31266 Final: 23115 Economics-for-business-high-distinction-notes
23115–Economicsfor
Business
Lecture1–Introduction
Economicsisthesocialsciencethatstudieshowsocietymanagesitsscarceresources.
Soitstudiesthechoicesthatindividuals,firmsandgovernmentmakeastheycopewith
scarcity(allocationofresources)andtheincentivesthatinfluencethosechoices.
Scarcitymeansthatsocietyhaslimitedresourcesandtherefore,cannotproduceallthe
goodsandservicespeoplewishtohave.
Microeconomicsfocusesonindividualagentsintheeconomy…
Howhouseholds+firmsmakedecisionsandhowtheyinteract.
Aimstounderstandhowscarceresourcesareallocatedamongalternativeuses,theroleof
prices&marketsandhoweconomicpolicycanleadtobetteroutcomesforsociety.
Macroeconomicslooksattheeconomyasawhole…
Focusesoneconomy‐widephenomenalikeeconomicgrowth,unemploymentandinflation.
‐ THETENLESSONSFROMECONOMICS(CHAPTER1)
LESSON1:PEOPLEFACETRADE‐OFFS
Becauseofscarceresources,makingdecisionsrequirestradingoffonegoalforanother.
Anexampleisthetrade‐offbetweenefficiency(gettingthelargestoutputfromavailable
resources)andequity(distributingoutputfairlyamongmembersofsocietytoincrease
overallwell‐beinginsociety).I.e.thesizeoftheeconomicpieandhowthepieisdivided.
Often,whengovernmentpoliciesarebeingdesigned,thesetwogoalsconflict.The
progressiveincometaxsystem(orwelfaresystemsingeneral)hasthebenefitofgreater
equitybutreducesefficiencysincethereislessincentive/rewardforworkingharder.
LESSON2:THECOSTOFSOMETHINGISWHATYOUGIVEUPTOGETIT
Ineconomics,thecostofsomethingiswhatyougiveuptogetit,notjustintermsof
monetarycostsbutallopportunitycosts.
Theopportunitycostofanitemisthevalueofwhatyougiveuptoobtainthatitem–in
short,thevalueofthealternativeforgone.
LESSON3:RATIONALPEOPLETHINKATTHEMARGIN
Rationalpeoplechoosethebestoptionfromavailablealternativesbycomparingcostsand
benefitsatthemargin.
Forexample–Supposethatflyinga200‐seatplanefromBrisbanetoPerthcoststheairline
$100,000,anaveragecostof$500perseat.Theplaneisminutesfromdeparture,thereare
severalvacantseatsandapersoniswillingtopay$300foraseat.
Shouldtheairlineselltheseatfor$300?Yes–aslongasthemarginalbenefit(therevenue
fromanextraseatsold,here$300)exceedsthemarginalcost(thecostofprovidingtheseat
tooneadditionalpassenger,herecloseto$0),sellingtheticketisprofitable.
Marginalchangereferstoasmallincrementaladjustmenttoaplanofaction.
Rationalpeoplecomparethemarginalcostofadecisionwithitsmarginalbenefit.
LESSON4:PEOPLERESPONDTOINCENTIVES
Anincentiveisa‘reward’or‘punishment’thatinducesapersontoact(ornottoact)ina
certainway.
Rewards+punishmentsassociatedwithagivendecisionaffectthebenefitsandcostsofthat
decision.E.g.supposenewlawintroducedwherebydrinkdrivingleadstoalifesentence…
Sincerationalpeoplemakedecisionsconsideringcosts/benefits,theyrespondtoincentives.
Governmentpoliciesconsistbylargeofasetofincentivestoencourageordiscourage
certainbehaviours(orproduction).
o Forexample–taxonalcoholorcigarettes,theEmissionsTradingSchemeortheCarbonTax.
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23115–EconomicsforBusiness
‐ THINKINGLIKEANECONOMIST(CHAPTER2)
THEECONOMISTASASCIENTIST
Economicsisasocial‘science’sinceitmakesuseofthescientificmethod.
Interplaybetweentheoryandobservationalsooccursinthefieldofeconomics.
Itdevelopstheoriesandcollects&analysesdatatoevaluate/testthetheories.
Drasticpricerisesineconomy theorymightassertthathighinflationarisesfromprinting
toomuchmoney totesttheory,economistcollects+analysesdataonprice/moneyfrom
manycountries theorymightbevalidornotvalid furtherobservations.
Economistsfaceanobstacleintestingeconomictheoriesbecauseitisdifficulttouse
experimentstoanalysesocial/economicphenomena.
Physiciststesttheoriesinalaboratorywheretheycanrunrepeated/controlledexperiments.
Economistscanoftenrelyonlyonobservationstheworldhappenstogivethem…
Naturalexperimentsofferedbyhistoryareasourceofinfo(e.g.apoliticaleventortheGFC).
ASSUMPTIONSandECONOMICMODELS
Assumptionsareemployedtomaketheworldeasiertounderstand.
Theartinscientificthinkingisdecidingwhichassumptionstomake.
Assumptionsaregoodiftheysimplifytheproblemathandwithoutsubstantiallyaffecting
theanswer.
Economistsusedifferentassumptionstoanswerdifferentquestions.
o E.g.theymightusedifferentassumptionswhenstudyingshorttermandlongtermeffectsof
achangeintheAustraliandollarontheBOGSofaneconomy(J‐Curve).
Amodelisasimplifiedrepresentationofrealityintendedtofacilitatetheunderstandingofa
complexproblem.
o Modelsarebuiltonassumptionsandareoftencomposedofdiagramsorequations.
ANEXAMPLEOFAMODEL–THECIRCULARFLOWOFINCOME
Thecircularflowdiagramisavisualmodeloftheeconomythatshowshowdollarsflow
throughmarketsamonghouseholdsandfirms.
o Inthe4sectormodel,weconsiderhouseholds,firms,governmentandoverseas.
o Leakagesaresavings,taxationandimportswhileinjectionsareinvestment,government
spendingandexports.Wheneconomyisinequilibrium,S+T+M=I+G+X.
ANEXAMPLEOFAMODEL–THEPPF
ProductionPossibilityFrontier(PPF)isagraphshowingthecombinationsofoutputthatan
economycanpossiblyproducegiventheavailablefactorsofproductionandtheavailable
productiontechnology.
ConceptsillustratedbythePPFinclude:
Efficiency/productivity,trade‐offs,opportunitycostsandeconomicgrowth(intermsofAS).
TheeconomycanproduceatanypointonorinsidethePPFbutnotapointoutside(thisis
notfeasiblesinceresourcesarescarce).Anoutcomeissaidtobeefficientiftheeconomyis
gettingallitcanfromthescarceresourcesithasavailable.
Pointson(ratherthaninside)thePPFrepresentefficientlevelsofproduction.
OutwardshiftinthePPFmayrepresentincreasedproductivity(e.g.Duetonewtechnology).
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23115–EconomicsforBusiness
THEECONOMISTASAPOLICYADVISOR
Positivestatements(descriptive)areclaimsthatattempttodescribetheworldasitis.
Normativestatements(prescriptive)areclaimsthatattempttoprescribehowtheworld
shouldbe.
Whenyouheareconomistsmakingnormativestatements,youknowtheyhavecrossedthe
linefromscientisttopolicymaker.
ECONOMISTSINGOVERNMENT
Serveasadvisorsinthepolicymakingprocessinallbranchesofgovernment+independent
agencies.Examplesincludetreasury,theRBA,andtheOECD.
Economistsalsoworkintheprivatesector–financialinstitutions,industriesandNGOs.
WHYECONOMISTSDISAGREE?
Therearetwobasicreasonsforthedisagreementbetweeneconomists:
Maydisagreeaboutthevalidityofalternativepositivetheoriesabouthowtheworldworks.
Theymayhavedifferentvaluesand,therefore,differentnormativeviewsaboutwhatpolicy
shouldtrytoaccomplish.
DIFFERENCESINSCIENTIFICJUDGEMENT–Economicsisayoungscience,andthereisstill
muchtobelearned.Economistssometimesdisagreebecausetheyhavedifferenthunches
aboutthevalidityofalternativetheoriesoraboutthesizeofimportantparameters.
DIFFERENCESINVALUES–Economistscangiveconflictingadviceduetodifferingvalues.
PERCEPTIONVERSUSREALITY–Duetotheabove2factors,somedisagreementamong
economistsisinevitable.Yetoneshouldnotoverstatetheamountofdisagreementsincein
manycases,economistsdoofferaunitedview.
*Lecture 1 may not be assessed
‐
Thetheoryofsupplyanddemandconsidershowbuyersandsellersbehaveandhowthey
interactwithoneanother.
Itillustrateshowtheinteractionbetweenbuyersandsellersdeterminesthequantityofeach
goodorserviceproducedandthepriceatwhichitissoldinamarketeconomy.
Amarketisagroupofbuyersandsellersofaparticulargoodorservice.
Acompetitivemarketisamarketinwhichtherearemanybuyersandmanysellerssothat
eachhasanegligibleimpactonthemarketprice.
Thismeansthatthesmallertheabilityofeachbuyerorsellertoaffectthemarketprice,the
morecompetitivethemarket.
Throughoutthissubject,weassumethatmarketsareperfectlycompetitive(PC).
Perfectlycompetitivemarketsaredefinedby2primarycharacteristics–(1)thegoodsbeing
offeredforsaleareallthesame(homogenous)and(2)thebuyersandsellersareso
numerousthatnosinglebuyerorsellercaninfluencethemarketprice.
Sincebuyers/sellersinPCmarketsmustacceptthemarketprice,theyare‘pricetakers’.
Agriculturalmarketisexampleinwhichassumptionofperfectcompetitionappliesperfectly.
Somemarketshaveonlyonesellerandthissellersetstheprice–knownasamonopoly.
Somemarketsfallbetweentheextremesofperfectcompetitionandmonopoly.
Onesuchmarket,calledanoligopoly,hasafewsellersthatdonotalwayscompete
aggressively.Airlineroutesareanexample–e.g.considerarouteservicedbyonly2carriers.
Anothertypeofmarketismonopolisticallycompetitive; itcontainsmanysellers,each
offeringaslightlydifferentproduct.Becausetheproductsarenotexactlythesame,each
sellerhassomeabilitytosetthepriceforitsownproduct.Anexampleisthesoftware
industry.Manywordprocessingprogramscompetewithoneanotherforusers,butevery
programisdifferentfromeveryotherandhasitsownprice.
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Document Summary
The ten lessons from economics (chapter 1) Lesson 2: the cost of something is what you give up to get it. Lesson 3: rational people think at the margin. Government policies consist by large of a set of incentives to encourage or discourage certain behaviours (or production): for example tax on alcohol or cigarettes, the emissions trading scheme or the carbon tax. (cid:884)(cid:885)(cid:883)(cid:883)(cid:887) economics for business (cid:46)(cid:74)(cid:68)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:80)(cid:78)(cid:74)(cid:68)(cid:84)(cid:1) Drastic price rises in economy theory might assert that high inflation arises from printing too much money to test theory, economist collects + analyses data on price/money from many countries theory might be valid or not valid further observations. An example of a model the circular flow of income. An example of a model the ppf: in the 4 sector model, we consider households, firms, government and overseas, leakages are savings, taxation and imports while injections are investment, government spending and exports. Page (cid:884) (cid:884)(cid:885)(cid:883)(cid:883)(cid:887) economics for business should be.