chapter 1 Flashcards
what is the definition of economics (more for understanding what it is)
study humans and society to make choices about resources to produce goods and services
- social science because human behaviour is studied.
- production results in consumption which results in a transfer of wealth
micro vs. macro economics
micro- small segments of economy while macro is large segments of economy
ex: micro: market structure
ex: macro: exchange rate, unemployment
what is the economic problem
scarcity forces a choice which involves opportunity cost
what is opportunity cost
the opportunity cost of buying this one product for example is forgone to buying a different product
you are giving up one opportunity for another
example of economic problem
scarcity is time, you can either go to class, sleep, watch tv, or exercise. this forces you to make a choice, you decide to go to class. this decision involves opportunity cost. the opportunity cost of going to class means that you forgo sleep, tv, and exercise
what are 3 fundamental questions in economics?
- What to produce?
- how to produce it?
- for whom it is produced( who is it produced for)
- - for whom it is produced: how would total output (income) of an economy be distributed?– equally? shared by contribution? no one starves?
* the goals of the society influence how they answer these questions
what are the 4 Cs of economics
all economies can be described by the 4cs cooperation custom command competition
describe canada in terms of the 4 C’s of economics
Command and competition
- the type of economy or blend of 4 C’s helps to answer what?
the 3 fundamental questions in economy
what does factors of production mean
factors of production are resources that can produce a good or service so labour, capital, land and enterprise
what are the 4 factors of production
labour(people)
capital( machines/equipment)
land(natural resources-oil-hill-coal-fish)
enterprise(new ideas)
what are the incomes of each factor of production?
-labours income is wage,
-capital income is interest(rate of return
-lands income is rent
enterprises income is profit
can market based economies own factors of production
yes and they would receive an associated factor income
what are the 3 types of statements in economics
positive: facts that can be proven it costs 10$ to buy a coffee at starbucks
negative: opinions, statements that SHOULD be backed with postive statements, ex: coffees at starbucks are too expensive
economic statements: these are economic theories or laws that are created by finding casual links between positive statements ex: law of demand, as prices rise the quantity of demand falls
Productions possibilities curve (PPC)
shows maximum possible output an economy can produce using its current level of inputs or potential
- assumes 3 things:
1. there’s full employement
2. best technology
3. efficiency
- assumes 3 things: