The total, or market, curve for a specific resource shows the various total amounts of the resource that firms will purchase or hire at various resource prices, other things equal. This phenomenon is known as the "law of demand". The law of demand states that as the price of a resource increases, the quantity demanded for that resource will decrease and vice versa. As the price of the resource decreases, the quantity demanded for the resource will increase. This relationship between price and quantity is represented in the total, or market, curve.
The total, or market, curve is a downward sloping curve. This indicates that as the price of a resource increases, the total quantity of the resource that firms will purchase or hire will decrease. Conversely, as the price of a resource decreases, the total quantity of the resource that firms will purchase or hire will increase. This is due to the fact that firms are more likely to purchase or hire a greater quantity of a resource if the price of that resource is lower.
The total, or market, curve is an important concept in economics and is used to demonstrate the relationship between price and quantity of a resource. This curve is an important tool for understanding how the demand for a resource is affected by changes in price.