曼昆经济学原理微观经济学英文版习题答案(考试章节筛选)

《曼昆经济学原理微观经济学英文版习题答案(考试章节筛选)》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《曼昆经济学原理微观经济学英文版习题答案(考试章节筛选)（88页珍藏版）》请在装配图网上搜索。

1、如果您需要使用本文档，请点击下载按钮下载!曼昆经济学原理微观经济学英文版课后习题答案（考试章节筛选）UNIT 1SOLUTIONS TO TEXT PROBLEMS:Quick Quizzes1.The four principles of economic decisionmaking are: (1) people face tradeoffs; (2) the cost of something is what you give up to get it; (3) rational people think at the margin; and (4) people respond to

2、 incentives. People face tradeoffs because to get one thing that they like, they usually have to give up another thing that they like. The cost of something is what you give up to get it, not just in terms of monetary costs but all opportunity costs. Rational people think at the margin by taking an

3、action if and only if the marginal benefits exceed the marginal costs. People respond to incentives because as they compare benefits to costs, a change in incentives may cause their behavior to change.2.The three principles concerning economic interactions are: (1) trade can make everyone better off

4、; (2) markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity; and (3) governments can sometimes improve market outcomes. Trade can make everyone better off because it allows countries to specialize in what they do best and to enjoy a wider variety of goods and services. Markets are usually a g

5、ood way to organize economic activity because the invisible hand leads markets to desirable outcomes. Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes because sometimes markets fail to allocate resources efficiently because of an externality or market power.3.The three principles that describe how

6、the economy as a whole works are: (1) a countrys standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services; (2) prices rise when the government prints too much money; and (3) society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. A countrys standard of living depends on

7、 its ability to produce goods and services, which in turn depends on its productivity, which is a function of the education of workers and the access workers have to the necessary tools and technology. Prices rise when the government prints too much money because more money in circulation reduces th

8、e value of money, causing inflation. Society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment that is only temporary and policymakers have some ability to exploit this relationship using various policy instruments.Questions for Review1.Examples of tradeoffs include time tradeoffs (such

9、as studying one subject over another, or studying at all compared to engaging in social activities) and spending tradeoffs (such as whether to use your last ten dollars on pizza or on a study guide for that tough economics course).2.The opportunity cost of seeing a movie includes the monetary cost o

10、f admission plus the time cost of going to the theater and attending the show. The time cost depends on what else you might do with that time; if its staying home and watching TV, the time cost may be small, but if its working an extra three hours at your job, the time cost is the money you could ha

11、ve earned.3.The marginal benefit of a glass of water depends on your circumstances. If youve just run a marathon, or youve been walking in the desert sun for three hours, the marginal benefit is very high. But if youve been drinking a lot of liquids recently, the marginal benefit is quite low. The p

12、oint is that even the necessities of life, like water, dont always have large marginal benefits.4.Policymakers need to think about incentives so they can understand how people will respond to the policies they put in place. The texts example of seat belts shows that policy actions can have quite uni

13、ntended consequences. If incentives matter a lot, they may lead to a very different type of policy; for example, some economists have suggested putting knives in steering columns so that people will drive much more carefully! While this suggestion is silly, it highlights the importance of incentives

14、.5.Trade among countries isnt a game with some losers and some winners because trade can make everyone better off. By allowing specialization, trade between people and trade between countries can improve everyones welfare.6.The invisible hand of the marketplace represents the idea that even though i

15、ndividuals and firms are all acting in their own self-interest, prices and the marketplace guide them to do what is good for society as a whole.7.The two main causes of market failure are externalities and market power. An externality is the impact of one persons actions on the well-being of a bysta

16、nder, such as from pollution or the creation of knowledge. Market power refers to the ability of a single person (or small group of people) to unduly influence market prices, such as in a town with only one well or only one cable television company. In addition, a market economy also leads to an une

17、qual distribution of income.8.Productivity is important because a countrys standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services. The greater a countrys productivity (the amount of goods and services produced from each hour of a workers time), the greater will be its standard of li

18、ving.9.Inflation is an increase in the overall level of prices in the economy. Inflation is caused by increases in the quantity of a nations money.10.Inflation and unemployment are negatively related in the short run. Reducing inflation entails costs to society in the form of higher unemployment in

19、the short run. 如果您需要使用本文档，请点击下载按钮下载!Problems and Applications1. a.A family deciding whether to buy a new car faces a tradeoff between the cost of the car and other things they might want to buy. For example, buying the car might mean they must give up going on vacation for the next two years. So the

20、 real cost of the car is the familys opportunity cost in terms of what they must give up.b.For a member of Congress deciding whether to increase spending on national parks, the tradeoff is between parks and other spending items or tax cuts. If more money goes into the park system, that may mean less

21、 spending on national defense or on the police force. Or, instead of spending more money on the park system, taxes could be reduced.c.When a company president decides whether to open a new factory, the decision is based on whether the new factory will increase the firms profits compared to other alt

22、ernatives. For example, the company could upgrade existing equipment or expand existing factories. The bottom line is: Which method of expanding production will increase profit the most?d.In deciding how much to prepare for class, a professor faces a tradeoff between the value of improving the quali

23、ty of the lecture compared to other things she could do with her time, such as working on additional research.2.When the benefits of something are psychological, such as going on a vacation, it isnt easy to compare benefits to costs to determine if its worth doing. But there are two ways to think ab

24、out the benefits. One is to compare the vacation with what you would do in its place. If you didnt go on vacation, would you buy something like a new set of golf clubs? Then you can decide if youd rather have the new clubs or the vacation. A second way is to think about how much work you had to do t

25、o earn the money to pay for the vacation; then you can decide if the psychological benefits of the vacation were worth the psychological cost of working.3.If you are thinking of going skiing instead of working at your part-time job, the cost of skiing includes its monetary and time costs, which incl

26、udes the opportunity cost of the wages you are giving up by not working. If the choice is between skiing and going to the library to study, then the cost of skiing is its monetary and time costs including the cost to you of getting a lower grade in your course.4.If you spend $100 now instead of savi

27、ng it for a year and earning 5 percent interest, you are giving up the opportunity to spend $105 a year from now. The idea that money has a time value is the basis for the field of finance, the subfield of economics that has to do with prices of financial instruments like stocks and bonds.5.The fact

28、 that youve already sunk $5 million isnt relevant to your decision anymore, since that money is gone. What matters now is the chance to earn profits at the margin. If you spend another $1 million and can generate sales of $3 million, youll earn $2 million in marginal profit, so you should do so. You

29、 are right to think that the project has lost a total of $3 million ($6 million in costs and only $3 million in revenue) and you shouldnt have started it. Thats true, but if you dont spend the additional $1 million, you wont have any sales and your losses will be $5 million. So what matters is not t

30、he total profit, but the profit you can earn at the margin. In fact, youd pay up to $3 million to complete development; any more than that, and you wont be increasing profit at the margin.6.Harry suggests looking at whether productivity would rise or fall. Productivity is certainly important, since

31、the more productive workers are, the lower the cost per gallon of potion. Ron wants to look at average cost. But both Harry and Ron are missing the other side of the equationrevenue. A firm wants to maximize its profits, so it needs to examine both costs and revenues. Thus, Hermione is rightits best

32、 to examine whether the extra revenue would exceed the extra costs. Hermione is the only one who is thinking at the margin.7.a.The provision of Social Security benefits lowers an individuals incentive to save for retirement. The benefits provide some level of income to the individual when he or she

33、retires. This means that the individual is not entirely dependent on savings to support consumption through the years in retirement.b.Since a person gets fewer after-tax Social Security benefits the greater is his or her earnings, there is an incentive not to work (or not work as much) after age 65.

34、 The more you work, the lower your after-tax Social Security benefits will be. Thus the taxation of Social Security benefits discourages work effort after age 65.8.a.When welfare recipients who are able to work have their benefits cut off after two years, they have greater incentive to find jobs tha

35、n if their benefits were to last forever.b.The loss of benefits means that someone who cant find a job will get no income at all, so the distribution of income will become less equal. But the economy will be more efficient, since welfare recipients have a greater incentive to find jobs. Thus the cha

36、nge in the law is one that increases efficiency but reduces equity.如果您需要使用本文档，请点击下载按钮下载!9.By specializing in each task, you and your roommate can finish the chores more quickly. If you divided each task equally, it would take you more time to cook than it would take your roommate, and it would take

37、him more time to clean than it would take you. By specializing, you reduce the total time spent on chores.Similarly, countries can specialize and trade, making both better off. For example, suppose it takes Spanish workers less time to make clothes than French workers, and French workers can make wi

38、ne more efficiently than Spanish workers. Then Spain and France can both benefit if Spanish workers produce all the clothes and French workers produce all the wine, and they exchange some wine for some clothes.10.a.Being a central planner is tough! To produce the right number of CDs by the right art

39、ists and deliver them to the right people requires an enormous amount of information. You need to know about production techniques and costs in the CD industry. You need to know each persons musical tastes and which artists they want to hear. If you make the wrong decisions, youll be producing too m

40、any CDs by artists that people dont want to hear, and not enough by others.b.Your decisions about how many CDs to produce carry over to other decisions. You have to make the right number of CD players for people to use. If you make too many CDs and not enough cassette tapes, people with cassette pla

41、yers will be stuck with CDs they cant play. The probability of making mistakes is very high. You will also be faced with tough choices about the music industry compared to other parts of the economy. If you produce more sports equipment, youll have fewer resources for making CDs. So all decisions ab

42、out the economy influence your decisions about CD production.11.a. Efficiency: The market failure comes from the monopoly by the cable TV firm.b.Equityc.Efficiency: An externality arises because secondhand smoke harms nonsmokers.d.Efficiency: The market failure occurs because of Standard Oils monopo

43、ly power. e.Equityf.Efficiency: There is an externality because of accidents caused by drunk drivers.12.a.If everyone were guaranteed the best health care possible, much more of our nations output would be devoted to medical care than is now the case. Would that be efficient? If you think that curre

44、ntly doctors form a monopoly and restrict health care to keep their incomes high, you might think efficiency would increase by providing more health care. But more likely, if the government mandated increased spending on health care, the economy would be less efficient because it would give people m

45、ore health care than they would choose to pay for. From the point of view of equity, if poor people are less likely to have adequate health care, providing more health care would represent an improvement. Each person would have a more even slice of the economic pie, though the pie would consist of m

46、ore health care and less of other goods. b.When workers are laid off, equity considerations argue for the unemployment benefits system to provide them with some income until they can find new jobs. After all, no one plans to be laid off, so unemployment benefits are a form of insurance. But theres a

47、n efficiency problemwhy work if you can get income for doing nothing? The economy isnt operating efficiently if people remain unemployed for a long time, and unemployment benefits encourage unemployment. Thus, theres a tradeoff between equity and efficiency. The more generous are unemployment benefi

48、ts, the less income is lost by an unemployed person, but the more that person is encouraged to remain unemployed. So greater equity reduces efficiency.13.Since average income in the United States has roughly doubled every 35 years, we are likely to have a better standard of living than our parents,

49、and a much better standard of living than our grandparents. This is mainly the result of increased productivity, so that an hour of work produces more goods and services than it used to. Thus incomes have continuously risen over time, as has the standard of living.14.If Americans save more and it le

50、ads to more spending on factories, there will be an increase in production and productivity, since the same number of workers will have more equipment to work with. The benefits from higher productivity will go to both the workers, who will get paid more since theyre producing more, and the factory

51、owners, who will get a return on their investments. There is no such thing as a free lunch, however, because when people save more, they are giving up spending. They get higher incomes at the cost of buying fewer goods.15.a.If people have more money, they are probably going to spend more on goods an

52、d services.b.If prices are sticky, and people spend more on goods and services, then output may increase, as producers increase output to meet the higher demand rather than raising prices.c.If prices can adjust, then the higher spending of consumers will be matched with increased prices and output w

53、ont rise.16.To make an intelligent decision about whether to reduce inflation, a policymaker would need to know what causes inflation and unemployment, as well as what determines the tradeoff between them. Any attempt to reduce inflation will likely lead to higher unemployment in the short run. A po

54、licymaker thus faces a tradeoff between the benefits of lower inflation compared to the cost of higher unemployment.如果您需要使用本文档，请点击下载按钮下载!UNIT2SOLUTIONS TO TEXT PROBLEMS:Quick Quizzes1.Economics is like a science because economists devise theories, collect data, and analyze the data in an attempt to

55、verify or refute their theories. In other words, economics is based on the scientific method.Figure 1 shows the production possibilities frontier for a society that produces food and clothing. Point A is an efficient point (on the frontier), point B is an inefficient point (inside the frontier), and

56、 point C is an infeasible point (outside the frontier).Figure 1The effects of a drought are shown in Figure 2. The drought reduces the amount of food that can be produced, shifting the production possibilities frontier inward.Figure 2Microeconomics is the study of how households and firms make decis

57、ions and how they interact in markets. Macroeconomics is the study of economy-wide phenomena, including inflation, unemployment, and economic growth.2.An example of a positive statement is “higher taxes discourage work effort” (many other answers are possible). Thats a positive statement because it

58、describes the effects of higher taxes, describing the world as it is. An example of a normative statement is “the government should reduce tax rates.” That is a normative statement because its a claim about how the world should be.Parts of the government that regularly rely on advice from economists

59、 are the Treasury Department in designing tax policy, the Department of Labor in analyzing data on the employment situation, the Justice Department in enforcing the nations antitrust laws, the Congressional Budget Office in evaluating policy proposals, and the Federal Reserve in analyzing economic d

60、evelopments (many other answers are possible).3.Economic advisers to the president might disagree about a question of policy because of differing scientific judgments or differences in values.Questions for Review1.Economics is like a science because economists use the scientific method. They devise

61、theories, collect data, and then analyze these data in an attempt to verify or refute their theories about how the world works. Economists use theory and observation like other scientists, but they are limited in their ability to run controlled experiments. Instead, they must rely on natural experim

62、ents.如果您需要使用本文档，请点击下载按钮下载!2.Economists make assumptions to simplify problems without substantially affecting the answer. Assumptions can make the world easier to understand.3.An economic model cannot describe reality exactly because it would be too complicated to understand. A model is a simplificat

63、ion that allows the economist to see what is truly important.4.Figure 3 shows a production possibilities frontier between milk and cookies (PPF1). If a disease kills half of the economys cow population, less milk production is possible, so the PPF shifts inward (PPF2). Note that if the economy produ

64、ces all cookies, so it doesnt need any cows, then production is unaffected. But if the economy produces any milk at all, then there will be less production possible after the disease hits.Figure 35.The idea of efficiency is that an outcome is efficient if the economy is getting all it can from the scarce resources it has available. In terms of the production possibilities frontier, an efficient point is a point on the frontier, such as point A in Figure 4. A point inside the frontier, such as point B, is inefficient since more of one good could be produced without