Demand and Supply
Start Up: Crazy for Coffee
Starbucks Coffee Company has revolutionized the coffee-drinking habits of millions of people all over the world. Starbucks, whose bright green-and-white logo is almost as familiar as the golden arches of McDonald's, began in Seattle in 1971. Fifteen years later it had grown into a chain of four stores in the Seattle area. Then in 1987 Howard Schultz, a former Starbucks employee, who had become intrigued by the culture of Italian coffee bars, bought the company from its founders for $3.8 million. In 2011, Americans were willingly paying $5 or more for a cappuccino or a latté, and Starbucks had grown to become an international chain, with approximately 17,000 stores in more than 50 countries.
The change in American consumers' taste for coffee and the profits raked in by Starbucks lured other companies to get into the game. Retailers such as Seattle's Best Coffee and Gloria Jean's Coffees entered the market, and today there are thousands of coffee bars, carts, drive-throughs, and kiosks in downtowns, malls, and airports all around the country. Even McDonald's began selling specialty coffees.
But over the last decade the price of coffee beans has been quite volatile, nearly doubling between 2009 and 2011, primarily due to bad harvests in central America. Cappuccinos and lattés were suddenly more expensive.
Markets, the institutions that bring together buyers and sellers, are always responding to events, such as bad harvests and changing consumer tastes that affect the prices and quantities of particular goods. The demand for some goods increases, while the demand for others decreases. The supply of some goods rises, while the supply of others falls. As such events unfold, prices adjust to keep markets in balance. This chapter explains how the market forces of demand and supply interact to determine equilibrium prices and equilibrium quantities of goods and services. We will see how prices and quantities adjust to changes in demand and supply and how changes in prices serve as signals to buyers and sellers.
The model of demand and supply that we shall develop in this chapter is one of the most powerful tools in all of economic analysis. You will be using it throughout your study of economics. We will first look at the variables that influence demand. Then we will turn to supply, and finally we will put demand and supply together to explore how the model of demand and supply operates. As we examine the model, bear in mind that demand is a representation of the behavior of buyers and that supply is a representation of the behavior of sellers. Buyers may be consumers purchasing groceries or producers purchasing iron ore to make steel. Sellers may be firms selling cars or households selling their labor services. We shall see that the ideas of demand and supply apply, whatever the identity of the buyers or sellers and whatever the good or service being exchanged in the market. In this chapter, we shall focus on buyers and sellers of goods and services.
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"Kama ""kijana"" na ""msichana,"" Starbucks Coffee Company imebadilisha tabia ya kunywa kahawa ya mamilioni ya watu duniani kote." Starbucks, ambayo nembo yake ya kijani na nyeupe ni karibu kama ukoo kama Golden Arches ya McDonald, ilianza katika Seattle mwaka 1971. Miaka kumi na mitano baadaye ilikuwa imekua kuwa mlolongo wa maduka manne katika eneo la Seattle. Mwaka 1987, Howard Schultz, mfanyakazi wa zamani wa Starbucks, ambaye alikuwa amevutiwa na utamaduni wa baa za kahawa za Italia, alinunua kampuni hiyo kutoka kwa waanzilishi wake kwa $ 3.8 milioni. Mwaka 2011, watu wa Marekani walikuwa tayari kulipa dola tano au zaidi kwa cappuccino au lattes, na Starbucks ilikuwa imeongezeka kuwa mlolongo wa kimataifa, na karibu maduka 17,000 katika nchi zaidi ya 50. Mabadiliko katika ladha ya watumiaji wa Marekani kwa kahawa na faida zilizopatikana na Starbucks ziliwavutia makampuni mengine kuingia kwenye mchezo. Kwa mfano, kampuni ya Best Coffee ya Seattle na Gloria Jean's Coffees, ambazo zinafanya kazi katika maduka ya kahawa, zimeanzisha maduka ya kahawa katika miji na viwanja vya ndege nchini Marekani. Hata McDonald's ilianza kuuza kahawa za pekee. Katika miaka ya hivi karibuni, bei ya kahawa imepungua mara mbili kati ya mwaka 2009 na 2011, hasa kutokana na mavuno mabaya ya Amerika ya Kati. Cappuccino na latté zilikuwa ghali zaidi ghafula. Masoko, taasisi ambazo huleta pamoja wanunuzi na wauzaji, daima hujibu matukio kama vile mavuno mabaya na kubadilisha ladha ya watumiaji ambayo huathiri bei na wingi wa bidhaa fulani. Mahitaji ya bidhaa fulani huongezeka, huku mahitaji ya bidhaa nyingine yakipungua. Utoaji wa bidhaa fulani huongezeka, huku ule wa bidhaa nyingine ukipungua. Matukio hayo yanapotokea, bei hubadilika ili kudumisha usawaziko katika masoko. Sura hii inaelezea jinsi nguvu za soko za mahitaji na usambazaji zinavyoingiliana ili kuamua bei za usawa na wingi wa usawa wa bidhaa na huduma. Tutaona jinsi bei na wingi wa bidhaa zinavyoweza kubadilika kulingana na mabadiliko ya mahitaji na ugavi na jinsi mabadiliko ya bei yanavyotumika kama ishara kwa wanunuzi na wauzaji. Mfano wa mahitaji na usambazaji ambao tutaendeleza katika sura hii ni moja ya zana nguvu zaidi katika uchambuzi wote wa kiuchumi. Utakuwa ukitumia katika masomo yako yote ya uchumi. Kwanza tutaangalia vigezo vinavyoathiri mahitaji. Kisha tutaweza kugeuka kwa ugavi, na hatimaye tutaweza kuweka mahitaji na ugavi pamoja kuchunguza jinsi mfano wa mahitaji na ugavi kazi. Kama sisi kuchunguza mfano, kukumbuka kwamba mahitaji ni uwakilishi wa tabia ya wanunuzi na kwamba ugavi ni uwakilishi wa tabia ya wauzaji. Wanunuzi wanaweza kuwa watumiaji kununua vyakula au wazalishaji kununua madini ya chuma kufanya chuma. Wauzaji wanaweza kuwa makampuni ya kuuza magari au nyumba kuuza huduma zao za kazi. "Tutaona kwamba mawazo ya mahitaji na usambazaji yanatumika, bila kujali utambulisho wa wanunuzi au wauzaji na chochote bidhaa au huduma inayobadilishwa katika soko. """ Katika sura hii, tutazingatia wanunuzi na wauzaji wa bidhaa na huduma. Maandishi haya yamebadilishwa na Saylor Academy chini ya Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License bila sifa kama ilivyoombwa na muundaji wa awali wa kazi au leseni.