Using a Table

There are other ways to express the market equilibrium for a product that may be easier for a reader to follow. One way that market equilibrium is conveyed in economics is using a table. As with words, there are many ways we could present this. For example, we could have a table that shows how much wine consumers would demand at each level of income. However, since price is widely believed to be the main factor influencing market equilibrium, we typically use a table that shows the quantity consumers are willing and able to buy at each price and the quantity that producers are willing and able to sell. For example:

As the table shows, if the price of red wine were $10 consumers would want to demand 50,000 cases a month, but producers would only be willing to supply 25,000 cases. This would result in a shortage. The opposite phenomenon occurs when the price is set at $20: producers are willing to supply 45,000 cases of red wine a month but consumers are only willing to demand 30,000 cases. This results in a surplus.  At the price of $16.25 producers are willing and able to supply 37,500 cases and consumers are willing to buy 37,500 cases.  At this point the market is said to be in equilibrium.

 

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