Analysis Of Cocktail Party Economics

The world of economics has many different concepts that help to explain why we produce and purchase any good that is available to produce or, in contrast, why we don’t produce some goods. One of these concepts are that of supply and demand, to a person who is uneducated in the world of economics these concepts can seem like and easy thing to grasp, however there are so many factors that go into supply and demand that it can be very easy to lose yourself when trying to understand what seemed like a simple concept. I will be trying to clarify these concepts through the use of the book

“Cocktail Party Economics” written by Eveline Adomait and Richard Maranta and applying it to the news article “Demand for pre-k is increasing, supply must catch

Before I start to explain these concepts I need to do a brief overview of what the news article I have selected is about, this article talks about the prekindergarten classes that are offered in the state of Alabama, and how, as they state, there is an

“increase in demand” for pre-kindergarten classes. First off some clarification is needed in the articles claims, they state that there is an increase in the demand of these classes and, while there may very well be an increase in demand (something we’ll cover later) what the author is actually trying to say is that there is an increase in the quantity demanded of these classes. This conclusion can be made as the article refers to the fact that approximately “80% of children aged four in Alabama” are currently unable to attend pre-kindergarten classes as there is simply not enough room for them, and that all of these classes have “very long waiting lists to get in”. The book “Cocktail Party Economics” explains why this would be considered quantity demanded and not demand as there is a “marginal value” (77) at work here in which the buyers, in this case the parents of the children looking to attend

The article “Demand for pre-k is increasing, supply must catch up” mentioned a study in which children who attended pre-kindergarten were shown to be “more likely to graduate from high school, attend college and succeed in the workplace than their peers that did not attend”. As this study is showing that by attending prekindergarten children were more likely to succeed, the demand for pre-kindergarten classes is going to increase, this is due to the fact that people would value the program more and therefore would be willing to give up more to have their children attend.

The article “Demand for pre-k is increasing, supply must catch up” was a good article to analyze from an economic standpoint, especially looking at a strictly supply and demand perspective as it incorporated many strong examples of both quantity of supply and demand and demand itself. Through the use of Cocktail Party Economics it was easy to pick apart and analyze each of these components of in a greater economic standpoint in relation to the article that I