HEALTH ECONOMICS WITH LAND REFORM AND TAXATION

Law of Demand - all else constant, as price falls, the quantity demanded rises.
Similarly, as price increases, the corresponding quantity demanded falls. This
relationship leads to the downward sloping demand curve.

Rationale:

1.) Common sense and simple observation seems to substantiate this assertion

2.) Consumption is subject to diminishing marginal utility - consuming successive

units of a particular product yields less and less extra satisfaction. For example;
after the first hamburger getting a second hamburger is less appealing because the
person is not as hungry.

3.) The income effect - a decline in the price increases the purchasing power of a
buyer's money, enabling him or her to buy more of the product than before.

4.) The substitution effect - at a lower price, buyers have the incentive to
substitute the cheaper good for similar goods which are now relatively more
expensive. For example, at a lower price, beef is relatively more attractive and is
substituted for pork, mutton, chicken, etc.

Determinants of Demand

The determinants of demand are also known as demand shifters. They result in the
leftward (decrease) or rightward (increase) shifts in the demand curve.

1.) tastes or preferences of consumers

* an increased taste in a product increases its demand

* a decreased taste in a product decreases its demand

2.) number of consumers in the market

* more consumers increases a products demand

* fewer consumers decreases a products demand

3.) the money incomes of consumers

Superior goods or normal goods

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 * As income increases, a superior good's demand increases
* As income decreases, a superior good's demand decreases
* Superior goods are most common goods

Inferior Goods

* As income increases, an inferior good's demand decreases

* As income decreases, an inferior good's demand increases

4.) prices of related goods

Substitute Goods

* As price of A increases, demand for B increases

* As price of A decreases, demand for B decreases
* Example: Nike's and Reeboks

Complementary Goods

* As price of A increases, demand for B decreases

* As price of B decreases, demand for A increases
* Example: computers and computer games; gasoline and motor oil

Independent Goods

* As price of good A changes, demand for good B does not change

5.) consumer expectations about the future prices and incomes

* if consumers expect a price increase in near future, demand increases

* if consumers expect a price decrease in the near future, demand decreases

Terminology Clarification

* "change in quantity demanded" - designates the movement from one point to

another point - from one price-quantity combination to another - on a fixed demand
curve
* "change in demand" - a shift in the entire demand curve either to the right (an
increase in demand) or to the left (a decrease in demand).

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Price Determination

We always want to produce at the most economical quantity-price combination.

Graphically, the intersection of the supply curve and the demand curve for the
product will indicate the equilibrium point - where there is neither a shortage nor a
surplus.

A surplus occurs when there is too much supply and not enough demand at a
particular price
*

A shortage occurs when there is too much demand and not enough supply at a
particular price.

Eventually, the market will shift toward equilibrium. The ability of the competitive
forces of supply and demand to establish a price where selling and buying decisions
are synchronized or coordinated is called the rationing function of prices.

Changing Supply and Demand Curves

Demand Curve

All else constant, a decrease in demand causes a decrease in equilibrium price

and quantity demanded.
*

All else constant, an increase in demand causes an increase in equilibrium price

and quantity demanded.

Supply Curve

All else constant, a decrease in supply causes an increase in equilibrium price

and a decrease in equilibrium quantity supplied.
*

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 All else constant, an increase in supply causes a decrease in equilibrium price
and an increase in equilibrium quantity supplied.

Complex Cases
If both supply and demand curves change, the result is indeterminate - the changes
on equilibrium price and quantity depend on how much each curve has changed.

2) WHAT EFFECT WILL EACH OF THE FOLLOWING HAVE ON THE DEMAND

FOR PRODUCT B:

A. PRODUCT B WILL BECOME MORE FASHIONABLE:

Demand for Product B will definitely rise. Fashion trends have a direct influence on
product demand.
B. THE PRICE FOR SUBSTITUTE PRODUCT C FALL:
With the entry of cheaper product substitutes for Product B, demand for Product B is
expected to decline over time.
C. INCOME DECLINES AND PRODUCT B IS AN INFERIOR GOOD:
Decrease in consumer incomes and the poor quality of Product B, demand for
Product B will definitely decrease.
D. CONSUMERS ANTICIPATE THAT THE PRICE OF B WILL BE LOWER IN THE
NEAR FUTURE:
Hence, surge in consumer demand can expected in the near future—for the mean
time, demand for Product B will remain unchanged.
E. THE PRICE OF COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCT D FALLS:
This could bolster consumer preference for Product B, hence may result to
continued consumer patronage and/or increase in demand.
3. ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11,
2001 AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM ON THE DEMAND FOR THE FOLLOWING
ITEMS IN THE UNITED STATES: AIRLINE TICKETS, GASOLINE, HOTEL
ROOMS, BOOKS ABOUT AFGHANISTAN AND ARABIC INTERPRETERS.
The 9/11 terror attacks on US soil and the resulting war on terrorism definitely have
a negative impact on the travel industry worldwide (that is from airline to the hotel
industries). Since the attacks were perpetuated by terror groups based in the
Middle East, Middle Eastnationals became suspect while Arabic culture and
literature turned out to be unpopular. With the exception of oil and gas products,
demand for the items mentioned above dramatically fell, especially during the years
immediately following the incident. Demand for Middle East oil products was not
affected.
6. “IN THE RICE MARKET, DEMAND OFTEN EXCEEDS SUPPLY AND SUPPLY
SOMETINES EXCEEDS DEMAND.” “THE PRICE OF RICE RISES AND FALLS IN
RESPONSE TO CHANGES IN SUPPLY AND DEMAND.” IN WHICH OF THESE
TWO STATEMENTS ARE THE TERMS “SUPPLY” AND “DEMAND” USED
CORRECTLY? EXPLAIN.
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“IN THE RICE MARKET, DEMAND OFTEN EXCEEDS SUPPLY AND SUPPLY
SOMETINES EXCEEDS DEMAND.”
This statement is closer to the truth, since in the Philippines more often than not,
the local rice Supply cannot cope with consumer demand. In order to correct the
problem, the Philippine government has been importing rice from a number of
countries within the Southeast Asian region. The importations boost local rice
supply but hardly bring local rice prices down.
7. SUPPOSED THE TOTAL DEMAND FOR WHEAT AND TOTAL SUPPLY OF
WHEAT PER MONTH IN THE GRAINE MARKETS ARE SHOWN IN THE NEXT
COLUMN:
A. WHAT IS THE EQUILIBRIUM PRICE? WHAT IS THE EQUILIBRIUM
QUANTITY? FILL IN THE SURPLUS SHORTAGE COLUMN AND USE IT TO
EXPLAIN WHY YOUR ANSWERS ARE CORRECT:
THOUSANDS OF PRICE PER THOUSANDS OF SURPLUS (+) OR
BUSHELS BUSHEL BUSHELS SHORTAGE (-)
DEMANDED SUPPLIED
85 3.4 72 -13
80 3.7 73 -7
75 4.0 75 0
70 4.3 77 7
65 4.6 79 14
60 4.9 81 21

The Equilibrium Price is 4.0 per bushel at the Equilibrium Quantity of 75,000
bushels. With these price and quantity, the supply surplus is 0.
B. GRAPH THE DEMAND FOR WHEAT AND THE SUPPLY OF WHEAT. BE SURE
TO LABEL THE AXIS OF YOUR GRAPH CORRECTLY. LABEL EQUILIBRIUM
PRICE P AND EQUILIBRIUM QUANTITY Q.

C. WHY WILL 3.40 NOT BE THE EQUILIBRIUM PRICE IN THIS MARKET? WHY
NOT 4.90? “SURPLUSES DRIVE PRICES UP; SHORTAGES DRIVE THEM
DOWN.” DO YOU AGREE? EXPLAIN?
The 3.40 price results to a shortage of 13,000 bushels and the price of 4.90 a
surplus of 21,000 bushels. We agree that consumer demand for wheat with a
supply shortage of 13,000 would drive prices up while surplus of 21,000 would
eventually drive prices down. Supply shortages, on the one hand, would result to
more and more people competing to buy such supply items resulting to a natural
increase in prices. On the other hand, when demand is below supply levels
resulting to supply surpluses, prices will tend to go down.
D. SUPPOSED THAT THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHES A PRICE CEILING OF
3.70 FOR WHEAT. WHAT MIGHT PROMPT THE GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH
THIS PRICE CEILING? EXPLAIN CAREFULLY THE MAIN EFFECTS.
DEMONSTRATE YOUR ANSWER GRAPHICALLY. NEXT, SUPPOSED THAT THE
GOVERNEMNT ESTABLIHSED A PRICE FLOOR OF 4.60 FOR WHEAT. WHAT

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WILL BE THE MAIN EFFECTS OF THE THIS PRICE FLOOR. DEMONSTRATE
THE ANSWER GRAPHICALLY.
The government regulation to impose a Price Ceiling 3.70 (which is still below the
Equilibrium Price of 4.00) is intended to allow consumers to enjoy lower
priceshopefully within a manageable supply shortage of 7,000 bushels. This respite
on the part of consumers will be shortlived unless the shortage is addressed.
The Price Floor of 4.60 which is above the Equilibrium Price of 4.00 does in any way
serve the interests of both consumers and suppliers. The impending supply surplus
would marginalize many consumers. As consumer demand plunges, supply surplus
would accumulate as wheat sellers will not be able to sell their wheat stocks—
driving them out of business.
Both of these situations lead to market failures.

8. HOW WILL EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CHANGES IN DEMAND AND/OR

SUPPLY AFFECT EQULIPBRIUM PRICE AND EQUILIBRIUM QUANTITY IN A
COMPETITIVE MARKET; THAT IS, DO PRICE AND QUANTITY RISE, FALL OR
REMAIN UNCHANGED OR THE ANSWERS INDETERMINATE BECAUSE THEY
DEPEND ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THE SHIFT? USE SUPPLY AND DEMAND
DIAGRAMS TO VERIFY YOUR ANSWERS.
Changes in Demand and Supply directly affect both Equilibrium price and quantity—
hence, price and quantity would be expected to rise and fall over time. The
magnitude of market changes determines how price and quantity would behave.
9. IN 2001 AN OUTBREAK OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE IN EUROPE LED
TO THE BURNING OF MILLIONS CATTLE CARCASSES. WHAT IMPACT DO YOU
THINK THIS HAD ON THE SUPPLY OF CATTLE HIDE, HIDE PRICES, THE
SUPPLY OF LEATHER GOODS AND THE PRICE OF LEATHER GOODS.
The Foot and Mouth disease outbreak, which affected a significant portion of
Europe’s cattle industry must have contributed to scarcity of raw materials for the
world’s leather industry, but not so significantly. The cattle industry is not only
confined to Europe—other countries such as the US, Australia and New Zealand and
several Latin American countries have a thriving livestock industry. In addition, the
leather industry worldwide has made use of cheaper synthetic leather and other
substitutes to satisfy consumer demand.
10. WEB BASED QUESTION; THE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
WWW.USDA.GOV/NASSPUBLISHES CHARTS ON THE PRICES OF FARM
PRODUCTS. GO THE USDA HOME PAGE AND SELECT CHARTS AND MAPS
AND THEN AGRICULTURAL PRICES. CHOOSE THREE FARM PRODUCTS OF
YOUR CHOICE AND DETERMINE WHETHER THEIR PRICES HAVE GENERALLY
INCREASES, DECREASE OR STAYED THE SAME OVER THE PAST THREE
YEARS. IN WHICH OF THESE THREE CASES, IF ANY, DO YOU THINK THAT
SUPPLY HAS INCREASE MORE RAPIDLY THAN DEMAND? IN WHICH OF
THESE THREE CASES, IF ANY DO YOU THINK THAT DEMAND HAS INCREASE
MORE RAPIDLY THAN SUPPLY? EXPLAIN YOUR REASONING.
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US Corn Prices and and Production Volume

Prices of US Corn behaved unpredictably over the past three years (2007-2009). In
2007, corn prices was at US$ 2.00, then it rose to US$ 3.50 in 2008 and further rose
to US$ 4.00 in 2009 (after reaching an all time high of US$ 5.50 in mid-2008).

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However, the increase in demand was short lived as demand dwindled at the close
of 2008 and continued up this time.
On the other hand, US Corn production in 2006 was at 10.5 billion bushels which
further rose to 13.1 billion bushels in 2007. However, in 2008 corn production
shrunk to 12.1 billion bushels.
It was more likely that the increase in demand drove corn prices up from US$ 2.00
in 2007 to US$5.50 in 2008.
US Hog Prices and Production Volume

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Prices of US Hogs ahave reamined on the averaged of US$ 43.00 with production
volume remaining fundamentally unchanged since 2000 up to the present at around
25 billions pounds annually.
US Milk Prices and Production Volume

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US Milk prices began an increasing trend: from US$ 12.00 in 2006, US$ 16.00 2007,
US$ 18.00 in 2008. The trend is broken 2009 when milk prices droppedto below
2006 level at US$ 11.00.
On the other hand, US milk production as has been on the increase since 2001. By
2005, the US has produced 177 billion pounds. This further increased in 2006 at
187 billion pounds and in 2007, 190 billion pounds.
In unprecedented production volume capacity beginning 2007 (since Us data is only
up to 2007), milk supply must have yielded a surplus.

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