The Saturday Print Shop

Your starting point

Read a supply schedule and distinguish a price response from a change in production conditions.

Supply describes how much producers are willing and able to offer at different prices during a stated period. Quantity supplied refers to one quantity at one price. In the basic model, a higher selling price can make additional production worthwhile when other relevant conditions stay the same. A supply schedule records that relationship; it is not a list of quantities that must all be added together.

Production also depends on costs, equipment, workers, and capacity. A change in the product’s own price is a movement along a given supply relationship. A change such as a lower ink cost can alter the quantity offered at each price and therefore change supply itself. Ask what changed before choosing the terminology.

The fictional print shop has a weekly schedule and clearly stated capacity. It supplies posters only if the proposed work fits its resources. Buyers are introduced at the end because supply alone cannot determine the market’s equilibrium. A seller’s willingness to offer 30 posters does not establish that 30 buyers will purchase them.

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