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30 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 7h \ parent \ on: Today I Learned that the Laffer Curve Napkin Is on Display in the Smithsonian econ
I remember something from a history of economic thought class about the strange axis choice coming from someone wanting to vertically align two graphs explaining price dynamics.
It was a formatting choice that just stuck around.
I wonder if there are any studies on whether this choice contributes to lower learning outcomes. In all the kids math classes the X variable is the independent variable and Y is dependent
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Not that I’m aware.
It’s also not entirely the case that price has to be the dependent variable.
If we think about behavioral responses to different market prices, then the axes are the right way already.
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The way supply and demand is usually taught would suggest that price is the independent variable
"consumers and producers take prices as given and choose how much to consume/produce"
having price on X also highlights that our supply and demand model doesn't say much about the mechanism of how the equilibrium price is reached. All our model says that at a certain price the two forces are balanced
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Right, we really don’t have an independent variable on that graph.
Preferences, endowments, and technology are the independent variables.
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