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Economic decision makers. LOs Explain the role of the household in the economic system. Identify the different types of firms and describe their roles in the economy. Outline the ways governments affect their economies. Outline the international influences on the economy. Households.
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Economic decision makers LOs Explain the role of the household in the economic system. Identify the different types of firms and describe their roles in the economy. Outline the ways governments affect their economies. Outline the international influences on the economy.
Households • Suppliers of economic resources. • Buyers of goods and services. • Producers of goods and services (household production).
Over two-thirds of personal income in 2006 was from wages, salaries, and proprietors income (b) Half of U.S. personal income in 2006 was spent on services Where U.S. personal income comes from and where it goes
Transfer payments Cash or in-kind benefits given to individuals as outright grants from the government Cash transfers: Social security, disability, unemployment compensation, TANF. In-kind transfers: Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, school lunch program, subsidized housing.
Household Production Gardening, cooking, ironing, childcare, car repair, painting—many people do these things “in-house.” Household production makes sense if the opportunity cost is less than market price.
The Firm • Firms • Hire and combine resources • Produce goods and services • Maximize profit
Types of Firms • Sole proprietorship • Single owner • Partnership • Two or more owners • Corporation • Legal entity • Shares of stock • Limited liability
Most firms are sole proprietorships (b) Corporations account for most sales Number and sales of each type of firm
The Government • Establish & enforce rules of the game • Promote competition • Regulate natural monopolies • Provide public goods • Deal with externalities • More equal distribution of income • Full employment • Price stability • Economic growth
Externalities Private production and consumption can impose costs on parties “outside the market.” Some costs of production or consumption are thus externalized. Examples: Air, water, noise pollution; cigarette smoke; acid rain; mosquitoes.
In a world where externalities occur, market forces cannot always be relied upon to allocate resources efficiently. This creates a legitimate reason for government regulation. • Examples of government policy aimed at externalities: • Effluent taxes • Pollution “permits” • Subsidized vaccinations • Auto emission standards • Open burning ordinances • Smoke free workplaces
Public Goods A good that, once produced, is available for all to consume regardless of who pays and who doesn’t; such a good is nonrival and nonexclusive. • Public goods are subject to a free-riderproblem. • Examples include lighthouses, flood control, and national defense.
Tax Principles and Tax Incidence • Ability-to-pay tax principle • Benefits-received tax principle • Tax incidence • Proportional taxation: Flat tax (as % of income) • Progressive taxation: marginal tax rate • Top 1% of tax filers – paid 36.9% of taxes • Top 10% of tax filers – paid 68.2% of taxes • Bottom 50% of tax fillers – paid 3% of taxes • Regressive taxation
The tax code is a tool for income redistribution Needy Affluent By making the tax structure “progressive,” governments can make the after-tax distribution of income more equitable (or even).
Why a sales tax is regressive Assume a 7.13 percent excise tax on groceries, gasoline, cigarettes, and liquor Moral of the story: Low income families tend to spend a greater proportion of their income on items subject to excise taxes. Hence excise taxes tend to be regressive.
The rest of the world • Consists of households, firms, and government units in roughly 200 sovereign foreign countries. • Foreign agents buy domestically produced goods and services. • Domestic agents buy goods and services from foreign producers.
The Global Economy The world is more “integrated” than ever before, as measured by the movement of resources, goods and services between countries
Exchange rates An exchange is a price of one (national) currency expressed in terms of another currency.
If the dollar price of the British pound is: 1.45 dollars = 1 pound Then the pound price of the dollar is given by the reciprocal of the dollar-pound exchange rate. That is: Pounds per dollar =