Im so fucked Flashcards
(171 cards)
What is economics?
Economics is the study of how people satisfy their needs and wants by making choices
How do economics define scarcity?
Scarcity occurs when there are limited quantities of resources to meet unlimited needs or desires
What are the three factors of production?
LAND: All natural resources that are used to produce goods and services
LABOR: Any effort a person devotes to a task in which that person is paid
CAPITAL: Any human made resource that is used to create other goods and services
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Human element that combines the factors of production.
What is the difference between a shortage and scarcity?
A shortage can be temporary or long-term, but scarcity always exists.
Which of the following is an example of using physical capital to save time and
money?
building extra space in a factory to simplify production
What is a shortage?
Shortages occur when
producers will not or cannot
offer goods or services at
current prices
Two types of capital
Physical Capital: All human made goods that are used to produce other goods and services
Human Capital: The skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience
Trade offs
Are all the alternative that we give up whenever we choose one course of action over others.
Opportunity cost
The most desirable alternative given up as a result of a decision
Guns vs Butter
The trade offs countries face of military goods vs consumer goods.
Thinking at the margin
When you decide how much more or less to do, you are
thinking at the margin.
Marginal utility
who would pay more for a glass, someone who just drank or someone who is thirsty?
Opportunity cost
the most desirable alternative given up as a result of a decision.
Economists use the phrase “guns or butter” to describe the fact that
A nation must decide whether to produce more or less military or consumer
goods.
A production possibilities graph shows
Alternative ways that an
economy can use its resources.
The production possibilities frontier is the line that shows
The maximum possible output for that economy.
Efficiency
using resources in such a way
as to maximize the
production of goods and
services. An economy
producing output levels
on the production
possibilities frontier is
operating efficiently.
Underutilization
using fewer resources than an
economy is capable of
using
2 ways to grow on the production possibilities graph
- If more resources
become available - If technology improves
then an economy can
increase its level of output
and grow. When this
happens, the entire
production possibilities
curve “shifts to the right.”
Law of increasing costs
States that as we
shift factors of
production from
making one
good or service
to another, the
cost of
producing the
second item
increases.
A production possibilities frontier shows
the maximum possible output of an economy
An economy that is using its resources to produce the maximum
number of goods and services is described as
efficient
The three economic questions
What goods and services should be produced?
How should these goods and services be produced?
Who consumes these goods and services?
How do societies answer the three economic questions
on their goals,
efficiency,freedom,security
and predictability,equity,growth
and innovation,Other goals