Asked plainly
“Help me study for my exam with these notes.”
Your notes cover the core of the topic. Here they are as one connected story, followed by a self-test.
The big picture
Buyers and sellers respond to price in opposite ways. The price settles where those responses balance. If something stops the price from settling there, you get a surplus or a shortage.
Key ideas, explained
Demand slopes down. When price rises, people buy less. Price and quantity demanded move in opposite directions.
Supply slopes up. When price rises, sellers want to produce and sell more.
Equilibrium. This is the price where the curves cross, so quantity demanded equals quantity supplied. At that price there is no pressure for the price to change.
Surplus and shortage. Use this memory trick: the side with the bigger quantity "wins" the label.
- Price above equilibrium: suppliers want to sell more than buyers want to buy (Qs > Qd), so there is a surplus. Sellers cut prices, and the price falls toward equilibrium.
- Price below equilibrium: buyers want more than sellers offer (Qd > Qs), so there is a shortage. Buyers bid prices up, and the price rises toward equilibrium.
Price elasticity = % change in quantity ÷ % change in price.
- Example: price rises 10% and quantity demanded falls 20%. Elasticity = −20 ÷ 10 = −2. It is usually reported as the absolute value, 2.
- If the value is above 1, demand is elastic, meaning buyers are very sensitive to price. If it is below 1, demand is inelastic. If it equals 1, it is unit elastic. Your notes don't list these cutoffs, but they are very likely to be tested, so check your textbook.
Substitutes and complements shift demand.
- Substitutes (coffee and tea): if coffee gets more expensive, demand for tea shifts right.
- Complements (coffee and cream): if coffee gets more expensive, demand for cream shifts left.
Price ceiling below equilibrium. The price is legally capped under the market price, so quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied. The result is a shortage. Rent control is the standard example.
Common exam traps
- Movement along a curve vs. a shift of the curve. A change in the good's own price moves you along the curve (a change in quantity demanded). A change in something else, such as the price of a substitute, shifts the whole curve (a change in demand).
- Ceiling above equilibrium. It does nothing, because the market price is already below it. Only a ceiling set below equilibrium causes a shortage.
- Mixing up surplus and shortage. Re-derive it each time by comparing Qs and Qd at the given price instead of trying to remember it.
Self-test
Try these before looking at the answers.
- At a price above equilibrium, is there a surplus or a shortage? What happens to the price?
- The price of butter rises. What happens to the demand curve for margarine (a substitute)?
- A 5% price increase causes quantity demanded to fall 15%. What is the elasticity, and is demand elastic or inelastic?
- A city caps rent above the equilibrium rent. What is the effect?
- True or false: a rise in the price of a good shifts its own demand curve to the left.
Answers
- Surplus. The price falls toward equilibrium.
- It shifts right, because people switch to margarine.
- 15 ÷ 5 = 3, so demand is elastic.
- No effect. The ceiling is non-binding.
- False. It is a movement along the demand curve (a lower quantity demanded), not a shift.
Gaps to check
Your notes don't mention what shifts the supply curve (input costs, technology), price floors (the mirror image of ceilings, causing surpluses), or how to calculate elasticity with the midpoint method. If your exam might cover any of those, it's worth adding them.
If you tell me the exam format (multiple choice, short answer, graph drawing, calculations), I can tailor this. I can also make flashcards, or quiz you one question at a time and give feedback on your answers.