119 PART II HOW MARKETS WORK

Conclusion

SUMMARY ' ' ' , ' . ' i

o A price ceiling is a legal maximum on the priceof a good or service. An example is rent control.If the price ceiling is below the equilibrium price,then the price ceiling is binding, and the quantitydemanded exceeds the quantity supplied. Becauseof the resulting shortage, sellers must in some wayration the good or service among buyers.

o A price floor is a legal minimum on the price ofa good or service. An example is the minimumwage. If the price floor is above the equilibriumprice, then the price floor is binding, and the quan-tiiy supplied exceeds the quantity demanded.Because of the resulting surplus, buyers' demandsfor the good or service must in some way berationed among sellers.

. When the government levies a tax on a good,the equilibrium quantity of the good falls. That

KEY CONC.EPTS

price ceiling, p. 112 price floor, p. 112

QUTSTIONS FOR R. IEVIEW

1. Give an example of a price ceiling and an exam-ple of a price floor.

2. Which causes a surplus of a good-a priceceiling or a price floor? Explain.

5 .

The economy is governed by two kinds of laws: the laws of supply and demandand the laws enacted by governments. In this chapter, we have begun to see howthese laws interact. Price controls and taxes are common in various markets inthe economy, and their effects are frequently debated in the press and amongpolicymakers. Even a little bit of economic knowledge can go a long way towardunderstanding and evaluating these policies.

In subsequent chapters, we analyze marry government policies in greaterdetail. We examine the effects of taxation more fully and consider a broader rangeof policies than we considered here. Yet the basic lessons of this chapter will notchange: when analyzing government policies, supply and demand are the firstand most useful tools of analysis. PI

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is, a tax on a market shrinks the size of themarket.

A tax on a good places a wedge between theprice paid by buyers and the price receivedby sellers. When the market moves to the newequilibrium, buyers pay more for the good andsellers receive less for it. In this sense, buyersand sellers share the tax burden. The incidenceof a tax (that is, the division of the tax burden)does not depend on whether the tax is levied onbuyers or sellers.

The incidence of a tax depends on the priceelasticities of supply and demand. Most of theburden falls on the side of the market that isless elastic because that side of the market canrespond less easily to the tax by changing thequantity bought or sold.

tax incidence, p. 121

What mechanisms allocate resources when theprice of a good is not allowed to bring supplyand demand into equilibrium?Explain why economists usually oppose con-trols on prices.

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5. Suppose the government removes a tax onbuyers of a good and levies a tax of the samesize on sellers of the good. How does thischange in tax policy affect the price thatbuyers pay sellers for this good, the amountbuyers are out of pocket including the tax, theamount sellers receive net of the tax, and thequantity of the good sold?

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CHAPTER 6 SUPPLY, DEMAND, AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES 129

How does a tax on a good affect the price paidby buyers, the price received by sellers, and thequantity sold?What determines how the burden of a tax isdivided between buyers and sellers? \a/hy?

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1. In the labor market, workers would like toreceive higher wages and firms would like topay lower wages.a. Suppose that workers succeed in having a

minimum wage established above theequilibrium wage. What will happen tothe number of workers employed.whencompared to the original equilibrium?Explain.

b. Suppose that firms succeed in having a maxi-mum wage established below the equilibriumwage. What will happen to the number ofworkers employed compared to the originalequilibrium? Explain.

c. What wage maximizes the number of workersemployed? \a/hy?

2. The government has decided that the free-market price of cheese is too low.a. Suppose the government imposes a binding

price floor in the cheese market. Drawa supply-and-demand diagram to show theeffect of this policy on the price of cheese andthe quantity of cheese sold. Is there a short-age or surplus of cheese?

b. Farmers complain that the price floor hasreduced their total revenue. Is this possible?Explain.

c. In response to farmers' complaints, the gov-ernment agrees to purchase all the surpluscheese at the price floor. Compared to thebasic price floor, who benefits from this newpolicy? Who loses?

3. A recent study found that the demand andsupply schedules for Frisbees are as follows;

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a. V1y'hat are the equilibrium price and quantityof Frisbees?

b. Frisbee manufacturers persuade the gov-ernment that Frisbee production improvesscientists' understanding of aerodynamicsand thus is important for national security.A concerned Congress votes to impose aprice floor $2 above the equilibrium price.What is the new market price? How manyFrisbees are sold?

c. Irate college students march on Washingtonand demand a reduction in the price ofFrisbees. An even more concerned Congressvotes to repeal the price floor and impose aprice ceiling $1 below the former price floor.\Atrhat is the new market price? How manyFrisbees are sold?

Suppose the federal govemment requires beerdrinkers to pay a $2 tax on each case of beerpurchased. (In fact, both the federal and stategoverrunents impose beer taxes of some sort.)a. Draw a supply-and-demand diagram of the

market for beer without the tax. Show theprice paid by consumers, the price receivedby producers, and the quantity of beer sold.

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130 PART II HOW MARKETS WORK

What is the difference between the pricepaid by consumers and the price received byproducers?

b. Now draw a supply-and-demand diagramfor the beer market with the tax. Show theprice paid by consumers, the price receivedby producers, and the quantity of beer sold.What is the difference between the pricepaid by consumers and the price receivedby producers? Has the quantity of beer soldincreased or decreased?

A senator wants to raise tax revenue and makeworkers better off. A staff member proposesraising the payroll tax paid by firms and usingpart of the extra revenue to reduce the payrolltax paid by workers. Would this accomplishthe senator's goal? Explain.If the government places a $500 tax on luxurycars, will the price paid by consumers rise bymore than $500,less than $500, or exactly $500?Explain.Congress and the president decide that theUnited States should reduce air pollution byreducing its use of gasoline. They impose a$0.50 tax for each gallon of gasoline sold.a. Should they impose this tax on producers

or consumers? Explain carefully using asupply-and-demand diagram.

b. If the demand for gasoline were more elas-tic, would this tax be more effective or lesseffective in reducing the quantity of gasolineconsumed? Explain with both words and adiagram.

c. Are consumers of gasoline helped or hurt bythis tax? \tVhy?

d. Are workers in the oil industry helped orhurt by this tax? Why?

A case study in this chapter discusses the fed-eral minimum-wage law.a. Suppose the minimum wage is above

the equilibrium wage in the marketfor unskilled labor. Using a supply-and-demand diagram of the market forunskilled labor, show the market wage/the number of workers who are employed,and the number of workers who are unem-ployed. Also show the total wage pay-ments to unskilled workers.

b. Now suppose the secretary of labor proposesan increase in the minimum wage. Whateffect would this increase have on employ-ment? Does the change in employmentdepend on the elasticity of demand, the elas-ticity of supply, both elasticities, or neither?

c. What effect would this increase in the mini-mum wage have on unemployment? Doesthe change in unemployment depend on theelasticity of demand, the elasticity of supply,both elasticities. or neither?

d. If the demand for unskilled labor wereinelastic, would the proposed increase in theminimum wage raise or lower total wagepayments to unskilled workers? Would youranswer change if the demand for unskilledlabor were elastic?

The U.S. government administers two pro-grams that affect the market for cigarettes.Media campaigns and labeling requirementsare aimed at making the public aware of thedangers of cigarette smoking. At the sametime, the Department of Agriculture maintainsa price-support program for tobacco farmers,which raises the price of tobacco above theequilibrium price.a. How do these two programs affect cigarette

consumption? Use a graph of the cigarettemarket in your answer.

b. What is the combined effect of these twoprograms on the price of cigarettes?

c. Cigarettes are also heavily taxed. \zVhat effectdoes this tax have on cigarette consumption?

At Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox,seating is limited to 39,000. Flence, the numberof tickets issued is fixed at that figure. Seeing agolden opportunity to raise revenue, the City ofBoston levies a per ticket tax of $5 to be paid bythe ticket buyer. Boston sports fans, a famouslycivic-minded lot, dutifully send in the $5 perticket. Draw a well-labeled graph showing theimpact of the tax. On whom does the tax burdenfall-the team's owners, the fans, or both? \A/hy?A U.S, governor has proposed a 3 percent pay-roll tax to finance some state health programs.The proposed legislation provided that the pay-roll tax "shall not be withheld from wages paidto employees or otherwise be collected from

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employees or reduce the compensation paid toemployees." What do you think was the intentof this language? Would the bill in fact accom-plish this objective?

12. In the spring of 2008, Senators |ohn McCainand Hillary Clinton (who were then running forpresident) proposed a temporary elimination ofthe federal gasoline tax, effective only duringthe summer of 2008, in order to help consumersdeal with high gasoline prices.a. During the summer, when gasoline demand

is high because of vacation driving, gasoline

CHAPTER 6 SUPPLY, DEMAND, AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES 131

refiners are operating near full capacity.What does this fact suggest about the priceelasticity of supply?

b. In light of your answer to (a), who do youpredict would benefit from the temporarygas tax holiday?

For further information on topics in this chapter,additional problems, examples, applications, onlinequizzes, and more, please visit our website at www.cengage.com /international.

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