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FIGURE 1.5-1 The Supply Schedule and the Supply Curve

Price of
lumber
(per board foot) Supply Schedule for Lumber
Quantity of
Price of lumber
lumber supplied
Supply (per board foot) (billions of board feet)
curve, S
$2.00 $2.00 116
1.75 As price rises, 1.75 115
the quantity
1.50 supplied rises. 1.50 112
1.25 1.25 107

1.00 1.00 100
0.75 0.75 91

0.50 0.50 80

0 70 90 110 130 150 170
Quantity of lumber
(billions of board feet)
The supply schedule for lumber is plotted to yield the correspond- supply schedule reflect the fact that supply curves are usually
ing supply curve, which shows how much lumber producers upward-sloping: the quantity supplied rises when the price rises.
are willing to sell at any given price. The supply curve and the

decreases the quantity of lumber demanded, but it would be incorrect to say that an
increase in the price of lumber decreases the demand for lumber. Similarly, a price change
causes a change in the quantity supplied, shown by a movement along the supply curve.
However, when something other than price causes supply to change, it is shown as a
shift of the supply curve. Changes in factors other than
price decrease (or increase) the supply of lumber.
Also note that a change in demand does not affect
supply (either the supply schedule or the supply curve).
And a change in supply does not affect demand (either
the demand schedule or the demand curve). However,
if a change in demand causes a change in price, it will
affect the quantity supplied by causing a movement
along the supply curve. And if a change in supply causes
a change in price, it will affect the quantity demanded by
causing a movement along the demand curve.

Sviatlana Lazarenka/Getty Images Shifts of the Supply Curve

For many decades following World War II, lumber
remained relatively cheap. One reason is that the
number of trees harvested for lumber production

Lumber production isn’t what it used to be. Advancements in increased. Another factor accounting for lumber’s
relative cheapness was advances in sawmill technol-
sawmill technology helped to keep lumber prices low for decades.
ogy, including the advent of the portable chainsaw

38 Macro • Unit 1 Basic Economic Concepts
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