Economic Analysis on Everyday Activities

Economic Ideas

Economics can be considered as the study of the allocation of scarce resources that have potential alternative uses among the competing and virtually limitless want of consumers in society. The allocation of resources is necessary both at an individual and societal level. Economics considers the manner in which people are organized for economic tasks. Economics is applicable everywhere. Economics should be thought of in all the aspects rather than considering the things in the way they already are. This particular proposal explains the reason cars have their fuel doors on different sides. People line up and fuel their cars at the petrol station. However, it is noteworthy that some cars have their fuel filler door on the side of the driver while others have their fuel filler opening on the side of the passenger. This might be perceived as a normal aspect but is largely linked to economics. This is to avoid overcrowding at the petrol stations. If all cars had the fuel filler door on one side only, there would be long queues at the petrol station consuming everybody's time and limiting the cash accruals and cars refueled. It also ensures that the demand for the fuel at the petrol station does not exceed its supply (that can be handled at any given point of time).

Economic Ideas

Essay

Economics resources are scarce and they command a price. The producers have to choose to allocate resources and maximize profits. These basic principles of economics are applicable on an everyday basis. This applies to an individual and the society broadly. It takes into account the way people are organized for economic responsibilities (Mankiw, 2012). Everybody fails to pay heed to various aspects of daily happenings almost in our lives. It is to be considered that there are economical twists to these aspects. One such aspect is having fuel filler doors on different sides of the car. The main question to be considered here is why are fuel filler doors on the side of the driver for some cars while others have it on the side of the passenger? This aspect when linked to economics shows how economic ideas are incorporated into everyday life.

In the United States, motorists drive the cars on the right side of the road. This implies that it is much simpler to take a right turn compared to taking a left turn across incoming traffic. This implies that most of the motorists will fuel their cars at stations where they are able to take a right turn. Suppose gas tanks were at all times positioned on the driver's side of the car. What would be the implication? It follows that the motorists would have to park their cars on the right side of a fuel pump to fill the fuel tanks. Thus during rush hours all the right-sided fuel pumps would be full and overcrowded while the left-sided fuel pumps would remain completely empty. Placing the fuel filler doors on the opposite sides of cars implies that these cars will now be able gain access to the left-sided fuel pumps. More so, this decreases the possibility of overcrowding at the fuel station on the other side. This is a facet of the opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the value of the best-foregone alternative action. The choice of one action therefore, often implies that an alternative action will be foregone. In this case, the benefit largely outweighs the cost of pulling up at times to the wrong side of the fuel pump at a station (Frank, 2009).

In any economical aspect, one has to weigh the costs against the benefits of a circumstance. Having fuel filler doors on different sides of the car takes into account the economic analysis of the cost and the benefits. Some of the costs include maintaining fuel back-up at the fuel station. Another cost is increasing arguments and fights between individuals due to overcrowding. Lastly, another probable cost would be resulting accidents due to these issues. Thus having fuel filler doors on different sides of the car is beneficial as it enables the motorists to pull up on either side depending on the position and therefore freeing up the queue and improve the service (Frank, 2009).

Another economic concept to this subject is 'equilibrium'. 'Equilibrium' in economics refers to a situation where the forces that determine the behavior of some variable are in balance and therefore exert no pressure on that variable to change. Equilibrium is the price of a unit at which the level of supply is equal to the level of demand (Mankiw, 2012). For instance, if a supplier sets a higher price than the prevailing rate, he or she will eventually go back to the same line. This is the same for a consumer who tries to pay less than the prevailing rate. This implies that he or she will have to increase the price to acquire a good or service. In the case of the fuel filler door, equilibrium implies the instance in which both of the sides attain satisfaction. This is taking into consideration the fact that all-right positioned or all-left positioned fuel filler doors would resort to queuing and thereby, crowding at the station (Marshall, 2013).

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