%0 Journal Article
%T Leisure and the Production Possibility Frontier: A Two
%A Gary M. Galles
%A Philip E. Graves
%A Robert L. Sexton
%J The American Economist
%@ 2328-1235
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0569434518810425
%X The production possibility frontier (PPF) is a workhorse of economics principles texts, providing useful insights. However, its assumption of a given amount of labor can confuse students, who know that their willingness to supply labor is a variable, not given. That is, some will realize that there are actually many potential guns-butter trade-offs, one for each level of leisure chosen. That unexamined issue can undermine student buy-in to the concepts, and with it, the usefulness of the PPF and economic tools related to it and its ¡°fixed amount of resources¡± assumption, such as the supply curves of microeconomics and the long-run aggregate supply curve of macroeconomics. However, that difficulty can be addressed using a two-step PPF presentation, which considers the simultaneous goods-leisure decision and the guns-butter possibilities consistent with it. It clarifies the analysis, as well as offering several benefits for economic instruction. JEL Classifications: A20, A2
%K production possibilities frontier
%K trade-offs between leisure and goods and services
%K leisure choices and economic growth
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0569434518810425