Welcome to Economics
Objectives 7.01 Describe the basic factors of production such as land, capital and entrepreneurial skills and their impact on economic activities Explain how scarcity influences producers and consumers to make choices Describe the role of money in trading, borrowing, and investing.
For Tomorrow: BRING A CALCULATOR FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday)
Why Study Economics? Economic choices are made everyday. –The choices that we make are based on the fact that we do not have enough productive resources to satisfy all our wants and needs “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”
What is Economics? Economics is the study of how we make decisions in a world where resources are limited.
What are Economic Choices As individuals, we have many needs. We also have wants
Needs Needs are things we need for physical survival –Food, water, shelter, clothing
Wants Wants are things that we would like to have such as –Entertainment (TV, DVD, VCR, X-Box, Skateboards) –Vacation –Money
It’s all about choices Opportunity Costs (Civics Today Definition): the cost of the next best use of time and money when choosing to do one thing rather than another.
But… We face the problem of scarcity –Scarcity occurs when the US does not have enough resources to produce all of the things we would like to have. We usually have to use resources outside of the country to produce goods such as cars, homes, clothing.
Economic Resources Differences between Goods and Services Consumers and Producers Non-renewable and renewable resources
Goods and Services Goods: products that we used to satisfy our needs and wants. Services: work performed by a person for someone else.
Producers Producers are the people who make goods or provide services. Consumers: Consumers are the people who consume, buy, or use the good or service.
Resources Resources are the money, people, and materials available to produce a good or service. Resources are used to provide goods and services. Resources can be non-renewable or renewable.