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  • Checked October 2026

Three Ranges of the Aggregate Supply Curve

One aggregate supply curve with its Keynesian, intermediate and classical ranges labeled, plus the axes, AD and the equilibrium.

Three Ranges of the Aggregate Supply Curve

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Write the name of each numbered box.Answer key

  1. Keynesian range
  2. Intermediate range
  3. Classical range
  4. Aggregate supply curve
  5. Price level
  6. Real GDP
  7. Aggregate demand curve
  8. Equilibrium
  9. Equilibrium price level
  10. Equilibrium real GDP

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a box is answered.

Next step Next: draw and label the business cycle

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The three ranges 3

  1. Keynesian range The level part, also called the horizontal range. Output can rise with no rise in the price level.
  2. Intermediate range The bend between the other two ranges. Output and the price level rise together.
  3. Classical range The upright part, also called the vertical range. Only the price level can rise.

The curves, the axes and the equilibrium 7

  1. Aggregate supply curve The real output businesses will produce at each price level.
  2. Price level The upright axis: an average of prices across the economy.
  3. Real GDP The level axis: total output, adjusted for inflation.
  4. Aggregate demand curve The real output buyers want to purchase at each price level.
  5. Equilibrium Where the two curves cross. Dashed lines run from it to both axes.
  6. Equilibrium price level The price level at the crossing, read off the upright axis.
  7. Equilibrium real GDP Real GDP at the crossing, read off the level axis.

How this list was compiled: Every name was checked on 2026-10-03 in at least two of these. (1) Harper College, macroeconomics lecture notes on the aggregate supply and aggregate demand model, http://www2.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/eco212i/lectures/asad/asad.htm (three parts, or ranges, of the AS curve: the Keynesian (horizontal) range, the classical (vertical) range and the intermediate (up-sloping) range; in the horizontal range output is low and more can be produced without a higher price level; in the vertical range all resources are in use and output cannot rise even at higher price levels; in the intermediate range the curve rises slowly and then steeper; price level and real domestic output, measured by real GDP, on the axes; the AS-AD graph shows where the price level and output settle). (2) Wikipedia, Aggregate supply, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregate_supply (its figure shows the three ranges, Keynesian, intermediate and classical; at low levels of demand the AS curve is flat and when demand is high it is steep or vertical; short-run and long-run aggregate supply). (3) Federal Reserve Education glossary, https://www.federalreserveeducation.org/glossary (aggregate supply curve: the amounts of real output businesses will choose to produce at each possible price level; aggregate demand curve: the amounts buyers collectively desire to purchase at each possible price level; price level; real gross domestic product). (4) Principles of Economics, version 2.0, an openly licensed textbook, section 22.2, https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_principles-of-economics-v2.0/s25-02-aggregate-demand-and-aggregate.html (where the aggregate demand curve crosses an aggregate supply curve sets equilibrium real GDP and the price level; a short-run curve, and a long-run curve that is a vertical line at potential output). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Own original chart of a made-up curve; nothing is traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

To draw and label the three ranges of the AS curve, sketch one aggregate supply curve that runs level, bends upward and then stands upright. Those parts are the Keynesian, intermediate and classical ranges.

Read the full guide

Read the three ranges

Where the curve runs level, the Keynesian range, many resources are unused, so output can rise at the same price level. On the bend, the intermediate range, output and prices rise together. Where it stands upright, the classical range, every resource is in use, so only prices can rise.

Draw it by hand

Draw an upright axis for the price level and a level axis for real GDP. Start the curve level, bend it upward and finish it upright. Add a demand curve sloping down and mark the equilibrium where they cross. Dashed lines from there to the axes give its price level and real GDP.

Quiz yourself or print it

Press Quiz me to hide the names and place them. Print blank gives the graph without its names.

  • On the chart the two curves carry their short names, AS and AD.

Questions and answers

What are the three ranges of the aggregate supply curve?

The Keynesian range, where the curve is horizontal; the intermediate range, where it slopes upward; and the classical range, where it is vertical.

Why is the Keynesian range horizontal?

Output is low there and many resources sit unused. Firms can put them to work without bidding up what they pay, so real GDP can rise while the price level does not.

Why is the classical range vertical?

Every resource is already at work, so the economy cannot make more. More demand there raises the price level and leaves real GDP where it is.

What happens in the intermediate range?

Some resources grow scarce before others, so the curve climbs gently at first and then steeply. More output comes with a higher price level.

Do all textbooks draw the AS curve in three ranges?

No. Many draw two curves instead: a short-run aggregate supply curve that slopes upward and a long-run curve that is vertical at potential output.

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