Introduction to Economics

5 Key excerpts on "Introduction to Economics"

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  eBook - PDF

  Basic Economic Principles

  A Guide for Students

  • David E. O'Connor, Christophe Faille(Authors)
  • 2000(Publication Date)
  • Greenwood

    (Publisher)

  The guide is also comprehensive in that it introduces and applies the 21 basic economic concepts outlined in A Framework for Teaching Basic Economic Concepts (Economics America, 1995). Basic Economic Principles is a convenient guide to the economy and how it works. The 15 essential questions provide a content focus for each Page viii chapter. Each chapter is also subdivided into sections and subsections to help pinpoint information. For the reader’s convenience an extensive Glossary of Economic Terms appears at the end of the guide. In addition, as key terms are woven into each chapter, they appear in boldfaced print. Thus, the design of Basic Economic Principles motivates students, teachers, and other citizens to consider key economic questions, and then provides a “userfriendly” format to locate timely, relevant information needed for their responses. Economics sometimes has been called a “dismal science.” But nothing could be further from the truth. Economics is an essential part of our everyday lives. It deals with every production and consumption decision that we make—how to produce goods, how to spend our limited incomes, how to invest our money, and how to meet our personal, business, and national economic goals. And while there will inevitably be debate and disagreement about the decisions people make, there is one certainty— that the decisions we make today will shape our standard of living in the future. Page 1 1 WHAT IS ECONOMICS? Chapter 1 examines economics as a field of study. Because economics is a social science, it deals with human relations and the behaviors of people in the economy. Scarcity is identified as the universal economic problem, a problem that requires people to make choices. This chapter stresses the importance of economics to the decisions that you make every day. It explains the need for a scientific approach to problem solving and the value of reading and thinking critically.

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  eBook - PDF

  Principles of Economics in Context

  • Neva Goodwin, Jonathan M. Harris, Julie A. Nelson, Brian Roach, Mariano Torras, Jonathan Harris, Julie Nelson(Authors)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  xxiii Introduction For students taking a full-year introductory economics course, Principles of Economics in Context lays out the principles of economics in a manner that is thorough, up to date, and highly readable. Whether students take this class simply to gain some understanding of how economics can be useful to them, or go on to further studies in economics or business, this book will equip them with the tools and the critical understanding that they need to succeed. It introduces students both to the standard topics and tools taught in most introductory courses and to a broader and richer set of topics and tools to deepen comprehension of the economic realities of the twenty-first century. The study of economics should not be highly abstract, but closely related to real-world events. Prin-ciples of Economics in Context addresses this challenge by keeping the theoretical exposition close to experience. The authors believe that students will achieve a deeper and more memorable understanding of economic theory if they can relate it to contemporary issues of interest and importance. This textbook is written to encourage engaged and critical thinking about topics in economics. While demonstrating the uses of economic theory, it also provides a variety of viewpoints. Woven throughout the book are themes of great importance in everyday life as well as for an understanding of the econ-omy. There is a full treatment of standard neoclassical market theory and related topics, but the text also integrates discussion of broader themes of social and environmental well-being and sustainability, with specific attention to issues of inequality, globalization, unpaid work, technology, and the environment, as well as the financialization of the economy, the Great Recession, and its aftermath. These elements are not add-ons but are integrated within discussions of historical, institutional, political, and social factors that affect, and are affected by, the economy.

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  eBook - PDF

  Principles of Macroeconomics 2e

  • Steven A. Greenlaw, Timothy Taylor, David Shapiro(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Openstax

    (Publisher)

  This leads us to the topic of this chapter, an introduction to the world of making decisions, processing Chapter 1 | Welcome to Economics! 9 information, and understanding behavior in markets —the world of economics. Each chapter in this book will start with a discussion about current (or sometimes past) events and revisit it at chapter’s end—to “bring home” the concepts in play. Introduction In this chapter, you will learn about: • What Is Economics, and Why Is It Important? • Microeconomics and Macroeconomics • How Economists Use Theories and Models to Understand Economic Issues • How Economies Can Be Organized: An Overview of Economic Systems What is economics and why should you spend your time learning it? After all, there are other disciplines you could be studying, and other ways you could be spending your time. As the Bring it Home feature just mentioned, making choices is at the heart of what economists study, and your decision to take this course is as much as economic decision as anything else. Economics is probably not what you think. It is not primarily about money or finance. It is not primarily about business. It is not mathematics. What is it then? It is both a subject area and a way of viewing the world. 1.1 | What Is Economics, and Why Is It Important? By the end of this section, you will be able to: • Discuss the importance of studying economics • Explain the relationship between production and division of labor • Evaluate the significance of scarcity Economics is the study of how humans make decisions in the face of scarcity. These can be individual decisions, family decisions, business decisions or societal decisions. If you look around carefully, you will see that scarcity is a fact of life. Scarcity means that human wants for goods, services and resources exceed what is available. Resources, such as labor, tools, land, and raw materials are necessary to produce the goods and services we want but they exist in limited supply.

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  Economics

  Theory and Practice

  • Patrick J. Welch, Gerry F. Welch(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Macroeconomics The study of the operation of the economy as a whole. Microeconomics The study of individual decision‐making units and markets within the economy. 20 Chapter 1 Introduction to Economics 1. Economics is the study of how limited resources are used to satisfy unlimited wants and needs. The basis of economics is a scarcity of goods and services caused by people’s insatiable wants for goods and services coupled with a limited amount of resources to produce them. 2. Since individuals and societies cannot have everything they want, they must make choices, or trade‐offs. These trade‐offs are influenced by the decision maker’s value judgments. Trade‐offs carry an opportunity cost, which measures the cost of a decision or purchase in terms of a forgone alternative. 3. Efficiency and equity are important considerations when dealing with the problem of scarcity. Efficiency results when a given good or service is produced at the lowest cost. It allows the greatest attainable lessening of scarcity because resources are used to their fullest. Equity refers to fairness in the distribution of goods and services. The determination of equity differs according to people’s value judgments. 4. Resources, or factors of production, are those things used in the production of goods and services. All resources are scarce, or limited, in amount. Economists classify these limited factors into four categories: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. When sold, they generate incomes termed, respectively: rent, wages, interest, and profit. 5. There is a distinction between economic theory and policy. Economic theory explains why an event occurs, or gives a generalized interpretation of the relationship between economic variables. Economic theories are explored within the framework of a model that includes variables, assumptions or conditions held to be true, data collection and analysis, and conclusions. Economic policy is a guideline for a course of action.

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  The Economics Companion

  • Graham Mallard(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Red Globe Press

    (Publisher)

  I often find I think I know something fully until I come to write it down or explain it to someone else, at which point I realise there are gaps in my understanding. Explaining it to non-economists is often particularly fruitful as they ask questions that lecturers and authors simply take for granted and that really test your understanding. 3 Apply and evaluate it . Economics is about understanding the surrounding world, not about learning abstract theories and models. Economic theory is developed so that actual behaviour can be analysed and understood. Sim-ply learning the theories, then, leaves your study incomplete. It’s certainly necessary for you to understand economic theory, but it’s also necessary for you to understand the surrounding world and to be able to assess how effec-tively the former explains the latter. You can only do this by reading newspa-pers and magazines that discuss current affairs and books that deal with the history of economic thought; but you should be aware of the bias of inter-pretation that inevitably accompanies such texts and you should try to see through such bias by reading different views of the same events. Successful 37 studying economics successfully 1 1 students develop their own opinions regarding current and historic affairs and are able to draw upon these, when relevant, in their essays and other assessed work. 4.2 tackling theoretical analysis: the diagrams and maths If you’re to study economics successfully, just being able to describe the theories and empirical results learned isn’t suffi cient: you need to be able to thoroughly analyse them as well. In practice this means being able to under-stand and use diagrams and maths. Theoretical analysis – by which I mean the study and examination of one or more economic models – is extremely important in economics because it’s such a powerful tool, often leading to important and sometimes surprising results.

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