Supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It concludes that in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded by consumers (at current price) will equal the quantity supplied by producers (at current price), resulting in an economic equilibrium of price and quantity.
The four basic laws of supply and demand are:
- If demand increases and supply remains unchanged, a shortage altogether, thus leads to a higher equilibrium price.
- If demand decreases and supply remains unchanged, a surplus altogether, thus leads to a lower equilibrium price.
- If demand remains unchanged and supply increases, a surplus altogether, thus leads to a lower equilibrium price.
- If demand remains unchanged and supply decreases, a shortage altogether, thus leads to a higher equilibrium price.
Read more about Supply And Demand: Graphical Representation of Supply and Demand, Other Markets, Empirical Estimation, Macroeconomic Uses of Demand and Supply, History, Criticisms
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“Artistic inspiration ignores the law of supply and demand.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
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—Woodrow Wilson (18561924)
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O mother
What shall I cry?
We demand a committee, a representative committee, a committee of investigation
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—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)