MIDTERM Flashcards
(104 cards)
economy
from the word “who manages a household”
scarcity
limited nature of society’s resources
what is economics`
the study of how society manages scarce resources
how ppl make decisions and interact
analyze trend affecting economy
efficiency vs equity
efficicency: society gets most out of resources
equity: resources distributed fairly among members
trade-off: if more effective, less equitable and v.v.
opportunity cost
direct costs + indirect costs
what you give up in order to gain an item, can be intangible i.e. time spent making money
rational people
systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives
marginal changes
incremental adjustments to EXISTING PLAN of action
incentive
smth that induces a person to act
i.e. gasoline tax increases # electric cars
how does trade impact countries
allows countries to specialize in what they are best at, and diversify types of g/s
both countries are better off
market economy
economy that allocates resources through decisions of many firms and households
adam smith
wrote book that sound households and markets are guided by the invisible hand
invisible hand
leads to desirable market outcomes naturally, thru prices adjustments by buyers and sellers
if the gov prevents price adjustments, it can impede the insivible hand
productivity
amount of g/s produced from each hour of a worker’s time
standard of living is determined by how productive economy is
how does economics use the scientific method
uses observation, theory, more observation
cannot manipulate economy, therefore examines historical experiments
assumptions
simply complex concepts and make easier to understand
i.e. assume society only makes 2 g/s
economic models
diagrams and equns to explain world, using assumptions to simply
focus on what is important
circular flow model
visual model of economy to show cash flow throughout
factors of productions
inputs from firms to make g/s
i.e. labour, land, capital
markets for goods/services
households are BUYERS
firms are SELLERS
markets for FOP
households are SELLERS
firms are BUYERS
production possibilities frontier
graph showing combos of output an economy can produce given available factors
efficient vs inefficent
efficient: get most from resources available
inefficient: produce less than could, i.e. within production possibilities frontier
macro vs microeconomics
microeconomics - study of households and firms making decisions and interact
macroeconomics - study of economy-wide phenomena i.e. inflation, unemployment, economic growth
scientist vs policy adviser
economists are scientists when try to EXPLAIN world
policy advisers when try to IMPROVE world