ECON 208 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Population Ageing, Market Failure, Mixed Economy

• School: McGill University
• Department: Economics
• Course: ECON 208
• Professor: El- Attar Mayssun

Document Summary

Chapter 1 economic issues and concepts (to print) Productivity growth: happens in long term increase in average living standards. Productivity is a measure of how much output or income is produced by one hour of work effort and it has been rising gradually over the past century. Need to increase significantly if you want your standard of living to improve as much as what your grandparents went through over their life time. Population aging: in canada average age in population steadily raising due to long term decline in fertility and increase average life expectancy. Will be decline in growth rate in labour force. Harder to find workers and wages likely will increase. Climate change: rise in temperature leading to melting of polar ice caps, slow increase in sea level, expansion of desert, reduction in agricultural productivity. Global financial stability: collapse of us housing market in 2007-08 led to failure in major financial institutions and caused global financial crisis.