Tuesday, January 12, 2016

UNIT 1 1/5/16

·         Macroeconomics Vs. Microeconomics
§  Macroeconomics: the study of the economy as a whole
“Looking at the big picture”
-          Inflation
-          International trade
-          Wages
§  Microeconomics: the study of individual or specific units of the economy
“Looking at the tress but not the forest”
-          Supplied and demand
-          Market structure: monopoly, competition
-          Business organization: corporations
·         Positive Economics Vs. Normative Economics
§  Positive Economics: It attempts to describe the world as is.
“Fact base”
-          It is very descriptive
-          It is a derived in what is
-          Collects and presents facts
v  Example: Minimum wage causes financial issues.
§  Normative Economics: it attempts to describe the world should be.
“Opinion base”
v  Example: The Government should raise the minimum wage up.
·         Needs Vs. Wants
§  Needs: basic requirements for survival
v  Example: food, shelter, water, and clothing
§  Wants: desire of the citizens
“You don’t need it but you still want it”

·         Goods Vs. Services
§  Goods: tangible ( capital goods or consumer goods)
“Something you can feel or touch”
o   Capital goods: items use in the creation if other goods
o   Consumer goods: goods that are intended for final use by the consumer
§  Services: work that is perform for someone
v  Example: barber shop, concert, etc…
·         Scarcity Vs. Shortage
§  Scarcity: the most fundamental economic problem that all society face
-          How to satisfy unlimited wants with limited resource
v  Example: Oil
Scarcity <ul><li>All points on or inside the frontier are attainable </li></ul><ul><li>Points A and B are attainable </li>...
§  Shortage: it is where the quantity demanded  greater than the quantity supply
-          Opposite of the surplus

·         Factors of Production:
1.       Capital: 2 types( Human and Physical)
§  Human capital: knowledge, skills, abilities and talent
§  Physical capital: tools, machine, factory and robots
2.       Entrepreneurship ( innovative and risk taker)
“Your boss”
3.       Land: think about the natural resources
“Ingredients of the food you make”
4.       Labor: work force
“Employee”

·         Trade Off: alternatives that we give up when we choice one course over the action of the other one
·         Opportunity Cost: the next best alternatives
v  Ex: You’re riding on an airplane when all of a sudden you had the urge to drink something. You then ask the flight attendant if she had water and she said no. Then you ask if she had ice tea and once again she said no. Finally you ask if they ask coca- cola and she said yes. It wasn’t your first or the next choice.
·         Productive Possibilities Graphs( PPG): shows alternative ways to use economy resource
“The entire graph”
-          Productive Possibilities curve( PPC)
-          Productive Possibilities frontier( PPF)
·         4 Assignments of a PPG
1.       Two goods
2.       Fixed resource
-          Land
-          Labor
-          Capital
-          Entrepreneurship
3.       Fixed technology
4.       Full employment of resource

-          Using our resource how were supposed to 


2 comments:

  1. Opportunity cost also may leave the consumer with their third, fourth, or even fifth choice.

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  2. Trade-offs is an interesting concept because it is involved in our everyday lives. Suppose you are stuck between buying the newest Samsung Galaxy phone or newest iPhone. If you choose to buy the iPhone, you wonder if the other alternative would have been better. It's decisions like these we make in our everyday lives that trade-offs are involved in.

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