Demand Curve, Supply Curve & Equilibrium. The Demand Curve

A price ceiling is a government-levied maximum rate for a product or good. When a price ceiling inflicted by the government is more than retail equilibrium price, the price ceiling has no effect on the market or economy. This is because it does not obstruct supply, nor does it boost the demand. A different effect transpires if the government imposes a price ceiling below the market’s equilibrium rate. The suppliers will no longer be capable of charging the price that the market mandates, but they are required to meet the maximum price determined by the government’s price ceiling. When the demand rises beyond the capability to supply, shortages ensue. This leads to rationing of the product, causing some consumers to experience longer lines to obtain the product. In a worse case, there would be no products available for the consumer to buy.

However, when the equilibrium price is beyond the expectation of a fair market value, for reasons of political or social concerns governments will intervene in the market and establish limits on such things as wages, apartment rents, electricity, or agricultural commodities. Government uses price ceilings and price floors to keep prices below or above market equilibrium. (Stone, 2012, page 68)

It is important to note that since the demand curve is not one point on the graph, but multiple points, it allows for the market to have surplus and shortages. This allows a product or service to be priced above the equilibrium price, with a lower demand, which will create a surplus. It is

In some cases where products produced by the government are subsidized then privatization leads to an increase in prices, when the government owns these firms then the consumers will experience a reduction in the price of goods and services produced by these firms and therefore gain.

Supply is the total amount of a specific good that is available to the consumers. The supply of lobsters depends on the ocean temperature and since the ocean temperature is increasing, lobsters may once again come in a couple more weeks earlier than usual. In 2012, this caused the quantity of lobster to increase significantly, thus the supply curve shifted to the right. The shift caused the equilibrium price to decrease and the quantity to increase. On the other hand, if the ocean temperature is too low, then the lobster production rate is lowered. The supply curve will then shift to the left and cause the equilibrium price to increase and the quantity to decrease. The lobsterman cannot control the supply of lobsters since the production depends on the temperature. Another economic topic that came to my mind is the demand of a product. Demand is a consumer’s willingness to pay a price for a specific good. The demand curve would shift to the right if the price of the lobsters decreases due to mass production and vice

Red line goes up. Not enough supply. New equilibrium point (higher on the price axis) *shift to the right. * price increase and quantity increase.

If the government puts in a price ceiling, then the quantity demanded will exceed the quantity supplied, meaning that not enough goods or services will be supplied to satisfy demand. This situation is called a shortage. Because price ceilings are installed in the interests of

The market price of a good is determined by both the supply and demand for it. In the world today supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental principles that exists for economics and the backbone of a market economy. Supply is represented by how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good that producers are willing to supply for a certain demand price. What determines this interconnection is how much of a good or service is supplied to the market or otherwise known as the supply relationship or supply schedule which is graphically represented by the supply curve. In demand the schedule is depicted graphically as the demand curve which represents the

Use University of Phoenix Material: Appendix A to create graphs illustrating the equilibrating process in price relation to the shift in supply and demand.

Understanding the fundamental concepts of economics allows us to analyze laws that have a direct bearing on the economy. These laws and theories are essentially the backbone of how economics is used and studied. The law of demand can be expressed by stating that as long as all other factors remain constant, as prices rise, the quantity of demand for that product falls. Conversely, as the price falls, the quantity of demand for that product rises (Colander, 2006, p 91). Price is the tool used that controls how much consumers want based on how much they demand. At any given price a certain quantity of a product is demanded by consumers. As the price decreases, the quantity of the products demanded will increase. This indicates that more individuals demand the good or service as the price is lowered. This can be illustrated using the demand curve. The demand curve is a downward sloping line that illustrates the inversely related relationship of price and quantity demanded.

This graph shows that the % change in demand is greater than the % change in price. This is shown by the downwards movement in the demand curve. The higher price P2 shows less is being demanded Q2 the lower price P3 shows an increase in the quantity demanded Q3.

The demand curve shows what happens to the quantity demanded of a good when its price varies, holding constant all the other variables that influence buyers. When one or more of these other variables changes, the demand curve shifts leading to an increase or decrease in demand. The table below lists all the variables that influence how much consumers choose to buy cigarettes.4

The following graph demonstrate the demand curve of how many items of a product or service a consumer would like to purchase at different prices. Now by having the product at a lower price, the more a consumer is likely to buy. For that same reason it can be concluded that the price is one major factor of the product demand.

Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. Demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship. Supply represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand.

Elasticity of demand is shown when the demands for a service or goods vary according to the price. Cross-price elasticity is shown by a change in the demand for an item relative to the change in the price of another. For substitutes, when there is a price increase of an item, there is an increase in the demand for another item. When viewing complements, if there is an increase in the price of an item, the demand for another item decreases. Income elasticity is shown when there is a change in the demand for a good relative to a change in income. This concept is shown in how people will change their spending habits when their income levels change. For