Supply side policies are efforts to increase competitiveness and efficiency in the economy. They can include policies such as tax cuts, privatisation, investment in education and more flexible labour markets. Usually, supply side policies are long-term efforts to increase productivity and the long-run trend rate of growth. The traditional solution to a recession is to …
In economics a shortage occurs when demand is greater than supply, causing unfulfilled demand. A shortage can occur due to Temporary supply constraints, e.g. supply disruption due to weather or accident at a factory. Fixed prices – and unexpected surge in demand, e.g. demand for fuel in cold winter. Government price controls, such as maximum …
An import quota is a limit on the amount of imports that can be brought into a particular country. For example, the US may limit the number of Japanese car imports to 2 million per year. Quotas will reduce imports, and help domestic suppliers. However, they will lead to higher prices for consumers, a decline …
Readers Question: What happens when the government subsidizes a product? A subsidy means the government pays part of the cost. For example, the government may give farmers a subsidy of £10 for every kilo of potatoes. The effect is to shift the supply curve to the right, leading to lower price and higher quantity demanded Diagram …
Governments intervene in markets to try and overcome market failure. The government may also seek to improve the distribution of resources (greater equality). The aims of government intervention in markets include Stabilise prices Provide producers/farmers with a minimum income To avoid excessive prices for goods with important social welfare Discourage demerit goods/encourage merit good Forms …
Definition of Market Failure – This occurs when there is an inefficient allocation of resources in a free market. Market failure can occur due to a variety of reasons, such as monopoly (higher prices and less output), negative externalities (over-consumed and costs to third party) and public goods (usually not provided in a free market) …
Supply refers to the quantity of a good that the producer plans to sell in the market. Supply will be determined by factors such as price, the number of suppliers, the state of technology, government subsidies, weather conditions and the availability of workers to produce the good. Movement along the supply curve As price increases …
Definition of fiscal policy Fiscal policy involves the government changing the levels of taxation and government spending in order to influence aggregate demand (AD) and the level of economic activity. AD is the total level of planned expenditure in an economy (AD = C+ I + G + X – M) The purpose of Fiscal …