AE Week 2 Gen Economis
AE Week 2 Gen Economis
Week II
BASIC ECONOMICS
BASIC ECONOMICS
MODULE OUTCOMES
●
Economics
The social science that studies the choices that we
make as we cope with scarcity and the incentives that
influence and reconcile our choices.
Capital accumulation
► FIGURE 2.2
Shifting the Production
Possibilities Curve
An increase in the quantity of
resources or technological
innovation in an economy
shifts the production
possibilities curve outward.
Starting from point f, a nation
could produce more steel
(point g), more wheat (point h),
or more of both goods (points
between g and h).
SUPPLY & DEMAND
DEMAND
The relationship between the quantity
demanded and the price of a good when all
other influences on buying plans remain
the same.
Illustrate
a table with a price and quantity
demanded.
LAW OF DEMAND
The Law of Demand
Other things remaining the same,
If the price of a good rises, the quantity demanded of
that good decreases.
If the price of a good falls, the quantity demanded of
that good increases.
Demand curve versus demand schedule
DEMAND
DEMAND
Changes in Demand
Change in the quantity demanded
A change in the quantity of a good that people
plan to buy that results from a change in the
price of the good.
Change in demand
A change in the quantity that people plan to buy
when any influence other than the price of the
good changes.
DEMAND
The main influences on buying plans that change demand are:
Number of sellers
Productivity
THE PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
●Elasticity
Elastic > 1
Inelastic < 1
Unitary = 1
THE PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
•Negative marginal
returns
SHORT-RUN PRODUCTION
Increasing Marginal Returns
Increasing marginal returns occur when the
productivity.
SHORT-RUN PRODUCTION
When marginal product is less than
average product, average product
is decreasing.
When marginal product equals
average product, average product is
at its maximum.
9.3 SHORT-RUN COST
To produce more output in the short run, a firm
employs more labor, which means it must
increase its costs.
We describe the relationship between output
and cost using three cost concepts:
Total cost
Marginal cost
Average cost
9.3 SHORT-RUN COST
Total Cost
A firm’s total cost (TC) is the cost of all the
factors of production the firm uses.
Total cost divides into two parts:
Total fixed cost (TFC) is the cost of a firm’s
unit of output.
Average variable cost (AVC)is total
variable cost per unit of output.
Average total cost (ATC) is total cost per unit of
output.
SHORT-RUN COST
The average cost concepts are calculated from the
total cost concepts as follows:
TC = TFC + TVC
Divide each total cost term by the quantity
produced,
Q, to give
TC
Q = TFC
Q + TVC
Q
or,
ATC = AFC +
AVC
SHORT-RUN COST
SHORT-RUN COST
The vertical distance between
these two curves is equal to
average fixed cost, as illustrated
by the two arrows.
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Macroeconomic Policy
Challenges and Tools
Five widely agreed policy challenges for
macroeconomics are to:
1.Boost economic growth
2.External stability/balance of payments
3.Lower unemployment / Full employment
4.Price stability
5.Equitable distribution of wealth (income)
Macroeconomic Policy
Challenges and Tools
Two broad groups of macroeconomic policy tools
are :
Fiscalpolicy—making changes in tax rates and
government spending
Monetary policy—changing interest rates and changing
the amount of money in the economy
The Circular Flow
This model captures the essential essence of
macroeconomic activity
The circular flow model illustrates the
mechanism by which income is generated from
goods and services and how this income is
spent.
This provides the basis for the way economists
think about the interactions between different
parts of the economy and the measurement of
economic activity
MACROECONOMICS
THEORY
MACROECONOMIC
VARIABLES
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Inflation
Unemployment
Balance of payments
Gross Domestic Product
GDP Defined
GDP or gross domestic product, is the market
value of all final goods and services produced in a
country in a given time period.
This definition has four parts:
Market value
Final goods and services
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Gross Domestic Product
Final Goods and Services
GDP is the value of the final goods and
services produced.
A final good (or service) is an item bought by
its final user during a specified time period.
A final good contrasts with an intermediate
good, which is an item that is produced by one
firm, bought by another firm and used as a
component of a final good or service. ©
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Gross Domestic Product
Excluding intermediate goods and services avoids
a problem called double counting.
Produced Within a Country
GDP measures production within a country domestic
production.
In a Given Time Period
GDP measures production during a specific time
period Excluding intermediate goods and services
avoids double counting normally a year or a
quarter of a year. ©
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Nominal vs Real GDP
Real GDP is the value of final goods and
services produced in a given year when valued
at constant prices.
The first step in calculating real GDP is to
calculate nominal GDP.
Nominal GDP
Nominal GDP is the value of goods and
services produced during a given year valued at
the prices that prevailed in that same year.
Inflation
Inflation is a a continuos and considerable rise in
price level in general.
The commonly used indicator of general price
level is the CPI
To calculate inflation rate - is the percentage
change in the price level.
(P1 – P0)
100
P0
Inflation
Is Inflation a Problem?
Unpredictable changes in the inflation rate are a problem
because they redistribute income in arbitrary ways between
employers and workers and between borrowers and lenders.
A high inflation rate is a problem because it diverts
resources from productive activities to inflation forecasting.
Eradicating inflation is costly because it brings a period of
greater than average unemployment.
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When an inflation occurs .
all prices are rising
oil prices are rising
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Unemployment
defined
Unemployment is a state in which a person
does not have a job but is available for
work, willing to work, and has made some
effort to find work within the previous four
weeks.
Types of Unemployment
Frictional unemployment
Structural unemployment
Cyclical unemployment
Seasonal unemployment
Structural unemployment is
unemployment created by changes in
technology and foreign competition that
change the skills and location match
between jobs and workers.
Cyclical unemployment is the fluctuation
in unemployment caused by the business
cycle e.g. in a recession AD & thus output
falls.
Unemployment
GDP.
Real GDP—real gross domestic product—is the
Increase in productivity ©
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The Causes of Economic
Growth
Saving and Investment in New Capital
The accumulation of capital has dramatically increased
output and productivity.
Investment in Human Capital
Human capital acquired through education, on-the-job
training, and learning-by-doing has also dramatically
increased output and productivity.
Discovery of New Technologies
Technological advances have contributed immensely to
increasing productivity.
Ongoing economic growth requires all
of the following except .
saving and investment in new capital
the discovery of new technologies
population growth
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Measuring Economic
Growth
When GDP increases, we know that
either
Weproduced more goods and services or
We paid higher prices
Producing more goods and services contributes
to an improvement in our standard of living.
Expansion of production is economic growth.
Economic growth is not a smooth process and
hence is related to a phenomenon called
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Business Cycle Patterns
1. A peak
2. A trough ©
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Cycle Patterns, Impulses
and Mechanisms
DL
10 15 19 Number Employed
The Labour Market
The market demand for labour will shift or
change due to:
The number of firms or employers changes
The number of product changes
£100
DL1
DL
Q1 Q3 Q2 Q4
Quantity of labour employed
The Labour Market
The Supply of Labour
The amount of people offering their
labour at different wage rates.
Involves an opportunity cost – work v. leisure
Wage rate must be sufficient
to overcome the opportunity cost of leisure
The Labour Market
The market supply of labour will shift or
change due to:
Tastes (for leisure, income and work)
Income and wealth