Essential Foundations of Economics, 10th Edition Robin Bade Michael Parkin
Chapter 1-20
Chapter 1 Getting Started
1.1 Definition and Questions
1) Scarcity exists because
A) human wants exceed the resources available to satisfy them.
B) some individuals have low income.
C) the costs of production are high.
D) some people make bad economic decisions.
E) people take too much leisure time.
Answer: A
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
2) Scarcity
A) is the inability to satisfy all our wants.
B) leads to higher prices.
C) applies only to people living in poverty.
D) is not something that affects very rich people.
E) used to exist everywhere but has been eliminated in advanced economies.
Answer: A
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
3) Scarcity requires that we
A) produce efficiently.
B) learn to limit our wants.
C) have the most rapid economic growth possible.
D) have unlimited resources.
E) make choices about what goods and services to produce.
Answer: E
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
,4) Scarcity means that
A) what we can produce with our resources is greater than our material wants.
B) resources are unlimited.
C) wants are greater than what we can produce with our resources.
D) governments must make up for shortages in resources.
E) choices made in self-interest cannot be the same as those made in the social interest.
Answer: C
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Revised
AACSB: Reflective thinking
5) Because human wants are insatiable and unlimited while available resources are limited, people are
said to face the problem of
A) scarcity.
B) why to produce.
C) macroeconomics.
D) microeconomics.
E) social interest versus self-interest.
Answer: A
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
6) Which of the following statements best describes the study of economics? Economics studies how
A) to organize production so that scarcity does not occur.
B) firms make profits.
C) we make choices in the face of scarcity.
D) to create incentives so that scarcity does not exist.
E) businesses reach decisions.
Answer: C
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
7) Scarcity forces people to
A) choose among available alternatives.
B) cheat and steal.
C) be unwilling to help others.
D) live at a low standard of living.
E) consume as much as they can as quickly as they can.
Answer: A
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 2 - conceptual
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
8) Scarcity means we must
A) consume less.
,B) produce less.
C) make choices.
D) earn more.
E) work more.
Answer: C
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
9) What is the reason that all economic issues and problems occur?
A) All nations use some form of money to buy and sell goods and services.
B) Humans are always wasteful and inefficient in production and consumption.
C) Powerful governments are able to control production and consumption.
D) Human wants exceed the resources available to satisfy them.
E) People seek only their own self-interest.
Answer: D
Topic: Scarcity
Skill: 2 - conceptual
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
10) The study of economics is best described as a study of
A) the factors that influence the stock and bond markets.
B) capitalism.
C) the choices made in producing goods and services.
D) coping with scarcity, and choices made as a result of scarcity in a society.
E) how people earn a living.
Answer: D
Topic: Definition of economics
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
11) Which of the following statements best describes the study of economics? Economics studies how
A) to organize production so that scarcity does not occur.
B) firms make profits.
C) we make choices in the face of scarcity.
D) to create incentives so that scarcity does not exist.
E) businesses reach decisions.
Answer: C
Topic: Definition of economics
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
12) Which of the following best defines economics?
A) Economics teaches how to limit our wants.
B) Economics studies how to choose the best alternative when coping with scarcity.
C) Economics helps you earn as much money as possible.
D) Economics analyzes all aspects of human behavior in general.
, E) Economics is concerned with prices and quantities of goods and services, both at the individual level
and at the industry level.
Answer: B
Topic: Definition of economics
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
13) Economics is the social science that studies
A) the real reasons people buy goods and services.
B) the psychology of individuals and businesses.
C) whether a nation has enough natural resources.
D) how people make choices to cope with scarcity.
E) how choices made in the social interest could eliminate scarcity.
Answer: D
Topic: Definition of economics
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
14) Economics is best defined as the social science that studies
A) how a person can get everything he or she wants.
B) the reason money exists.
C) the way to eliminate choices in our decisions.
D) the choices that societies, and the people and institutions that make up societies, make in dealing with
the issue of scarcity.
E) how choices made in the social interest must conflict with choices made in the self-interest.
Answer: D
Topic: Definition of economics
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
15) Microeconomics includes the study of the
A) aggregate effects on the national economy.
B) recessions and inflation in the global economy.
C) choices made by individuals and businesses.
D) reasons why the government changes interest rates.
E) nationwide unemployment rate.
Answer: C
Topic: Microeconomics
Skill: 1 - analytical
Section: Checkpoint 1.1
Status: Old
AACSB: Reflective thinking
16) The primary focus of microeconomics is
A) to examine the operation of the entire (aggregate) economy.
B) to examine the behavior and operation of the individual units or sectors that make up the economy.
C) our government's monetary policy.
D) the levels of employment and inflation.
E) to study how we managed to eliminate scarcity.