draw your diagram, but you label an incorrect level of output. Obviously you are not
going to receive that point. But if you proceed by labeling price, economic profit, con-
sumer surplus, and deadweight loss correctly at your incorrectquantity, you would be
surprised how forgiving the grading rubric can be.
- Have the last laugh with a well-drawn graph. There are some points that require an expla-
nation (i.e., “Describe how.. .”). Not all free-response questions require a graph, but
a garbled paragraph of explanation can be saved with a perfect graph that tells the
reader you know the answer to the question. This does not work in reverse.
- If I say draw, you better draw, Tex. There are what readers call “graphing points,” and
these cannot be earned with a well-written paragraph. For example, if you are asked to
draw the monopoly scenario described above, certain points will be awarded for the
graph, and only the graph. A delightfully written and entirely accurate paragraph of text
will not earn the graphing points. You also need to clearly label graphs. You might think
that downward-sloping line is obviously a demand curve, but some of those graphing
points will not be awarded if lines and points are not clearly, and accurately, identified.
- Give the answer, not a dissertation. There are some parts of a question where you are asked
to simply “identify” something. For example, “Identify the price if this firm were a
monopolist” or “Identify the area that corresponds to deadweight loss.” This type of
question requires a quick piece of analysis that can literally be answered in one word or
number. That point will be given if you provide that one word or number whether it is
the only word you write or the fortieth that you write. For example, you might be given
a table that shows how a firm’s output changes as it hires more workers. One part of the
question asks you to identify the optimal number of workers that the firm should hire.
Suppose the correct answer is 4. The point is given if you say “4,” “four,” and maybe
even “iv.” If you write a 500-word Magna Carta concluding with the word “four,” you
will get the point, but will have wasted precious time. This brings me to...
- Welcome to the magical kingdom. If you surround the right answer to a question with a
paragraph of economic wrongness, you will usually get the point, so long as you say the
magic word. The only exception is a direct contradiction of the right answer. For exam-
ple, suppose that when asked to identifythe optimal number of workers, you spend a
paragraph describing how the workers are unionized and therefore are subject to a price
ceiling and that the exchange rate between those workers and the production possibil-
ity frontier means the answer is four. You will get the point! You said they should hire
four, and “four” was the magic word. However, if you say that the answer is four, but
that it is also five and on Mondays it is seven, you have contradicted yourself and the
point will not be given.
- Marginally speaking. This point is made throughout the microeconomics review con-
tained in this book, but it bears repeating here as a valuable test-taking strategy. In eco-
nomics, anything that is optimal, or efficient, or rational, or cost minimizing, or profit
maximizing can be answered by telling the reader that the marginal benefits must equal
the marginal costs. Depending upon the situation, you might have to clarify that
“marginal benefit” to the firm is “marginal revenue,” or to the employer “marginal rev-
enue product.” If the question asks you whythe answer is four, there is always a very
short phrase that readers look for so that they may award the point. This answer often
includes the appropriate marginal comparison.
- Identify, Illustrate, Define, Indicate and Explain. Each part of a free-response question
includes a prompt that tells you what the reader will be looking for so that the points
How to Approach Each Question Type ‹ 37
