Good thing I learnt that linearity in my chosen specialty only breaks down in the exotic circumstances of air, room temperature, 1 atm pressure, and distances of <0,5 m or >30 m.
never once in my economics education did they do that. not just because it’s easier to draw a curve than a straight line, but because the shape of the curve defines the type of good. maybe your economics education was just… bad?
first: neither brittanica nor investopedia are run by or written by economists. those images were made, probably in excel first, they’re terrible, and then considered done. how much longer does it take to get a set of curves that line up precisely in the center versus a set of straight lines that line up precisely in the center? especially when the point you’re trying to illustrate with your diagram is not (a) the more realistic shape of the utility curves that define the supply and demand curves, but is in fact (b) the equilibrium point at the intersection. it takes a lot longer to get the curves right, right? and that’s not the important part of the model! better to just save 15 seconds and use straight lines, you can illustrate the curves on another diagram
And simplified until linear relationships appear.
To be fair, my engineering degree also did this.
Good thing I learnt that linearity in my chosen specialty only breaks down in the exotic circumstances of air, room temperature, 1 atm pressure, and distances of <0,5 m or >30 m.
In college - Assume everything is linear
Later - Everything is not linear
Tell us you dont understand economics without telling us…
Supply demand curves are usually drawn with straight lines.
never once in my economics education did they do that. not just because it’s easier to draw a curve than a straight line, but because the shape of the curve defines the type of good. maybe your economics education was just… bad?
Type economics supply and demand curve into Google images for more data points than your personal experience.
ooo, everyday people (not economists) can put bad images up on the internet
This is from an encyclopedia. Here’s another
Did your economics training teach you to ignore data?
let’s talk about opportunity cost. did you learn that?
first: neither brittanica nor investopedia are run by or written by economists. those images were made, probably in excel first, they’re terrible, and then considered done. how much longer does it take to get a set of curves that line up precisely in the center versus a set of straight lines that line up precisely in the center? especially when the point you’re trying to illustrate with your diagram is not (a) the more realistic shape of the utility curves that define the supply and demand curves, but is in fact (b) the equilibrium point at the intersection. it takes a lot longer to get the curves right, right? and that’s not the important part of the model! better to just save 15 seconds and use straight lines, you can illustrate the curves on another diagram
that is how economists think
that is why those stupid images are there.
Economists make it linear again.