Economics Unit 2 Flashcards
What are banks and building societies?
Financial institutions that accept deposits and make loans
What is money?
Anything that is generally acceptable as a medium of exchange
What is interest rates?
The reward for saving and the cost for borrowing
What does money do?
Makes exchange quick and easy
Money can be saved
Provides a measure of value
Are cheques and bank accounts money?
No, there just a way of transferring money
Why is the rate for saving lower than the rate for borrowing?
The banks act as a intermediary between the savers and borrowers, the difference between the two rates pays for its cost and makes a profit
What are the difference between banks and building societies?
Banks are owned by shareholders who expect a dividend therefore their interest rates on borrowing may be higher and saving lower than a building society who are owned by the savers and borrowers which the interest rates will be slightly higher for savers and lower for borrowers
What factors affect saving rates?
The greater the minimum deposit for the accountant
The longer the time that the money is tied up
Whether the saver is committed to a regular saving plan
Wether the saver is committed to another type of account within the same bank
What factors affect rates on loans?
Risk
- a decrease in risk means interest rates will be lower
Security
- an increase in security means the interest rates will be lower
What are the objectives of the government?
Full employment
- everyone who is willing and able to work is
Economic growth
- would like to achieve a steady rate and avoid cyclical changes in GDP
Price stability
- keeping inflation low
Balancing exports and imports
- deficits some years and surpluses other years
What are the main policies of the government?
Fiscal
- aimed at changing the level of total aggregate demand in the economy through the changes in taxation and the governments spending
Interest rate
- aimed at changing the level of total aggregate demand by changing the interest rate
Supply-side
- aimed at increasing the economy capacity to produce more goods and services
What is economic growth?
Growth in output of the economy overtime
What is gross domestic product?
The total value of goods and services produced in the country in a year
What is GDP per capita?
GDP divided by the total population
What is economic growth measured in?
Rise in output
What are the causes of economic growth?
Investment
- spending on capital goods so the economy has the capacity to produce more goods and services in the future
Changes in technology
- technical progress means the quality if capital goods improves so more output is produced
A larger workforce
- economy can produce more if it has more workers (immigration/school levers)
Education and training
- if you increase human capital, you will increase productivity and quality and output
Natural resources
- oil
Government policies
- takes responsibility