ECON 110: HW 2 – Flashcards

Economists use some familiar terms in specialized ways a. to make the subject sound more complex than it is. b. because every respectable field of study has its own language. c. to provide a new and useful way of thinking about the world. d. because it was too difficult to come up with new terms.

The essence of science is a. the laboratory experiment. b. the scientific method. c. the study of nature, but not the study of society. d. All of the above are correct.

The goal of an economist who formulates new theories is to a. provide an interesting framework of analysis, whether or not the framework turns out to be of much use in understanding how the world works. b. provoke stimulating debate in scientific journals. c. contribute to an understanding of how the world works. d. demonstrate that economists, like other scientists, can formulate testable theories.

Because it is difficult for economists to use experiments to generate data, they generally must a. do without data. b. substitute assumptions for data when data are unavailable. c. rely upon hypothetical data that were previously concocted by other economists. d. use whatever data the world gives them.

Economists make assumptions to a. mimic the methodologies employed by other scientists. b. minimize the number of experiments that yield no useful data. c. minimize the likelihood that some aspect of the problem at hand is being overlooked. d. focus their thinking on the essence of the problem at hand.

When studying the effects of public policy changes, economists a. always refrain from making assumptions. b. sometimes make different assumptions about the short run and the long run. c. consider only the direct effects of those policy changes and not the indirect effects. d. consider only the short-run effects of those policy changes and not the long-run effects.

Economic models a. cannot be useful if they are based on false assumptions. b. were once thought to be useful, but that is no longer true. c. must incorporate all aspects of the economy if they are to be useful. d. can be useful, even if they are not particularly realistic.

A circular-flow diagram is a model that a. helps to explain how participants in the economy interact with one another. b. helps to explain how the economy is organized. c. incorporates all aspects of the real economy. d. Both (a) and (b) are correct.

The two loops in the circular-flow diagram represent a. the flow of goods and the flow of services. b. the flow of dollars and the flow of financial assets. c. the flow of inputs into production processes and the flow of outputs from production processes. d. the flows of inputs and outputs and the flow of dollars.

Any point on a country's production possibilities frontier represents a combination of two goods that an economy a. will never be able to produce. b. can produce using all available resources and technology. c. can produce using some portion, but not all, of its resources and technology. d. may be able to produce in the future with more resources and/or superior technology.

The bowed shape of the production possibilities frontier can be explained by the fact that a. all resources are scarce. b. economic growth is always occurring. c. the opportunity cost of one good in terms of the other depends on how much of each good the economy is producing. d. the only way to get more of one good is to get less of the other.

A macroeconomist — as opposed to a microeconomist — might study the effect of a. changes in the money supply on the inflation rate. b. an increase in the gas tax on fuel consumption. c. a technological advance on the natural gas industry. d. a hurricane on prices in the orange industry.

Which of the following statements is correct about the roles of economists? a. Economists are best viewed as policy advisers. b. Economists are best viewed as scientists. c. In trying to explain the world, economists are policy advisers; in trying to improve the world, they are scientists. d. In trying to explain the world, economists are scientists; in trying to improve the world, they are policy advisers.

One way to characterize the difference between positive statements and normative statements is as follows: a. Positive statements tend to reflect optimism about the economy and its future, whereas normative statements tend to reflect pessimism about the economy and its future. b. Positive statements offer descriptions of the way things are, whereas normative statements offer opinions on how things ought to be. c. Positive statements involve advice on policy matters, whereas normative statements are supported by scientific theory and observation. d. Economists outside of government tend to make normative statements, whereas government-employed economists tend to make positive statements.

With the resources it has, an economy can produce at any point on or outside the production possibilities frontier, but it cannot produce at points inside the frontier. True False

When a production possibilities frontier is bowed outward, the opportunity cost of one good in terms of the other is constant. True False