Economics -- Week 2, Part A

Supply is the quantity of goods and services that producers offer at various possible prices during a given time period. Profit is the key motivation behind suppliers' behavior in providing goods to the marketplace. The supply of goods can be either elastic or inelastic. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain the difference between supply and quantity supplied - Explain what the law of supply states - Explain what supply schedules and supply curves illustrate - Describe supply elasticity

The price system's limitations sometimes lead governments to intervene in the market. Governments may set prices by establishing price ceilings and price floors that are intended to protect producers and consumers from dramatic price swings. Managing prices interferes with the normal interaction between supply and demand, however, and can maintain or even worsen market imbalances. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain why governments sometimes set prices - Explain what governments try to accomplish through price floors, price ceilings, and rationing - Explain what happens when governments manage prices

To secure their rights, many U.S. workers organized labor unions. These unions struggled for higher wages, improved working conditions, and job security for workers. Labor union membership has declined in recent years, resulting from several factors. In many ways, unions have tried to face these challenges. In addition, the government's attitude toward unions has changed during the last century - swinging from regular support of business owners in the late 1800s to passing laws to protect workers' rights in the early 1900s. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain why labor unions were developed - Describe how labor unions are organized - Identify the main challenges facing unions today - Examine how government attitudes toward labor unions have changed

Currently, all governments develop budgets to help them plan revenues and the amounts and direction of expenditures. The federal government has full-time executive and legislative offices that work only on the budget, resulting in increased federal spending since World War II. There are several ways in which the federal budget can be balanced. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain how the federal budget is developed - Identify what role deficit spending plays in the economy - Describe the methods the government can use to balance the federal budget

The determinants of supply are the factors other than price can affect supply of a product over time, shifting the supply curve to the left or right. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain what it means for a product's supply to shift - Identify factors that might cause a product's supply curve to shift - Describe the difference between a tax and a subsidy