Social Sciences
ECON 1010-- Economics as a Social ScienceI took ECON 1010 Economics as a Social science to fulfill one of my Social Science general education requirements. For this class I am posting one document: an essay summarizing the economic theory on the concept of supply and demand and its effect on the economy, and a one paragraph reflective statement describing why the concept of supply and demand is important for economists to study and for individuals, households, and firms to utilize, as well as its affects on me in my personal life.
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One-Page Essay on Supply and Demand and Reflective Statement
SupplyAndDemandEssay&Reflection.pdf | |
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Supply and Demand Reflection
Supply and demand are important for economists to study, especially when it comes to the question of what to produce as a nation. Economists working for the government are able to use the market mechanism to determine how best to allocate scarce government resources to achieve the optimal mix of output for our country. They can do this by looking at the market supply and demand curves for various products and services. For example, if there is a market shortage for wheat, and there is a higher demand for wheat than farmers can afford to meet, the government can decide to subsidize the production of this staple grain. This would shift the supply curve for wheat to the right, so that farmers are able to produce more wheat at any given price, and the quantity of wheat produced would be able to increase while its price stayed the same, ensuring that civilian demand is met and wheat farmers can still profit at a higher production level. Similarly, government economists might notice (by analyzing market supply and demand) that more healthcare is demanded that can be supplied at a reasonable price, leaving lesswealthy consumers uninsured and at risk to fall into unjust medical debt. The government can then fix this market shortage by allocating more resources to health insurance providers, enabling them to provide on a sliding scale where everyone is capable of paying for insurance and providers can still profit at a lower price. I see the forces of supply and demand at work in my personal life as they pertain to my job. I work for a restaurant where the demand for the food we produce has recently skyrocketed, because of a high rating in a popular national publication. We are now receiving more customers than we are prepared to serve with our current size of facility, amount of workers, and amount of machinery. We are selling out of the popular menu items by the middle of every business day. The owners of the business had to hire more workers in the shortterm to cover their own shifts on the premises so they are able to go out and look for a second kitchen to prepare a larger quantity of food in at the start of each day. When they purchase these additional facilities they will be able to supply at a level closer to consumer demand, but they should also raise their prices to maximize profits. If they keep their prices at the same level, they will not make enough profit to cover rising costs (labor, facilities, and materials). While they are selling their services to consumers in the product market, I am selling my services (my labor) to them in the factor market.
Supply and demand are important for economists to study, especially when it comes to the question of what to produce as a nation. Economists working for the government are able to use the market mechanism to determine how best to allocate scarce government resources to achieve the optimal mix of output for our country. They can do this by looking at the market supply and demand curves for various products and services. For example, if there is a market shortage for wheat, and there is a higher demand for wheat than farmers can afford to meet, the government can decide to subsidize the production of this staple grain. This would shift the supply curve for wheat to the right, so that farmers are able to produce more wheat at any given price, and the quantity of wheat produced would be able to increase while its price stayed the same, ensuring that civilian demand is met and wheat farmers can still profit at a higher production level. Similarly, government economists might notice (by analyzing market supply and demand) that more healthcare is demanded that can be supplied at a reasonable price, leaving lesswealthy consumers uninsured and at risk to fall into unjust medical debt. The government can then fix this market shortage by allocating more resources to health insurance providers, enabling them to provide on a sliding scale where everyone is capable of paying for insurance and providers can still profit at a lower price. I see the forces of supply and demand at work in my personal life as they pertain to my job. I work for a restaurant where the demand for the food we produce has recently skyrocketed, because of a high rating in a popular national publication. We are now receiving more customers than we are prepared to serve with our current size of facility, amount of workers, and amount of machinery. We are selling out of the popular menu items by the middle of every business day. The owners of the business had to hire more workers in the shortterm to cover their own shifts on the premises so they are able to go out and look for a second kitchen to prepare a larger quantity of food in at the start of each day. When they purchase these additional facilities they will be able to supply at a level closer to consumer demand, but they should also raise their prices to maximize profits. If they keep their prices at the same level, they will not make enough profit to cover rising costs (labor, facilities, and materials). While they are selling their services to consumers in the product market, I am selling my services (my labor) to them in the factor market.