1-Economic methodology and the economic problem Flashcards
1.1-Economic methodology 1.2 The nature and purpose of econmoic activity 1.3-Economic resources 1.4 Scarcity, choice and the allocation of resources 1.5-Production possibility diagrams
Value judgement
Statement or opinions expressed that are not testable or cannot be verified and depend very much on the views of the individual and the values they hold
Normative statement
Opinions that require value judgement to be made
Positive statement
Statements that can be tested against real world data
What is the central purpose of economic activity?
The production of good and services to satsify need and wants and therby to improve economic welfare
captial
the stock of goods used to make other goods and services
Rewards for land is…
rent
Rewards for labour is…
wage
Rewards for capital is…
interest
Rewards for enterprise is…
profit
Production possibility frontier
Indicates the maximum possible output that can be achieved given a fixed set of resources and technology in a particular time period
What factor shift the PPB to the right?
-investment in new technology
-introduction of new resources (minerals)
-increased supply of labour through increase in population and migration
-improvement in human capital and through education and training
-increased productivity
-encouraging entrepreneurship
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Human capital
The skill, abilities, motivation and knowledge of labour. Improvements in human capital raise productivity and shift PPB to the right.
Productivity
Output per unit captal
What factors shift PPB to the left?
Emmigration Decline in investment in capital Disease leading to a decline in human capital War Disaster
Productive efficency
This is achieved in an economy when it is not possible to make anyone better off without making someone worse off, or you cannot produce more of one good without makin less of another.
when its operating at its lowest point on its avg cost curve
Allocative efficency
Occurs when the available economic resources are used to produce the the combination of goods and services that best matches people’s taste and preferences.
Market failure
Occurs when the free market, left alone, fails to deliver an efficient allocation of resources
- The result is loss of economic welfare
- Results in economic inefficiency
Consumer surplus
Difference between how much a consumer is willing to pay and how much they do pay (in the market)
It’s a measure of welfare
Producer surpus
Difference between how much a producer is willing to sell the good at and how much they actually get from the free market
It’s a measure of welfare
missing market
Situation in which there is no market because the functions of price have broken down
Complete market failure
Results in a missing market
Partial market failure
Where a market exists but contributes to resource misallocation
What are the main causes of market failure
-Positive and negative externalities
-merit and demerit goods
-public goods
-monopoly and other market imperfections
-inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth
-factor immobility causing unemployment
-import information
PMPMIFI
Public good
A good that posses the characteristics of non excludability, non rivalry in consumption and it is non rejectable
In a free market public goods would exist m=but not at an optimal level
Non excluability
Once provided, no person can be excluded from benefiting
Non players can enjoy the benefits of consumption at no financial cost to them
These people are know as free riders
Free rider
A person or organisation which receives benefits that others have paid without making any contribution themselves