📐 Deadweight Loss Calculator
Estimate the deadweight loss (economic inefficiency) created by a tax, subsidy, or price control that shifts price and quantity from equilibrium.
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What is deadweight loss?
Deadweight loss is the loss of overall economic efficiency that occurs when a market isn’t at its natural equilibrium, often due to a tax, subsidy, price ceiling, or price floor that reduces the quantity of a good traded below the free-market level.
The formula
Using a simplified linear supply-and-demand model, Deadweight Loss = 0.5 × |Price Change| × |Quantity Change|, which is the area of the triangle formed between the supply and demand curves at the new, lower quantity.
This calculator is a simplified educational model of a more complex economic concept.
Last reviewed August 2026