Unit 1: Economics and Globalization

Lesson 3b: Supply

Introduction

 

If the price of pizza goes up what happens to the SUPPLY of pizza? NOTHING!

A change in the price of a product does not affect its supply, or its demand. When the price goes up the QUANTITY SUPPLIED will increase, but the supply does not change. Learn the difference between "supply" and "quantity supplied". "Supply" does NOT MEAN the quantity available for sale. Supply has a different definition in economics. "Supply" means the "Supply graph".

So what would cause the supply graph, or supply itself, to change? Those things that cause supply to change are called the "non-price determinants of supply". They are: Pe, Pog, Pres, Tech, Tax, Nprod or "PPPTTN". See the Yellow Pages.

Remember, the goal of chapter 3 is to learn a model that will help us understand why prices are what they are and why they change. In the next lesson we will put demand and supply together and use the model (graph) to find the prices of products. Then, and more importantly, we will see what causes prices to change.

After completing this chapter, if you hear on the news, or read in your news app, that the price of gasoline is going down, we will be able to explain WHY. The causes of changes in prices of products are the five non-price determinants of demand (Pe, Pog, I, Npot, T) and/or the six non-price determinants of supply (Pe, Pog, Pres, Tech, Tax, Nprod.). Whenever you hear that the price of something is changing think of these 11 possible causes.

 

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Lesson 3b