually unlimited.
Whatever the supply, it seems human nature to want more.
2. Residents of the town of Smithfield like to consume hams, but each ham requires 10
people to produce it and takes a month. If the town has a total of 100 people, what is
the maximum amount of ham the residents can consume in a month?
Solution: 100 people / 10 people per ham = a maximum of 10 hams per month if all residents
produce ham. Since consumption is limited by production, the maximum number of
hams residents could consume per month is 10.
3. A consultant works for $200 per hour. She likes to eat vegetables, but is not very good
at growing them. Why does it make more economic sense for her to spend her time at
the consulting job and shop for her vegetables?
Solution: She is very productive at her consulting job, but not very productive growing
vegetables. Time spent consulting would produce far more income than it what she
could save growing her vegetables using the same amount of time. So on purely
economic grounds, it makes more sense for her to maximize her income by applying her
labor to what she does best (i.e. specialization of labor).
4. A computer systems engineer could paint her house, but it makes more sense for her
to hire a painter to do it. Explain why.
Solution: The engineer is better at computer science than at painting. Thus, his time is better
spent working for pay at his job and paying a painter to paint his house. Of course, this
assumes he does not paint his house for fun!
5. What would be another example of a “system” in the real world that could serve as a
metaphor for micro and macroeconomics?
Solution: There are many physical systems that would work, for example, the study of planets
(micro) in the solar system (macro), or solar systems (micro) in the galaxy (macro).
6. Suppose we extend the circular flow model to add imports and exports. Copy the
circular flow diagram onto a sheet of paper and then add a foreign country as a third
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
agent. Draw the flows of imports, exports, and the payments for each on your
diagram.
Solution: Draw a box outside the original circular flow to represent the foreign country. Draw an
arrow from the foreign country to firms, to represents imports. Draw an arrow in the
reverse direction representing payments for imports. Draw an arrow from firms to the
foreign country to represent exports. Draw an arrow in the reverse direction to
represent payments for imports.
7. What is an example of a problem in the world today, not mentioned in the chapter,
that has an economic dimension?
Solution: There are many such problems. Consider the AIDS epidemic. Why are so few AIDS
patients in Africa and Southeast Asia treated with the same drugs that are effective in
the United States and Europe? It is because neither those patients nor the countries in
which they live have the resources to purchase the same drugs.
8. The chapter defines private enterprise as a characteristic of market-oriented
economies. What would public enterprise be? Hint: It is a characteristic of command
economies.
Solution: Public enterprise means the factors of production (resources and businesses) are
owned and operated by the government.
9. Why might Belgium, France, Italy, and Sweden have a higher export to GDP ratio than
the United States?
Solution: The United States is a large country economically speaking, so it has less need to trade
internationally than the other countries mentioned. (This is the same reason that France
and Italy have lower ratios than Belgium or Sweden.) One additional reason is that each
of the other countries is a member of the European Union, where trade between
members occurs without barriers to trade, like tariffs and quotas.
Review Questions
10. Give the three reasons that explain why the division of labor increases an economy’s
level of production.
Solution: First, division of labor allows for specialization, in which workers do what they do
best, second, workers learn to be more efficient, and third, businesses can take
advantage of economies of scale.
11. What are three reasons to study economics?
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
, Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
Solution: Economics factors into every major policy decision, economics encourages good
citizenship, and economics makes for a well-rounded education.
12. What is the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics?
Solution: Microeconomics focuses of individual actors within an economy, whereas
macroeconomics focuses on the economy as a whole, or the sum of all individual
actions.
13. What are examples of individual economic agents?
Solution: Individuals, households and businesses are all economic agents.
14. What are the three main goals of macroeconomics?
Solution: Growth in the standard of living, low unemployment and low inflation.
15. How did John Maynard Keynes define economics?
Solution: As a method of thinking that help people draw correct conclusions.
16. Are households primarily buyers or sellers in the goods and services market? In the
labor market?
Solution: Households are primarily buyers in the goods and services market, as they use their
income to purchase food, housing, education, transportation and many other items.
Households are typically sellers in the labor market, offering their labor for a salary or
hourly wage in order to earn a living.
17. Are firms primarily buyers or sellers in the goods and services market? In the labor
market?
Solution: Firms are primarily sellers in the goods and services market, offering their wares to
consumers. They are primarily buyers in the labor market, hiring employees to produce
for them.
18. What are the three ways that societies can organize themselves economically?
Solution: As a command economy, a market economy, or a mixture of the two.
19. What is globalization? How do you think it might have affected the economy over the
past decade?
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO ECONOMICS!
Self-Check Questions
1. What is scarcity? Can you think of two causes of scarcity?
Solution: Scarcity means human wants for goods and services exceed the available supply.
Supply is limited because resources are limited. Demand, however, is virtually unlimited.
Whatever the supply, it seems human nature to want more.
2. Residents of the town of Smithfield like to consume hams, but each ham requires 10
people to produce it and takes a month. If the town has a total of 100 people, what is
the maximum amount of ham the residents can consume in a month?
Solution: 100 people / 10 people per ham = a maximum of 10 hams per month if all residents
produce ham. Since consumption is limited by production, the maximum number of
hams residents could consume per month is 10.
3. A consultant works for $200 per hour. She likes to eat vegetables, but is not very good
at growing them. Why does it make more economic sense for her to spend her time at
the consulting job and shop for her vegetables?
Solution: She is very productive at her consulting job, but not very productive growing
vegetables. Time spent consulting would produce far more income than it what she
could save growing her vegetables using the same amount of time. So on purely
economic grounds, it makes more sense for her to maximize her income by applying her
labor to what she does best (i.e. specialization of labor).
4. A computer systems engineer could paint her house, but it makes more sense for her
to hire a painter to do it. Explain why.
Solution: The engineer is better at computer science than at painting. Thus, his time is better
spent working for pay at his job and paying a painter to paint his house. Of course, this
assumes he does not paint his house for fun!
5. What would be another example of a “system” in the real world that could serve as a
metaphor for micro and macroeconomics?
Solution: There are many physical systems that would work, for example, the study of planets
(micro) in the solar system (macro), or solar systems (micro) in the galaxy (macro).
6. Suppose we extend the circular flow model to add imports and exports. Copy the
circular flow diagram onto a sheet of paper and then add a foreign country as a third
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
agent. Draw the flows of imports, exports, and the payments for each on your
diagram.
Solution: Draw a box outside the original circular flow to represent the foreign country. Draw an
arrow from the foreign country to firms, to represents imports. Draw an arrow in the
reverse direction representing payments for imports. Draw an arrow from firms to the
foreign country to represent exports. Draw an arrow in the reverse direction to
represent payments for imports.
7. What is an example of a problem in the world today, not mentioned in the chapter,
that has an economic dimension?
Solution: There are many such problems. Consider the AIDS epidemic. Why are so few AIDS
patients in Africa and Southeast Asia treated with the same drugs that are effective in
the United States and Europe? It is because neither those patients nor the countries in
which they live have the resources to purchase the same drugs.
8. The chapter defines private enterprise as a characteristic of market-oriented
economies. What would public enterprise be? Hint: It is a characteristic of command
economies.
Solution: Public enterprise means the factors of production (resources and businesses) are
owned and operated by the government.
9. Why might Belgium, France, Italy, and Sweden have a higher export to GDP ratio than
the United States?
Solution: The United States is a large country economically speaking, so it has less need to trade
internationally than the other countries mentioned. (This is the same reason that France
and Italy have lower ratios than Belgium or Sweden.) One additional reason is that each
of the other countries is a member of the European Union, where trade between
members occurs without barriers to trade, like tariffs and quotas.
Review Questions
10. Give the three reasons that explain why the division of labor increases an economy’s
level of production.
Solution: First, division of labor allows for specialization, in which workers do what they do
best, second, workers learn to be more efficient, and third, businesses can take
advantage of economies of scale.
11. What are three reasons to study economics?
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
, Openstax Principles of Economics 3e
Solution: Economics factors into every major policy decision, economics encourages good
citizenship, and economics makes for a well-rounded education.
12. What is the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics?
Solution: Microeconomics focuses of individual actors within an economy, whereas
macroeconomics focuses on the economy as a whole, or the sum of all individual
actions.
13. What are examples of individual economic agents?
Solution: Individuals, households and businesses are all economic agents.
14. What are the three main goals of macroeconomics?
Solution: Growth in the standard of living, low unemployment and low inflation.
15. How did John Maynard Keynes define economics?
Solution: As a method of thinking that help people draw correct conclusions.
16. Are households primarily buyers or sellers in the goods and services market? In the
labor market?
Solution: Households are primarily buyers in the goods and services market, as they use their
income to purchase food, housing, education, transportation and many other items.
Households are typically sellers in the labor market, offering their labor for a salary or
hourly wage in order to earn a living.
17. Are firms primarily buyers or sellers in the goods and services market? In the labor
market?
Solution: Firms are primarily sellers in the goods and services market, offering their wares to
consumers. They are primarily buyers in the labor market, hiring employees to produce
for them.
18. What are the three ways that societies can organize themselves economically?
Solution: As a command economy, a market economy, or a mixture of the two.
19. What is globalization? How do you think it might have affected the economy over the
past decade?
This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
