2.3 Aggregate Supply

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

Describe the term aggregate supply.
Explain, using a diagram, why the short-run aggregate supply curve (SRAS curve) is upward sloping.
Explain, using a diagram, how the AS curve in the short run (SRAS) can shift due to factors including changes in resource prices, changes in business taxes and subsidies and supply shocks.
Explain, using a diagram, that the monetarist/new classical model of the long-run aggregate supply curve (LRAS) is vertical at the level of potential output (full employment output) because aggregate supply in the long run is independent of the price level.
Explain, using a diagram, that the Keynesian model of the aggregate supply curve has three sections because of “wage/price” downward inflexibility and different levels of spare capacity in the economy.
Explain, using the two models above, how factors leading to changes in the quantity and/or quality of factors of production (including improvements in efficiency, new technology, reductions in unemployment, and institutional changes) can shift the aggregate supply curve over the long term.

Introduction to Aggregate Supply