Module The Study of Economics

1. ModuleThe Study ofEconomics 1 • KRUGMAN'S • MACROECONOMICS for AP* Margaret Ray and David Anderson

2. What you will learnin thisModule: • How scarcity and choice are central to the study of economics • The importance of opportunity cost in individual choice and decision making • The difference between positive economics and normative economics • When economists agree and why sometimes disagree • What makes macroeconomics different from microeconomics

3. Individual Choice: The Core of Economics • Economics • Individual choice • Economy • Market economy • Property rights • Marginal analysis

4. Individual Choice • Economics is the study of scarcity and choice • Market and Command Economies • Market Economies- production and consumption are the result of decentralized decisions by many firms and individuals • Command Economies- Industry is publicly owned and there is a central authority making production and consumption decisions

5. 3. Why have most Command Economies Failed and Market Economies succeed? a.Incentives- Price is a powerful incentive b. Property Rights- Who owns the land matters c. When markets fail- government is there to intervene

6. II. Resources are Scarce A. Resources are: 1. Land- resources that come from nature 2. Labor- effort of workers 3. Capital- machinery, buildings, tools 4. Entrepreneurship- risk takers • Needs vs. Wants • Scarcity requires that choices be made • Choices require that things are given up

7. Opportunity Costs • The real cost of something is what you must give up to get it. • Marginal Analysis • Many of our decisions are based on an incremental basis (example: one hour of time) • Utility and DiminishingMarginal Utility • Additional benefits are called marginal benefits • Additional costs are called marginal costs • If MB>MC, do it. If MB<MC, don’t do it.

8. Micro vs. Macro • Microeconomics focuses on the individual and how they make decisions and how those decisions interact. • Macroeconomics is concerned with the overall ups and downs in the economy. • Aggregates- measures that summarize data • Examples- Unemployment, inflation rate, GDP

9. Positive vs. Normative • Positive economics is analysis of how the economy actually works (facts) • Normative economics is how the economy should work (what if) • The overall economy is so complex that economists often disagree on what to measure and how to use those measurements. • Politicians often use whatever economist’s data fits their beliefs • Ex. Taxes

10. VI. When and Why Economists Disagree • Economists may disagree because they have different values or opinions • Economists may disagree because they use different models or methods to conduct their analysis • Over time, disputes in economics are resolved by the accumulation of evidence (but this can sometimes take a long time!)

11. ModuleIntroduction toMacroeconomics • KRUGMAN'S • MACROECONOMICS for AP* 2 Margaret Ray and David Anderson

12. What you will learnin thisModule: • What a business cycle is and why policy makers seek to diminish the severity of business cycles • How employment and unemployment are measured and how they change over the business cycle • The definition of aggregate output and how it changes over the business cycle • The meaning of inflation and deflation and why price stability is preferred • How economic growth determines a country's standard of living • Why models - simplified representations of reality- play a crucial role in economics

13. The Business Cycle • Business Cycle • Depression • Recession • Expansion

14. Employment, Unemployment, and the Business Cycles • Employment • Unemployment • Labor force • Unemployment rate

15. Aggregate Output and the Business Cycle • Output • Aggregate Output

16. Inflation, Deflation, and Price Stability • Nominal income v. Real income • Inflation • Deflation • Price Stability

17. Economic Growth • Standards of living • Economic growth

18. The Use of Models in Economics • Models • Other things equal assumption • Ceteris Paribus

19. ModuleThe ProductionPossibilitiesCurve Model 3 • KRUGMAN'S • MACROECONOMICS for AP* Margaret Ray and David Anderson

20. What you will learnin thisModule: • The importance of trade-offs in economic analysis • What the production possibilities curve model tells us about efficiency opportunity cost, and economic growth • The two sources of economic growth - increases in the availability of resources and improvements in technology

21. I. The Production Possibilities Curve

22. II. Opportunity Cost - Constant

23. III. Opportunity Cost - Increasing

24. IV. Efficient Allocation • Productive Efficiency- the production of any particular good in the least costly way. • Society produces at the lowest achievable per unit cost • It is expending the least-valued combination of resources to produce that product • Lowest ATC • Allocative Efficiency- Producing the particular mix of goods and services most valued by soceity. • MB=MC, no DWL

25. V. Economic Growth • Economic growth • Expansion of the economy’s production possibilities • Availability of resources (land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship) • Technology

26. Economic Growth

27. ModuleComparativeAdvantage and Trade • KRUGMAN'S • MACROECONOMICS for AP* 4 Margaret Ray and David Anderson

28. What you will learnin thisModule: • How trade leads to gains for an individual or an economy • The difference between absolute advantage and comparative advantage • How comparative advantage leads to gains from trade in the global marketplace

29. Gains from Trade • Trade • Gains from trade • Specialization • The importance of markets

30. Module 4 Absolute and Comparative Advantage

31. I. Absolute Advantage A. When a worker in a country can produce more than a worker in another country, the worker in the first country has an Absolute Advantage in producing that good.

32. Globalization Globalization is the manner in which human activities, such as communication, international trade, and cultural awareness, are increasingly integrated on a multinational basis. Students at DPHS are competing with human resources globally for thoughtful ideas and productivity

33. Should we do it all? • As the US, we have absolute advantages in many industries. Does that mean we should produce everything ourselves? • Not if we are looking at it from global perspective. • Think about Student A and B as countries. What should they do?

34. II. Comparative Advantage When companies specialize in the production of a good or service for which they have a lower opportunity cost. For students A and B, who should specialize in what for the best overall score?

35. Production Possibilities for Two Countries Will these two countries gain from trade if 100 units of malaria medicine are traded for 200 cotton shirts? To find out: 1. Calculate the opportunity costs of production for each country 2. Determine the comparative advantage for each country 3. Determine if the terms of trade are mutually beneficial

36. Production Possibilities for Two Countries

37. Production Possibilities for Two Countries Bangladesh has a comparative advantage in Cotton Shirts (C) because they only give up 1/3 unit of medicine while The United States must give up 1 unit of medicine to gain 1 cotton shirt. The United States has a comparative advantage in Malaria Medicine (M) because they only give up 1 cotton shirt while Bangladesh must give up 3 cotton shirts to gain 1 unit of medicine.

38. Production Possibilities for Two Countries The terms of trade are mutually beneficial as long as they are between the two countries’ opportunity costs. For example, any amount of medicine greater than 1/3 and less than 1 traded for 1 cotton shirt would represent mutually beneficial terms of trade. Likewise, any number of cotton shirts greater than 1 and less than 3 traded for 1 unit of medicine would represent mutually beneficial terms of trade.