My_Personal_Market_Equilibrating_Discovery

My Personal Market Equilibrating Discovery Economics 561 July 6, 2010 My Personal Market Equilibrating Discovery I entered the workforce over seven years ago and since then I have had my fair share of ups and downs, which inevitably led to changes in my personal life as well. These changes can be described as experiencing market equilibrium and I have had this occurrence several times over the past few years. Market equilibrium can be described as a situation where the supply of an item is exactly equal to the demand for that item (McConnell, 2009). In 2008, after working for Alcon Labs selling medical devices, I was part of the first ever companywide layoff. This unexpected change in my career led to the many changes in my life and affected my buying and spending habits the most. My friends and family would describe me as “spontaneous and quick to buy anything I desired”, but for the five months I was unemployed, I thought not once, but two or three times before purchasing anything. At that time, my equilibrium was in a state where I demanded less because of my decrease in income. Fortunately, I obtained a new position with Endo Pharmaceuticals and my equilibrium that I was once accustomed to start shifting to the positive. My demand for the items I could not purchase before returned and I began buying luxuries confidently due to the paycheck I receive every two weeks. However, a few weeks ago the sales force was told Endo would be going through their first ever layoff and reduction of sales force in September. So, now I am back to having less demand and spending less because of the unknown and possible loss of my job and I am not spending more than I earn. The last thing I want at this point is to go into disequilibrium and have a deficit because I failed to cutback when I needed to. In summary, my life has brought me several instances where my market equilibrium has caused me to demand more and therefore spend more and also spend less due to a decrease in my demand from less income. I think it is essential to be aware of your personal market equilibrium compared to your current financial status in order to avoid any unnecessary debt. References McConnell, C. R., Brue, S.L., & Flynn, S.M. (2009). Economics: Principles, problems, and policies (18th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.