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Suppose only the price of a good changes, with production costs and every other factor held fixed. What happens to the supply curve for that good?
AThe demand curve shifts in the opposite direction
BThere is a movement along the existing supply curve
CThe supply curve itself shifts to a new position
DNothing happens; sellers stay at exactly the same point
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. There is a movement along the existing supply curve
1. A supply curve already shows how quantity supplied responds to every possible price of that good.
2. When only the price of the good itself changes, the seller simply moves to a different point on that same curve.
3. The curve as a whole does not move, because none of its underlying determinants, like input costs, changed.
4. Option C confuses a price-driven movement along the curve with a genuine shift of the curve.
5. Option D is wrong because the quantity supplied does change, even though the curve itself does not move.
_Source: OpenStax Principles of Macroeconomics for AP Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Demand and Supply", section 3.2 | Shifts in Demand and Supply for Goods and Services_
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