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CHAPTER 1 First Principles

CHAPTER 1 First Principles. OBJECTIVES. Present & explain four principles of individual choices Present & explain five principles of interaction between individuals. WARM-UP QUESTIONS. Give some examples of making choices when you: go shopping graduate from high school select major

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CHAPTER 1 First Principles

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  1. CHAPTER 1 • First Principles

  2. OBJECTIVES Present & explain four principles of individual choices Present & explain five principles of interaction between individuals

  3. WARM-UP QUESTIONS • Give some examples of making choices when you: • go shopping • graduate from high school • select major • open a new business • Why we need to make choices?

  4. 4 principles of individual choices 1. Resources are scarce. 2. The real cost of something is what you must give up to get it. 3. “How much?” is a decision at the margin. 4. People usually take advantage of opportunities to make themselves better off.

  5. Resources are scarce • What is a resource? • ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… • Resources are scarce. Why? • …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

  6. The real cost of something is what you must give up to get it. • The real cost of an item is its opportunity cost: ……………………………………………………………………….. • Ex: • What is the opportunity cost of attending college? • ………………………………………………………………….. • What is the opportunity cost of getting married? • ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. • All costs are ultimately opportunity costs.

  7. “How much?” is a decision at the margin. • How much do want to study this semester (how many courses) if you have a part-time job? Why? • ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… • What is a trade-off? • …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. • What are marginal decisions? • ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

  8. People usually take advantage of opportunities to make themselves better off • An incentive is anything that offers rewards to people who change their behavior. • Ex.: Price of gasoline rises  people buy more fuel-efficient cars. • There are more well-paid jobs available for college graduates with economics degrees  more students major in economics. • People respond to these incentives.

  9. Principles that underlie the interaction of individual choices • 1. There are gains from trade. • 2. Markets move toward equilibrium. • 3. Resources should be used as efficiently as possible to achieve society’s goals. • 4. Markets usually lead to efficiency. • 5. When markets don’t achieve efficiency, government intervention can improve society’s welfare.

  10. There are gains from trade • People can get (more/less?) of what they want through trade than they could if they tried to be self-sufficient. • Why? • …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… • Ex:

  11. Markets move toward equilibrium. • An economic situation is in equilibrium when no individual would be better off doing something different. • Anytime there is a change, the economy will move to a new equilibrium. • Ex.: What happens when a new checkout line opens at a busy supermarket?

  12. Resources should be used as efficiently as possible to achieve society’s goals. • Resources are used efficiently when they are used in a way that has fully exploited all opportunities to make everybody better off. • Ex: too many students in a small classroom • Equity means that everyone gets his or her fair share. Since people can disagree about what’s “fair,” equity isn’t as well-defined a concept as efficiency.

  13. Markets usually lead to efficiency. • The incentives built into a market economy already ensure that resources are usually put to good use. • Opportunities to make people better off are not wasted. • Exceptions: market failure, the individual pursuit • of self-interest found in markets makes society worse off •  the market outcome is inefficient.

  14. When markets don’t achieve efficiency, government intervention can improve society’s welfare. • Why do markets fail? • Individual actions have side effects not taken into account by the market (externalities). • One party prevents mutually beneficial trades from occurring in the attempt to capture a greater share of resources for itself. • Some goods cannot be efficiently managed by markets. • Ex.: Vo Van Kiet street, Thu Thiem tunnel

  15. The End of Chapter 1 coming attraction:Chapter 2: Economic Models: Trade-offs and Trade

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