The law of supply and demand describes how prices will vary based on the balance between the supply of a product and the demand for that product (Wikipedia, 2005). If there is a balance between the supply, (the availability of the product), and the demand, (how much product the consumers want), then the price for the product would be considered good. If there is an imbalance, the price will change. According to Adam Smith, the invisible hand is a self-adjusting force in the market that corrects the price of a product through supply and demand (Colander, 2006).
When a product is in short supply and there is significant demand for the product, the price will increase (Colander, 2006). When the quantity of the product is greater than the demand, the price will decrease (Colander, 2006).
This assumes there exist a competitive marketplace. This process of price variability based on the supply of a good and the demand for it will continue until a balance is once again reached (Wikipedia, 2005). At that point, equilibrium is said to be established between the supply and the demand.
Kirzner (2000) commented: "The theory of supply and demand is recognized almost universally as the first step toward understanding how market prices are determined." Furthermore, this theory also explains how the price of a product shapes production and consumption decisions (Kirzner, 2000).
Scarcity means there is less of something than is demanded or wanted (Investopedia Inc., 2005). For a nation, for example, scarcity may refer to natural resources, technology, labor, etc. Resources are always limited in one way or another, therefore, individuals, companies, and nations must make decisions related to what the scarce resources are.
Choice may involve a trade-off, for example, a worker needs more money, which he or she can obtain by working longer hours. The trade-off would be less leisure time, less family time. This is viewed as the opportunity cost in making the choice. It is the benefit forgone of the next best alternative to the activity you've chosen. In economic reasoning, that cost is less than the benefit of what you've chosen (Colander, 2006).
The law of supply and demand and the concepts of scarcity and choice are interdependent of each other. If supply and demand are in balance, there is no scarcity, and the only decision a consumer makes is whether or not they want the product and they have the means to pay for it.
Let’s begin with the theory of Scarcity. The concept of demand is directly relatable to the scarcity of an item. Let’s look at Jackson Pollock’s work for example. If only 20 paintings were available created by Jackson Pollock, there would be a much greater demand than if you could purchase them easily at your local art gallery.
We the consumer would rather pay less for any product that is needed or want. Ultimately we are the reason for high prices as well as low prices. Prices of products do not always stay the same and more popular products have higher prices than less popular products. These fluctuations, high prices and low prices are from the idea of supply and demand. Supply and demand defines the effect that the availability of a particular product and the desire or demand for that product has on price. Generally, if there is a low supply and a high demand, the price will be high (Investopedia). To understand the idea of supply and demand, the understanding of supply and the understanding of demand must be defined. The Law of Supply states that at higher prices, producers are willing to offer more products for sale than at lower prices, also that the supply increases as prices increase and decreases as prices decrease (Curriculum Link). The Law of Demand states people will buy more of a product at a lower price than at a higher price, if nothing changes, at a lower price, more people can afford to buy more goods and more of an item more frequently, than they can at a higher price and that at lower prices, people tend to buy some goods as a substitute for others more expensive (Curriculum Link). In todays economics these ideas are seen frequently in everyday life. The laws of supply and demand are seen in many ways in the company Apple Inc. Each year Apple Inc unveils a long awaited mobile operating system and IPhone. We can also see many aspects of the law of supply and demand in Nike Inc’s Jordan Brand. Jordan Brand has released a number of...
In market choice consumers carry the power. Consumers demand products through their willingness and ability to purchase products. As a result of their demand, firms supply or produce goods to satisfy consumers. Both supply and demand can be graphed on supply and demand curves with price as the independent variable and quantity as the dependent variable. The demand curve follows a negative slope, so as the quantity demanded increases price decreases. The supply curve follows an opposite, positive curve, as the quantity supplied increases, so does the price. Looking at both on the same axis we can recognize how supply and demand relate. To see the supply and demand curves for a product, we would look at the quantity supplied verses the quantity
In Book V of his Principles Alfred Marshall describes what he denominated “the state of arts” of the supply and demand theory, going back to Adam Smith. The assumptions then applied to the matter was that 1) demand comes first, 2) it is up to sellers to adjust supply to demand through production and marketing, a mix where the price is the most important variable, and 3) production takes time. Marshall summarized statement 2 later on into a single phrase: “Production and marketing are parts of the single process of adjustment of supply to demand” (MARSHALL, 1919, p. 181). This set of three assumptions suggests that the basic principles of the supply and demand theory collected by Marshall from the work by some scientists were then laid, requiring therefore only the right mathematical treatment.
In economics, particularly microeconomics, demand and supply are defined as, “an economic model of price determination in a market” (Ronald 2010). The price of petrol in Australia is rising, but the demand remains the same, due to the fact that fuel is a necessity. As price rises to higher levels, demand would continue to increase, even if the supply may fall. Singapore is identified as a primary supplier ...
The law of demand tells us that "Quantity demanded rises as price falls, other things constant, or alternatively, quantity demanded falls as price rises, other things constant (McGraw 2004). The XBOX 360 phenomenon that took place in 2005 is a good example of this economic principle at work. Microsoft's XBOX 360 gaming console was released into the U.S. market on November 22nd 2005. The release came after a great deal of advertising and media hype that ensured that the demand for the product would outweigh the supply. Quite simply, there were more consumers wanting to purchase the product than there was product available. The retail price for the gaming system with a hard drive was $399. Many consumers, however, paid a great deal more than the $399 sticker price to acquire the system. On the morning of the U.S. release, retailers across the nation sold out of the product within just a few hours of opening their doors to consumers. In the weeks that followed however, many consumers purchased the unit from sellers on on-line auction sites and even from individuals in parking lots for as much as $1500. The reason for this was that the supply was significantly less than the demand for the product. In some cases, parents who wanted to ensure that their children received and XBOX 360 for Christmas in 2005 were willing to pay well over retail for the hard-to-acquire system. In other cases, video gaming enthusiasts wanted to be among the first individuals to own and play the system. News reports across the nation showed footage of people lining up days ahead of November 22nd in order to secure a place in line at retailers that would have the product available on the release date.
The law of demand states that if everything remains constant (ceteris paribus) when the price is high the lower the quantity demanded. A demand curve displays quantity demanded as the independent variable (the x-axis) and the price as the dependent variable (the y-axis). http://www.netmba.com/econ/micro/demand/curve/
A single firm or company is a producer, all the producers in the market form and industry, and the people places and consumers that an Industry plans to sell their goods is the market. So supply is simply the amount of goods producers, or an industry is willing to sell at a specific prices in a specific time. Subsequently there is a law of supply that reflects a direct relationship between price and quantity supplied. All else being equal the quantity supplied of an item increases as the price of that item increases. Supply curve represents the relationship between the price of the item and the quantity supplied. The Quantity supplied in a market is just the amount that firms are willing to produce and sell now.
With supply solely, factors involved with regulation of the supply also control some aspects of demand. Things such as production costs and desired net profit can determine whether a business succeeds or not. Having a balance between quantity and price is the greatest control any business can have. Pricing is obviously one of the most beneficial, or destructive, parts of a business. Pricing is the first and most valuable thing an individual will look at, which will overrule most other judgments based off of quality and detail. Balancing the price, however, helps to create a pristine product, with just the right amount of detail that will fuel the market, while still generating a steady net income.
In the absence of government intervention, price is determined by demand and supply. The equilibrium price is where demand and supply are equal. At this point there are no forces causing the price to change. The quantity which consumers want to buy will equal the quantity which producers want to sell at the current price.
In conclusion, generally speaking the Law of Supply states that when the selling price of an item rises there are more people willing to produce the item. Since a higher price means more profit for the producer and as the price rises more people will be willing to produce the item when they see that there is more money to be earned. Meanwhile the Law of Demand states that when the price of an item goes down, the demand for it will go up. When the price drops people who could not afford the item can now buy it, and people who are not willing to buy it before will now buy it at the lower price as well. Also, if the price of an item drops enough people will buy more of the product and even find alternative uses for the product.
That is, it is sensitive to price change, and also to the quantity demanded. This means that if many people are consuming a good, the demand is greater than if less people are consuming the good. To further clarify, take the example of attending college. In an environment where most of an individual's peers are going to attend college, the individual will see college as the right thing to do, and also attend college to be like his peers. However, in an environment where most of an individual's peers are not going to attend college, the individual will have a decreased demand for college, and is unlikely to attend.
The basic needs of people ought to be satisfied, in order to guarantee their sense of happiness. Although people have boundless needs and wants, the resources available to us are limited, that is what we called the scarcity of resources. If we want to make maximum utilization of limited resource, which determines we have to make decisions when we are facing choice. At this time, the theory of opportunity cost should be put forward. Let me take myself as an example, after I graduated with my bachelor’s degree last year, there are three opinions available to me to be chosen. The first one is to look for a job like most graduates. Then I will earn salary earlier and gain more working experience than the master graduate. The second choice is to take part in the postgraduate entrance exams in my own country. In this way, I need to spend two years on the subject I have no more passion to research. And the last one is go abroad for further study of a totally strange major which is different from my undergraduate major. After I weighed and balanced over and over again, I chose the last one which I am really interested in. Though it requires me to devote more effort than other classmates who have already learned about the relevant professional knowledge. I had no idea what is opportunity cost at that time, but I made use of it
Generally, the price of a commodity shoots up when its demand exceeds supply and when the reverse occurs. | | Since markets are governed by the law of supply and demand, the market itself will decide the price of goods and services, and this information will be made available to all participants.... ... middle of paper ... ... Merchants will often complain of tax rates being too high for the services provided.
...n the companies will have to decrease the price otherwise the product will not be sold at higher prices and the revenue would not be as large as companies would like to.