GEB-4455 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Gross Domestic Product, Monopolistic Competition, Demand Curve
Document Summary
Economics is the study of how society chooses to employ resources to produce goods and services and distribute them for consumption among various competing groups and individuals. Macroeconomic topics in this chapter include gross domestic product (gdp), the unemployment rate, and price indexes. In adam smith"s view, businesspeople don"t necessarily deliberately set out to help others. They work primarily for their own prosperity and growth. Yet as people try to improve their own situation in life, smith said, their efforts serve as an invisible hand that helps the economy grow and prosper through the production of needed goods, services, and ideas. Thus, the phrase invisible hand is used to describe the process that turns self-directed gain into social and economic benefits for all. The economic system that has led to wealth creation in much of the world is known as capitalism.
