Which of the following is a microeconomics question?

• A. What factors determine a country's gross domestic product (GDP)?
• B. How does a consumer decide how much of a product to buy?
• C. How does government spending affect the unemployment rate?
• D. What causes inflation in the national economy?

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the distinction between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics focuses on individual agents such as consumers, firms, and how they make decisions, while macroeconomics looks at the economy as a whole, including aggregate measures like GDP, inflation, and unemployment.
2. Step 2: Analyze each question to identify whether it deals with individual decision-making or aggregate economic indicators. For example, questions about GDP, government spending, unemployment, and inflation typically fall under macroeconomics.
3. Step 3: Identify the question that focuses on individual behavior or choices. In this case, "How does a consumer decide how much of a product to buy?" is about individual consumer decision-making, which is a core topic in microeconomics.
4. Step 4: Confirm that the other questions relate to broader economic aggregates: GDP (total output), government spending and unemployment (macro policy effects), and inflation (overall price level changes). These are macroeconomic topics.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the microeconomics question is the one about consumer choice, as it deals with individual behavior rather than the economy-wide phenomena.