Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
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 it.
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 his house, but it makes more sense for him 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 agent. Draw the flows
of imports, exports, and the payments for each on your diagram.
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
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?
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.
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
, Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
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?
Solution: Globalization is an increase in connections and economic activity across international lines.
Globalization allows small economies to take fuller advantage of the division of labor.
Critical Thinking Questions
20. Suppose you have a team of two workers: one is a baker and one is a chef. Explain why the
kitchen can produce more meals in a given period of time if each worker specializes in what
they do best than if each worker tries to do everything from appetizer to dessert.
Solution: The baker and the chef have specialized skills that allow them to be more productive in certain
areas than in others. The baker will be able to make a pie faster than the chef, and the chef will
be better at cooking the main course. By each worker doing what he does best, productivity and
efficiency are maximized and total output is greater.
21. Why would division of labor without trade not work?
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
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 it.
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 his house, but it makes more sense for him 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 agent. Draw the flows
of imports, exports, and the payments for each on your diagram.
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
,Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
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?
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.
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
, Openstax Principles of Economics 2e
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?
Solution: Globalization is an increase in connections and economic activity across international lines.
Globalization allows small economies to take fuller advantage of the division of labor.
Critical Thinking Questions
20. Suppose you have a team of two workers: one is a baker and one is a chef. Explain why the
kitchen can produce more meals in a given period of time if each worker specializes in what
they do best than if each worker tries to do everything from appetizer to dessert.
Solution: The baker and the chef have specialized skills that allow them to be more productive in certain
areas than in others. The baker will be able to make a pie faster than the chef, and the chef will
be better at cooking the main course. By each worker doing what he does best, productivity and
efficiency are maximized and total output is greater.
21. Why would division of labor without trade not work?
This file is copyright 2018, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.
