1、ec o n omi c sChapter 1 EconomicsText AI. Why Study Economics ?a. Economics : the study of how society manages its scarce resources.經濟學是在一定經濟制度和經濟體制條件下，研 究如何有效利用可供選擇的有限資源，以求人類無限欲望 的最大滿足.e.g.1) how people decide what to buy and how much to work, save and spend2) how firms decide how much to produce a

2、nd how many workers to hire3) how society decides to divide its resources among competing needs such as national defense, consumer goods and environmental protectionb. Resource: anything that can be used to produce something elsec. Scarcity : the resources available to a society for the production o

3、f goods and services are limitedd. Scarcity principle : although we have boundless needs and wants, resources available to us are limited so having more of one thing usually means less of anotherII. The chapter introduces ten principles of economics as part of three issues.How people make decisions(

4、1-4)How people interact(5-7)How the economy as a whole works(8 10)1. Principle 1: People face trade-offs.人們面臨權衡取舍All decisions involve trade-offs. Examples:a. Going to a party the night before your midterm leaves less time for studying.b. Having more money to make purchases requires working longer h

5、ours and leaving less time for leisure.c. Protecting the environment requires resources that could otherwise be used to produce consumer goods.Society faces an important trade-off: efficiency versus equalitya. Efficiency : when society gets the maximum benefits from its scarce resourcesb. Equality :

6、 when prosperity is distributed uniformly among members of societyc. Trade-off : to achieve greater equality, income can be redistributed from wealthy to poor but this may reduce incentive to work and produce leading to a reduction in the size of the economic pie.2. Principle 2: The cost of somethin

7、g is what you give up to getIt某種東西的成本是為了得到它而放棄的東西a. Making decisions requires comparing the costs and benefits of alternative choices.b. The opportunity cost of any item is whatever must be given up to obtain it.c. Opportunity cost is the relevant cost for decision MakingFor example, the opportunity

8、 cost ofgoing to college for a year is not just the tuition, books and fees but also the foregone wages.seeing a movie is not just the price of the ticket, but the value of the time you spend in the theater.Are the best things in life free?3. Principle 3: Rational people think at the margin 理性人考慮 邊際

9、量Rational people systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives , make decisions by evaluating costs and benefits of marginal changes -incremental adjustments to an existing plan. make trade-offs at the margin by comparing the costs and benefits of doing a little bi

10、t more of an activity versus doing a little bit less.Examples:When considering whether to go to college for an additional year, a student compares the tuition fees and foregone wages to the extra income earned with one more year of education.When a manager considers whether to increase output, she c

11、ompares the additional cost of the labor and materials with the extra revenue.4. Principle 4: People respond to incentives.人們會對激勵做出反應a. Incentive : something that induces a person to act in a certain way such as the prospect of a reward or punishment.b. Rational people respond to incentives.Examples

12、:When gas prices rise, consumers buy more hybrid cars and fewer gas guzzling SUVs.When the cost of heating oil goes up, people turn down their thermostats.5. Principle 5: Trade can make everyone better off 貿易能使每 個人的狀況更好a. Rather than being self-sufficient, people can specialize in producing one good

13、 or service and exchange it for other goods and services.b. Countries also benefit from trade and specialization: Get a better price abroad for goods they produce; Buy other goods more cheaply from abroad than could be produced at homec. An individual can increase output with specialization: each pe

14、rson specializes in the task that he or she is good at performing.d. The economy, as a whole, can produce more when each person specializes in a task and trades with others.6. Principle 6: Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity.市場通常是組織經濟活動的一種好方法a. Market : a group of buyers and

15、 sellers that may or may not bein a single locationb. “ Organize economic activity ” means determiningWhat goods and services to produceHow to produce themHow much of each to produceFor whom the goods and services are produced or who gets what.c. A market economy allocates resources through the dece

16、ntralized decisions of many households and firms as they interact in markets.d. A famous insight by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations(1776) is that each of these households and firms acts as if“ ledby an invisible hand to promote general economic well-beinge. The invisible hand works through the p

17、rice system:1) The interaction of buyers and sellers determines the prices of goods and services.2) Each price reflects the value of the product to buyers and thecost of producing the product to sellers.3) Prices guide self-interested households and firms to make decisions that, in many cases, also

18、maximize society ' s economic well-being.7. Principle 7: Governments can sometimes improve marketoutcomes政府有的時候可以改善市場結果a. There is an important role for government to enforce property rights, so that individuals can own and control scarce resourcesb. People are less inclined to work, produce, in

19、vest or purchase without a right to ownership.c. Market failure : a situation in which the market left on itsown fails to allocate resources efficiently. Causes of marketfailure are:1) Externalities, when the production or consumption of agood affects bystanders (e.g. pollution)2) Market power, a si

20、ngle buyer or seller has substantialinfluence on market price (e.g. monopoly)In such cases, public policy may promote efficiency.d. The government may alter market outcomes to promote equality.Taxes and transfers can be used to change the division of the “ ”economic pieExamples of government interve

21、ntion are public schools, workplace safety regulations, public highways and patent laws.8. Principle 8: A country 'standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services. 一國的生活水平取決于 它生產的物品與勞務的能力a. There is tremendous variation in living standards across countries and over time:b

22、. The average income in rich countries is more than ten times the average income in poor countries.c. The U.S. standard of living today is about eight times higher than 100 years ago.d. The most important determinant of living standardsis productivity or the amount of goods and services produced per

23、 unit of labor input.e. Productivity depends on the equipment, skills and technology available to workers.f. Other factors such labor unions and foreign competition have far less impact on living standards.9. Principle 9: Prices rise when the government prints too much money.當政府發行了過多的貨幣時，物價上升Inflati

24、on is an increase in the general level of prices. In the long run, inflation is almost always caused by excessive growth in the quantity of money which causes the value of money to fall. The faster the government creates money, the greater the inflation rate.10. Principle 10: Society faces a short-r

25、un tradeoff between inflation and unemployment 社會面臨通貨膨脹與失業之間的 短期權衡取舍a. Many economists believe that in the short-run, or a period of a year or two, economic policies can push inflation and unemployment in opposite directions.b. Other factors can make this trade-off more or less favorable but the tra

26、de-off is present.III Contents of Economics I1 Microeconomicsa. Microeconomics is the study of how individual households and firms make decisions and how they interact with one another in markets.微觀經濟學研究家庭和企業如何作出決策，以及他們如何在市場上相互交易（1）研究的對象；（2）解決的問題；（3）中心理論；b. 微觀經濟學的基本假設：市場有效（1）經濟人 （2）市場出清（3）完全信息。c. 微觀

27、經濟學的基本內容（1）均衡價格 （2）消費者行（3）生產者行為（4）分配（5） 般均衡與福利經濟學（6）市場失靈與微觀經濟政策。2 macroeconomicsMacroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole. Its goal is to explain the economic changes that affect many households, firms, and markets at once.宏觀經濟學研究整體經濟。宏觀經濟學的目標是解釋同 時影響許多家庭、企業和市場的經濟變化。（1）研究的對象 （2）解決的問題（3）中

28、心理論Note:微觀經濟學從個體入手，以個量分析研究一國經濟 運行；宏觀經濟學從總體入手，以總量分析研究一國經濟 運行?？偭坎⒎莻€量簡單合成b、宏觀經濟學的基本假設：市場失靈c、宏觀經濟學的基本內容（1）國民收入決定理論（2）失業與通貨膨脹問題（ 3）宏觀經濟政策（4）開放經濟理論（5）經濟周期與經濟增長理論。d. Macroeconomic Goals: Output, Employment, Price-level stability with free market, International trade.宏觀經濟的目標：產量、就業、自由市場條件下的物價 穩定、國際貿易e. Macroeconomic Instruments: Fiscal policy, Monetary policy, Foreign economics, Incomes policies.宏觀經濟的工具：財政政策、貨幣政策、對外經濟、 收入政策1）. Fiscal policy consists of government expenditure and taxation. Government expenditure influences the relative size of collective