why do we study economics??
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WHY DO WE STUDY ECONOMICS??. WHY STUDY ECONOMICS. Among TOP TEN REASONS ….. Economists can supply it on demand. You can talk about money without ever having to make any. When you are in the unemployment line, at least you will know why you are there. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
WHY STUDY ECONOMICS Among TOP TEN REASONS …..
Economists can supply it on demand.
You can talk about money without ever having to make any.
When you are in the unemployment line, at least you will know why you are there.
So that you know more than the most world leaders about what is actually going on.
Current News on World Economy
Output drops worse-than-expected 1.1 percent
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Mon Sep 15, 9:16 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Government data show the nation's industrial output plunged in August by nearly four times the amount that had been expected. It's the worst performance since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.
CHAPTER 1: CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS WHAT IS ECONOMICSECONOMICS
Definition of Economics
-scarcity and choices
-economics
-Microeconomics
-Macroeconomics
Big Microeconomics Questions
-What, How, For Whom
-Factors of Production
Land, Labor, Capital and Entrepreneur
Economics: A Social Science
-positive statement
-normative statement
-Economic theory
-economic model
-ceteris paribusEconomic Way of Thinking
-Choice
-Tradeoff
-opportunity cost
-Marginal benefit and Marginal Cost
Slide #1
Definition of Economics
All economic questions arise because we want more than we can get.
Our inability to satisfy all our wants is called scarcity.
Because we face scarcity, we must make choices.
The choices we make depend on the incentives we face.
An incentive is a reward that encourages or a penalty that discourages an action.
Definition of Economics
Economics is the social science that studies the choices that individuals, businesses, governments, and societies make as they cope with scarcity and the incentives that influence and reconcile those choices.
Definition of Economics
MicroeconomicsMicroeconomics is the study of choices made
by individuals and businesses, and the influence of government on those choices.
MacroeconomicsMacroeconomics is the study of the effects
on the national and global economy of the choices that individuals, businesses, and governments make.
CHOICES
1. FIRST BIG ECON QUESTION
What to produce How to Produce For whom to produce
2. SECOND BIG ECON QUESTION
Self Interest or Social Interest
Two Big Economic Questions
Two big questions summarize the scope of economics:
How do choices end up determining what, how, and for whom goods and services get produced?
When do choices made in the pursuit of self-interest also promote the social interest?
Two Big Economic Questions What, How, and For Whom?Goods and services are the objects
that people value and produce to satisfy wants.
What?Given the resources or factors of
production available to us, we have to decide on what to produce
Two Big Economic Questions
How?Goods and services are produced by using
productive resources that economists call factors of production.
Factors of production are grouped into four categories:
Land Labor Capital Entrepreneurship
Factors of Production
The “gifts of nature” that we use to produce goods and services are land.
The work time and effort that people devote to producing goods and services is labor.
The quality of labor depends on human capital, which is the knowledge and skill that people obtain from education, on-the-job training, and work experience.
Two Big Economic Questions
The tools, instruments, machines, buildings, and other constructions that are used to produce goods and services are capital.
The human resource that organizes land, labor, and capital is entrepreneurship.
Two Big Economic Questions
For Whom?Who gets the goods and services depends
on the incomes that people earn. Land earns rent. Labor earns wages. Capital earns interest. Entrepreneurship earns profit.
Two Big Economic Questions
When is the Pursuit of Self-Interest in the Social Interest?Every day, 6.3 billion people make economic choices that result in “What,” “How,” and “For Whom” goods and services get produced.
Do we produce the right things in the right quantities? Do we use our factors of production in the best way? Do the goods and services go the those who benefit
most from them?
Two Big Economic Questions
You make choices that are in your self-interest—choices that you think are best for you.
Choices that are best for society as a whole are said to be in the social interest.
Is it possible that when each one of us makes choices that are in our self-interest, it also turns out that these choices are also in the social interest?
The Economic Way of Thinking
Choices and TradeoffsThe economic way of thinking places scarcity and
its implication, choice, at center stage.You can think about every choice as a tradeoff—
an exchange—giving up one thing to get something else.
The classic tradeoff is “guns versus butter.”“Guns” and “butter” stand for any two objects of
value.
The Economic Way of Thinking
Opportunity CostThinking about a choice as a tradeoff
emphasizes cost as an opportunity forgone.
The highest-valued alternative that we give up to get something is the opportunity cost of the activity chosen.
The Economic Way of Thinking
Choosing at the MarginPeople make choices at the margin, which
means that they evaluate the consequences of making incremental changes in the use of their resources.
The benefit from pursuing an incremental increase in an activity is its marginal benefit.
The opportunity cost of pursuing an incremental increase in an activity is its marginal cost.
Marginal Benefit vs Marginal Cost
Marginal Benefit: the benefit arises from an increase in activity
i.e- Study three nights in a week GPA is 3.0 Study 4 nights in a week GPA is 3.5 Marginal Benefit = 3.5- 3.0 =0.5 Marginal cost: The cost of an increase in activity Marginal cost: cost of additional night not watching
TV DECISION: MB> MC STUDY MB< MC DON’T STUDY
Marginal Benefits vs. Marginal Costs
MB >MC Incentive to continue activity
MB < MC Incentive to discontinue activity
Economics: A Social Science
Social scienceEconomics is a social science.Economists distinguish between two types of
statement: What is—positive statements What ought to be—normative statements
A positive statement can be tested by checking it against facts
A normative statement cannot be tested.
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3. ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY Relying on scientific method to
view at things. Consisting of the following elements:- Observation of facts- Hypothesis formulation- Testing- Acceptance/rejection: Modification- Continued testing against facts
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3. ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY Continued testing against facts
Accumulation of favorable results =THEORYAccepted theory = LAW/PRINCIPLESCombination of law & principles = MODELS (Simplified version of relationships)
All these enable us to understand, explain & predict economic outcomes
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3. ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY Theoretical economics
- Develop models of behavior of economic agents- Relevant and useful information- Establishing cause-effect
testing discovering theories & principles use in analytical economics
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3. ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY Terminology
- Hypothesis – Needs initial testing
- Theories – Tested, need more testing
- Law/principle – accepted theory, provided strong predictive accuracy
- Model – Combines principles into simplified representation of reality
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3. ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY Generalizations
- Theories, laws & principles are generalizations to economic behavior
- Imprecise due to economic diversity
- Economic principles are expressed as the tendencies of average economic agents
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3. ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY Other-things-equal assumption
- Ceteris paribus- Enable generalizations- All variables, except the one under analysis, are held constant