Is the study of how
humans make
decisions in the face
of scarcity
Scarcity means that human
wants for goods, services and
resources exceed what is
available
Adam Smith
introduced the idea
of dividing labor
into discrete tasks in
his famous 1776
book, The Wealth of
Nations
Division of labor is the way in which different
workers divide up tasks to produce a good or service
Specialization: when
workers or firms focus on
particular tasks for which
they are well suited for
Allows businesses to take
advantage of economies of
scale, which means that as
the level of production
increases, the average cost
of producing a single item
decreases
Microeconomics: on the
actions of the ind. agents
like households, workers,
and businesses
Macroeconomics: broad
issues such as growth,
unemployment, inflation,
and trade balance
Monetary policy involves
altering the level of interest
rates, the availability of credit
and the extent of borrowing
(determined by a nation's
central bank)
Fiscal policy is
economic policies that
involve government
spending and
taxes(determined by a
nation's legislative
body)
John Maynard Keynes - most
influential economists in
modern times- thought that
economics teaches you how
to think, not what to think
Theory is a simplified
representation of
how two or more
variables interact
with each other
Economists use
models to test
theories
Circular flow Diagrams
show how households
and firms interact in the
goods and services
market, and in the labor market
The directions show that in the
goods and services market,
households receive goods and
services and pays firms for them
In the labor market, housholds
provide labor and reicve
payment from firms
Traditional Economy - typically an
agricultural economy where
things are done the same as they
have always been done
-oldest economic system
-used in parts of Asia, Africa,
and South America
-occupations tend to stay in
the family - what you
produce is what you
consume -little economic
progress or development
Command Economy- where economic
descions are passed down from
governement authority and where the
government owns the resources
-Government decides what goods and services are
produced and what the prices are -gov. decides methods of
productions and wages -gov. provides necessities like
healthcare and education for a fee -Anceint Egypt, Medieval
manor life, Communism, Cuba, N Korea
Market Economy: decisions are decentralized, private
individuals own resources, and businesses supply
goods and services based on demand
Globalization: trend in which buying and
selling in markets have increasingly crossed
national borders
Gross Domestic Product(GDP) measures the total
production of an economy