What economic problems does the subject study? Economic science involves the study of dynamic, constantly evolving economic activities of people
Economics as a basic fundamental scientific discipline
Subject of economic science. Main schools and directions
It has become generally accepted that health is not only a social category, but also an economic one, despite the fact that it does not belong to commodity-money categories and is not a product sold and purchased on the market. At the same time, the state has to spend enormous resources to preserve, strengthen, and restore health. Health, therefore, has value, which allows us to consider it indirectly as an economic category.
The attitude towards the health care system, which is traditionally classified as a non-production sector and the sector of non-material services, is also changing. In fact, in the system of protecting public health, along with professional and ethical relations, commodity-money relations have increasingly begun to appear. Today there is no rejection that a medical service, like any product, has a cost, the monetary expression of which is the price. In this sense, healthcare can be called a branch of the preservation and production of health, which uses a large arsenal of both medical and economic methods and means.
Taking into account the above, the following questions naturally arise:
Valuation of health as the most important component of national wealth and a factor in the economic growth of the state;
The price of an individual medical service and the cost of medical care in general;
Assessing the resource potential of healthcare and searching for new sources of its formation;
Assessing the effectiveness of healthcare functioning in market conditions;
Assessment of economic damage from morbidity, disability and premature mortality.
The science of health economics provides answers to these and other questions.
Health Economics - branch economic science that studies the effect of objective economic laws that affect the satisfaction of the population’s needs for maintaining and promoting health.
Healthcare organizations, within the framework of legislation, carry out economic activities - the production and sale of medical goods and services aimed at preserving and strengthening the health of the population, using various financial, material, labor, information and other resources.
These main points and concepts are directly studied during the discipline “Health Economics” - 4th year, in the section of the discipline “Healthcare Economics, Health Economics”.
Our task in the course of the discipline “Fundamentals of Health Economics” is to study the introductory course, study basic economic categories and concepts, and be able to apply them to the economic problems of health care, with a view to the peculiarities of its functioning in a market economy.
Since health economics is a branch of economic science, its essence and content should be determined based on the general concept of “economics”.
The etymology of the word “economy” comes from the words “oikos” - house, economy and “nomos” - rule, law. Economics was originally viewed as the science of home economics. Economic problems, which have been relevant at all times, have always attracted the attention of not only scientists, but also simply educated people. This is explained by the fact that the study of economic problems represents the implementation of the objective need to understand the motives of people’s actions in economic activity at all times.
It is preferable to begin the study of any science with a definition of its subject. Only by knowing what exactly is to be studied can one systematically and deeply understand the phenomenon itself and use what has been learned in practice. This is the most important methodological significance of defining the subject being studied. Subject is the range of phenomena, laws and processes that it studies.
Economics, like any academic discipline, has its own subject of study.
Firstly, economics is economic system, ensuring the satisfaction of the needs of people and society as a whole by creating the necessary goods (industry economy, regional economy (district, region, region, country), world economy).
Secondly, economics is set of economic (production) relations between people, emerging in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods and services.
Thirdly, economics is the science of choosing the most effective (rational) methods satisfying the unlimited needs of people with limited economic resources.
There are other definitions of the subject of economics, but the following is generally accepted in recent years.
Economy - is the science that studies how people make choices among limited economic resources that can be used alternatively by them to produce various goods and services and their subsequent distribution and consumption.
Economics studies all forms of human behavior in his struggle against the scarcity of material goods. Management of rare resources is not limited to exchange; it also includes the use of public or personal coercion, usually carried out by the state. In addition, we must not forget about donation, that is, the free transfer of products or money. When using rare resources, economic actors strive not only to satisfy their needs, but also to change their own preferences, thereby influencing their behavior, including economic behavior.
Economics studies the relationships between attitudes of human activity and the means used in doing so. However, science itself is neutral in relation to these attitudes. It should be noted that these attitudes are diverse and numerous in their motivations. Economic science does not explain or evaluate them; it only shows their essence and how goals subordinate economic activity.
Economics as a science performs a number of functions: methodological, scientific-cognitive, critical and practical functions.
Methodological function. Many economists argue that economic theory is not only a doctrine, but also a method. Economic science, methodologically, teaches what should be done and what should not be done, helps us understand the economic life around us, evaluate the benefits of some phenomena and the harm of others; teaches new ways of understanding economic phenomena, allows us to foresee some of the consequences of our practical actions.
Scientific-cognitive function economics is to comprehensively study the economic processes and phenomena of production activity of the economy, the processes of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods and services, without which the existence of human society is impossible. Based on theoretical generalizations of real factors of economic life, the scientific and cognitive function of economics makes it possible to discover the laws according to which human society develops.
Critical function is to give an objective critical or positive assessment of economic phenomena and processes of various forms of management. In real life, we deal with a variety of forms of business, some of them are more effective, others are less effective, and others are unprofitable.
Practical (recommendatory), or applied, function is that, based on a positive assessment of economic phenomena and processes, economics gives recommendations to the leaders of the state, company, and any other economic entity in their specific affairs to be guided by its principles and methods of rational management. This function is closely related to the economic policy of the state; it develops the country’s socio-economic programs and makes scientific forecasts for the development of certain processes in the economy.
Based on the foregoing, it is possible to clearly determine goal of economics, which is to solve the problem of satisfying limitless human needs with limited resources. The goal allows us to determine the main range of problems solved by science tasks, which include the following:
description of rare resource management methods existing in time and space;
systematization of the results obtained and accumulation of experience;
development of concepts, search for causes and consequences of economic phenomena;
disclosure of common stable connections established in the relationships of economic entities;
determining the directions of economic policy, which should be harmoniously linked with political and social goals;
development of rules for the optimal use of economic resources and ways to achieve public welfare.
It is important to highlight the fact that main task Economic science is not just a description of economic phenomena and processes or the development of concepts, but the identification of interrelations and interdependence of the system of economic phenomena, processes and laws.
The structure of economic science consists of the following sections:
Microeconomics deals with the study of relatively small-scale economic processes, subjects, phenomena related mainly to enterprises, firms, entrepreneurs, their economic activities and economic relations between them in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption.
Microeconomics– a special branch of economic science that studies economic relations between economic entities, their activities and impact on the national economy.
Economic entities of microeconomics include consumers, workers, capital owners, enterprises (firms), households, and entrepreneurs. Microeconomics focuses on producers and consumers making decisions about output, sales, purchases, consumption, prices, costs, and profits.
Microeconomics explains how prices for individual goods are set, what funds and why are invested in the development of certain sectors of the national economy, how consumers make decisions about purchasing goods and how their choice is influenced by changes in prices and their income, etc. Microeconomics studies the market behavior of subjects , the relationship between them in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods and services, as well as the relationship between producers, consumers and the state.
Microeconomics as a method of economic analysis is based on assessments and studies of the behavior of individual units of the economic process - entrepreneurs; every individual unit is taken to be free and isolated.
Macroeconomics deals with the study of large-scale economic phenomena and processes related to the country’s economy and its economy as a whole. The object of study is summary general indicators for the entire economy: national wealth, gross national product, national income, public and private investment, the total amount of money in circulation.
Macroeconomics(national economy)- a branch of economic science that studies economic processes and phenomena covering the national economy as a single system in which all links of material and intangible production are organically connected.
The main problems of macroeconomics are inflation, unemployment, economic growth, gross national product, gross domestic product, national income, level and quality of life of the population, employment, money, interest rates, investment, budget deficit, taxes, methods of government regulation, etc.
Macroeconomics as a method of economic analysis is based on the assessment of macroeconomic indicators, such as gross domestic product, gross national product, national income, disposable income, etc.
These two sections in the structure of economic science are the main ones, but in addition two more can be distinguished:
Mesoeconomics– a branch of economic science that studies the functioning of certain subsystems of the national economy and sectors of the national economy.
Mesoeconomics studies economic phenomena and processes that cover all intermediate systems or sectors of the national economy (agribusiness, military-industrial complex, healthcare economics, trade economics, i.e. the economics of individual industries and spheres of the national economy).
World economy– a branch of economic science that studies the behavior of the world economy and the world economy as a whole.
The world economy is the sum of all national economies connected by the international division of labor, the world market, and the system of interstate economic relations.
When studying economic theory, it is necessary to clearly distinguish:
Scope of research– economic life or environment in which economic activity is carried out and positive or negative economic processes occur.
Object of study– economic processes and phenomena occurring in a particular economic environment.
Subject of the study– economic agents.
Subject of research– the life activity of economic agents, as well as their economic behavior in connection with the economic environment in which they find themselves.
So, economic processes and phenomena in any society are governed by economic laws, which are the object (research) of the study of economics.
Economic laws– the most significant, stable and constantly recurring objective interdependencies and cause-and-effect relationships in economic processes and phenomena.
They are objective in nature, act independently of the will and consciousness of people, and are historical. Thus, the laws of the market: the law of value, the law of demand, the law of supply, the law of competition - exist regardless of whether market participants know about them or not. The more deeply people understand the nature of the operation of economic laws, the more effectively they can use them in economic activity.
Economic laws can be divided into general and specific.
General economic laws operate in all socio-economic systems (formations), for example, the law of correspondence of production relations to the nature and level of development of productive forces, the law of growth of labor productivity, the law of saving time, the laws of expanded reproduction, the law of value, the law of supply and demand.
Specific laws operate in the same socio-economic system. Such laws are the law of surplus value, the universal law of capitalist accumulation, the basic economic law of socialism, the law of distribution according to labor, the Federal Laws of the Russian Federation “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)”, “On Joint Stock Companies”, “On State Support of Small Business in the Russian Federation” and etc.
Examples of such categories: cost, price, labor, money, property, goods, etc. Economic categories are objective and true, since they are scientific abstractions that reflect truly existing economic relations.
Economic (production) relations- these are relationships between people that develop in the process of social production, distribution, exchange and consumption of vital goods.
When studying economic processes and social phenomena, economics uses a certain set of methods of cognition.
Method of scientific abstraction highlights the main thing in the object of study while abstracting (abstracting) from the unimportant, random, temporary, impermanent. The result of scientific abstraction is the development of new scientific categories (concepts) that express the essential aspects of the objects under study, as well as the identification of economic patterns.
Historical method. Economic phenomena and processes are studied in the sequence in which they arose in life itself, developed, improved, and what they have become at the present time.
Boolean method allows you to correctly apply the laws of mental activity that justify the rules of transition from one judgment to another and draw informed conclusions, to better understand the cause-and-effect relationships that develop between the processes and phenomena of real economic life.
Method of analysis and synthesis.Analysis is a method of cognition that involves dividing the whole into separate component parts and studying each of these parts, for example, analyzing the cost indicator by cost elements (raw materials, wages, energy resources, etc.). Synthesis is a method of cognition based on combining individual parts of a phenomenon, studied in the process of analysis, into a single whole, for example, determining the cost of production (as the sum of all costs).
Method of induction and deduction.Induction– this is the movement of research from individual, particular factors to general conclusions and generalizations. Research begins with examining the facts. Analyzing, systematizing, generalizing the facts, the researcher comes to a conclusion that records the presence of certain dependencies between economic phenomena. Deduction– this is the formulation of hypotheses and their subsequent testing against facts. Hypothesis- an assumption about the existence of a certain relationship between economic phenomena and processes; it is usually born on the basis of some unsystematic observations, practical experience, intuition, and logical reasoning.
Economic and mathematical modeling using computer technology contributes to the construction of economic models, reflects the main economic indicators of the objects under study and the relationships between them. Such models make it possible to identify the features and patterns of economic phenomena and processes.
Graphical method reflects economic processes and phenomena using various schemes, graphs, diagrams, ensuring brevity, conciseness, and clarity in the presentation of complex theoretical material.
Economic experiments– is the artificial creation of economic processes and phenomena in certain conditions close to economic activity, with the aim of studying them and further practical application.
Economic thought arose in ancient times and went through a long and complex path of formation and development. At first, economic knowledge was formed as separate elements of a separate science. The economy began to develop independently in the era of the birth of capitalism. Economists distinguish many stages and directions in this development.
Let us dwell on some milestones in the development of economic theory.
The history of economic science has come a long way in its evolution from the origins of economic thought in Ancient Greece (Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle), Ancient Rome (Cato the Elder, Gracchi Tiberius and modern economic schools). It is known that as a systematized knowledge, economic theory as a science was formed back in the 15th-16th centuries. The first political economic school in the history of economic thought was mercantilist school(from the Italian mercante - merchant, merchant). Representatives of this school (XVI - early XVIII centuries) identified the wealth of society with real money - gold and believed that the accumulation of monetary wealth could be achieved with the help of state power; they saw the source of wealth in trade, in the sphere of circulation. Therefore, mercantilists in practical recommendations proceeded from the fact that the country should export more goods, but import less. And in order to export more goods, their export and production should be encouraged.
The second economic school (XVII-XVIII centuries) was school of physiocrats(physiocratism - the power of nature). The founder of the physiocratic doctrine was the French scientist Francois Quesnay (1694-1774). Unlike the mercantilists, the physiocrats considered the wealth of society not money, but agricultural products, and its source was not trade, but agricultural production. Quesnay called the difference between the products that are produced in agriculture and the products that were used to produce them during the year land rent in kind, or net product. Hence, Quesnay considered the only “productive class” to be the class of farmers
The next thing in the history of economic teaching was classical school. It is one of the most mature areas of economic thought. This trend arose and flourished in the 17th-18th – early 19th centuries. Prominent representatives of the classical economic school were William Petty, Adam Smith (1723-1790), David Ricardo (1772-1823), Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). The ideas of the classical school have not lost their relevance in our time. Developing and deepening the ideas of the physiocrats, representatives of English political economy considered human labor in the sphere of material production as a source of wealth for society, and considered its results (produced goods) to be the wealth of the nation. They found the universal form of wealth in the value of goods. They perceived economic science as the study of wealth and ways to increase it. It is no coincidence that A. Smith’s fundamental work was called “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (1776). The quantity of goods produced and the volume of their consumption depend, according to Smith, on two factors: labor productivity and the proportion of division of society into productive and unproductive Class. Labor productivity is determined by the division of labor and the level of capital accumulation. The higher the degree of division of labor and the level of capital accumulation, the more output can be produced. The price in exchange, according to A. Smith, is based on the so-called value, which represents the amount of labor spent on the production of a product. On this basis, A. Smith concludes that the “invisible hand” of the market itself will regulate the volume of production of goods and the process of capital accumulation in the required size and direction. A. Smith developed the labor theory of value and created the doctrine of the market and competition. He showed that in market conditions people are guided by their own interests, pursue their personal goals, but guided by the “invisible hand”, they contribute to the realization of the interests of other people and society as a whole.
An independent direction of political economy was the teaching of the German philosopher and economist Karl Marx (1818-1883), which was supplemented by Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924). This theory is an integral part (together with scientific communism and Marxist-Leninist philosophy) Marxism - Leninism. In his economic teaching, K. Marx develops the idea of the classical school that the price of a product is based on value (exchange value), which is determined by the amount of labor embodied in it. At the same time, K. Marx clarifies that labor costs that determine the value of a product are not individual, but socially necessary, i.e. quantitatively equal to the average time required to produce a unit of goods at a given level of production development. According to Marx, the creator of value is hired labor. K. Marx also introduces a second agent of the economic process - the owner of capital - the capitalist. In terms of natural content, capital is embodied in production and auxiliary buildings, machines, raw materials, with the help of which hired workers produce products.
Simultaneously with Marxist-Leninist political economy in the 19th – early 20th centuries. arose and developed neoclassical direction economic theory, the founder of which is considered the head of the “Cambridge school” » Alfred Marshall (1842-1924). In the scientific work “Principles of economics” (1890), A. Marshall developed a market theory: he analyzed the mechanism of market pricing, the interaction of supply and demand, the influence of various factors on supply and demand, and the level of market prices.
Representatives of the neoclassical movement focused their attention on the problem of meeting people's needs. At the same time, relying on accumulated theoretical knowledge, they put forward and develop new theories and concepts, one of which is marginalism(from Lat. marginal, English marginal - extreme). Marginalism is a theory that analyzes economic phenomena from the point of view of the behavior of individual subjects involved in economic relations. At the same time, adherents of marginalism are guided in their creative analysis by subjective assessments of the benefits and costs arising in the process of economic activity. They introduced into the practice of economic analysis the theory of marginal values, which were included in the arsenal of modern economic science: the theory of marginal utility, marginal productivity, marginal costs of the company, marginal income of the monopolist, etc.
A prominent place in the development of economic theory is occupied by Keynesianism. The outstanding English economist and statesman John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) laid the foundation for a new direction in economic theory, based on views and positions that differed significantly from the views of his predecessors. D. Keynes outlined the key provisions of his teaching in the book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” (1936).
The consistent application of Keynes's teachings began to cause negative phenomena: government regulation required an increase in budget expenditures, and this led to a budget deficit, an increase in public debt, inflation, a decrease in economic incentives for development, and a slowdown in economic growth. Therefore, in the 50-60s. many of the tenets of Keynesianism were questioned by new economic schools and movements. One of them was the Chicago school, or monetarism. This is a current of economic thought that places money at the center of macroeconomic policy, giving it a decisive role in fluctuations in economic growth. The state's task in the field of economic management is limited to control over the issue of money and the movement of the money supply, achieving a balanced state budget, and establishing high bank lending rates to curb inflation. According to monetarists, providing the economy with money is the prerogative of the state, which, by pursuing appropriate monetary policy (increasing or reducing the amount of money in circulation), can influence the economic condition and development of the country. The concept of modern monetarism is most clearly expressed in the works of University of Chicago professor Milton Friedman (b. 1912). Therefore, this teaching was called the “Chicago School”.
Which of the following is a public good?
1) housing construction for all citizens
2) drug development
3) street lighting
4) computerization of all industries
Explanation.
Public goods are goods that have the following characteristics:
1. sign of non-exclusion - it is almost impossible to exclude a person from the circle of consumers of a given good;
2. a sign of non-competitiveness in consumption - the consumption of a good by one person does not reduce the possibilities of consumption by another;
3. sign of indivisibility - the benefit cannot be decomposed into separate units.
The correct answer is listed at number 3.
Answer: 3
One of the tasks of economic science is to study
1) the influence of the environment on human performance
2) patterns of interaction between social communities
3) the impact of investment policy on the professional composition of the unemployed
4) factors contributing to social mobility
Explanation.
Answer: 3
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
One of the tasks of economic science is to develop
1) the country's budget for the next year
2) resource-saving technologies
3) ways to overcome social apathy in society
4) methods of using the input-output model
Explanation.
There are two meanings of the concept of economics:
1. Economics is a science that studies the behavior of participants in the process of economic activity.
2. Economy is a way of organizing people’s activities aimed at creating the goods necessary to satisfy their needs.
The second option specifies the task of technological sciences.
In the third - psychology, sociology.
The activity of economics as a science is illustrated in paragraph 4.
The correct answer is listed at number 4.
Answer: 4
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
1) opening of a new supermarket
2) calculation of changes in demand for mobile phones
3) provision of medical services to the population
4) expansion of the network of hairdressing salons
Explanation.
Calculations are a theory, that is, a scientific method, everything else is practice.
Answer: 2
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
Economics studies
1) the consequences of the impact of social production on nature
2) territorial distribution of natural resources
3) methods and results of the company’s economic activities
4) diverse human needs and ways to satisfy them
Explanation.
Economic science is the science of economy, management, relationships between people, as well as people and the environment, arising in the process of production, distribution, exchange, consumption of products, goods, services.
The correct answer is listed at number 3.
Answer: 3
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
Guest 08.06.2012 18:58
Answer 4 is also correct, since human needs arise as a result of a process. The main task of the economy is to satisfy the unlimited possibilities of man in the context of limited resources. For example, the same marketers study the tastes and needs of consumers. If economics did not study human needs, then there would be no one to produce for, and such an economy loses its meaning and any profitability. Please fix it.
Guest 24.10.2012 21:56
Firstly, if by economics we mean economic theory, then the correct answer (with a stretch) is 4, and if we talk about applied economics, then the answer is 3. Sorry, but many questions are simply “Clumsy” and the answers to them are too . If the children have to answer them, I will envy them
Anastasia Smirnova (St. Petersburg)
The fact of the matter is that the 4th answer is correct “with a stretch.” Often in the Unified State Examination in social studies you have to mark the “most suitable” option.
Lisa Zidyganova 07.06.2013 09:48
I agree the question is incorrect.
Valentin Ivanovich Kirichenko
I agree with you, but such questions occur in the real exam, so we try to prepare you for them as much as possible.
There are several meanings of the concept “economy”. Which position illustrates the economy as an economy?
1) production of goods and services necessary for society
2) explanation of the factors influencing the depreciation of the national currency
3) research into the causes of economic stagnation
4) development of promising models for the development of the service sector
Explanation.
Economy as an economy is a sphere of activity aimed at the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of necessary goods and services.
Correct answer: 1
Answer: 1
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
There are several meanings of the concept “economy”. Which position illustrates economics as a science?
1) study of stock market functioning models
2) provision of educational services to the population
3) development of mobile communication networks
4) production of a large batch of passenger cars
Explanation.
Economics, as a science, is a set of sciences about the management of the national economy, which have developed into an independent branch of social sciences; it is also a set of knowledge about the economy and related human activities, about the use of various, most often limited, resources in order to meet the vital needs of people and society; about the relationships that arise between people in the process of managing.
Economic reality is the object of economic sciences, which are divided into theoretical and applied.
Theoretical economics is also called economic theory - the study of how people and society choose how to use scarce resources.
Answer: 1
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
Explanation.
Economics is a set of sciences about the management of the national economy, which have developed into an independent branch of social sciences. Economic reality is the object of economic sciences, which are divided into theoretical and applied. Theoretical economics is also called economic theory - the study of how people and society choose how to use scarce resources.
The correct answer is listed at number 2.
Answer: 2
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
There are different meanings of the concept "economy". What does economy illustrate in the meaning of “economy”?
1) provision of medical services to the population
2) analysis of factors in the formation of the money supply
3) identifying patterns of demand formation
4) research into the principles of network marketing
Explanation.
The correct answer is listed under number 1.
Answer: 1
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
The concept of “economics” can be considered in two main senses: as a science and as an economy. Economics as "farm" characterizes the position:
1) study of the consequences of the global crisis for the financial market
2) forecasting long-term development of the automotive industry
3) calculation of the consequences of joining the WTO for the country’s domestic market
4) increasing demand for beauty spa services
Explanation.
Economy - as an economy in the broad sense of the word, that is, the totality of all means, objects, things, substances of the material and spiritual world, used by people to ensure living conditions and meet needs. In this sense, the economy must be perceived as a life support system created and used by man, reproducing people’s lives, maintaining and improving living conditions.
The correct answer is listed at number 4.
Answer: 4
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
Economics is viewed in two key senses: “science” and “economy”. What position characterizes economics as a science?
1) development of a network of modern spa salons
2) opening a plant for the production of dairy products
3) study of trends in the development of the foreign exchange market
4) abolition of import customs duties on gadgets
Explanation.
The correct answer is listed at number 3.
Answer: 3
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
The concept of “economy” has several semantic meanings. Which of the following characterizes economics as a science?
1) change of production management
2) production of components for automobiles
3) calculations of production efficiency indicators
4) sale of production technology
Explanation.
Economics has a dual meaning: 1) science 2) management system
The science of economics studies how to satisfy ever-growing needs in conditions of limited resources. The characteristics of science include calculation, forecast, novelty, consistency, and evidence. The correct answer is 3, everything else relates to practical business activities.
The correct answer is indicated under number: 3
Answer: 3
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
The concept “economy” has several meanings. Which of the following characterizes an economy as an economy?
1) study of the consumer market
2) production of components for automobiles
3) production efficiency calculations
4) forecasting fluctuations in pricing policy
Explanation.
Economics has a dual meaning: 1) science 2) management system, economy.
Economy is a practical activity to satisfy people with material resources. Therefore, the correct answer is 2, everything else relates to economics as a science.
The correct answer is indicated under number: 2
Answer: 2
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
Free goods in economic theory are goods that
1) the production of which is guaranteed and provided by the state
2) which for consumption do not require the renunciation of other goods and can be consumed in unlimited quantities
3) available in limited quantities and forcing the consumer to make a choice of preferences
4) produced by private manufacturers at your own peril and risk
Explanation.
Free goods are goods that do not require the renunciation of other goods to be consumed and, therefore, can be consumed in unlimited quantities.
The benefits produced by the state and provided to citizens on equal rights are called public.
Available in limited quantities and forcing the consumer to make a choice, these are economic benefits.
The correct answer is listed at number 2.
Answer: 2
Subject area: Economics. Economics and economic science
Economics as a Science
Oikonomia – household management (Greek).
Economy is a set of relations between people in the sphere of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of labor products, corresponding to a given degree of development of society.
Reproduction is a uniquely repeating process of production, as well as distribution, exchange and consumption.
Simple, if production is repeated in the same volume, if in increasing volume, then expanded reproduction.
To satisfy people's needs, economic goods are produced.
The quantity of economic goods is limited and requires the expenditure of resources.
Some benefits are non-economic (air).
Non-economic benefits are available to people in quantities greater than their need.
Non-economic or free or gratuitous.
The source of production of goods is the expenditure of resources.
Production resources are a set of natural, social and spiritual forces that can be used in the process of creating goods and services.
If production resources are involved in the production process, then they are called factors of production.
Resources and factors of production
|
Definition |
Definition |
|||
|
natural |
natural forces and substances potentially suitable for use in production in the form of earth, water, air, minerals, flora and fauna |
can participate in production due to the natural properties of the land (natural benefits are used, as well as through the application of artificial benefit capital to the land) |
||
|
material |
man-made capital goods |
value that generates an income stream |
||
|
financial |
funds that society is able to allocate to organize production |
|||
|
labor |
the working population of working age, as well as the working population beyond this age |
any intellectual or physical activity of a person aimed at producing goods |
||
|
entrepreneurship |
the process of combining land, capital and labor in a single economic complex of enterprises for the purpose of producing goods |
national
Subject of economic theory
There are absolute and relative scarcity of resources.
Absolute means that there are not enough resources to satisfy all the needs of all members of society.
Relative is that there are not enough resources to satisfy some selective individual needs.
Limited resources give rise to the problem of choice, therefore the subject of economic theory as a science is the search for ways to effectively use limited resources in the production of goods to maximize satisfaction of people's needs.
The following tasks of economic research are distinguished:
Stable growth in production volumes (economic growth)
Stable price level based on competition
High level of employment
Maintaining foreign economic balance.
Economic problems can be considered at 2 levels, therefore a distinction is made between micro- and macroeconomics.
Microeconomics studies the behavior of households, individual firms, the functioning of markets for specific goods, and the efficiency of resource allocation.
Macroeconomics examines economic processes at the level of a country's national economy and the interaction of the economies of individual states with each other.
Regardless of whether the analysis is carried out at the micro or macro level, a distinction is made between positive and normative economics.
Positive studies facts related to the real economy, forms scientific ideas arising from actually changing circumstances. It answers the question of what is or will be under certain actions.
Normative allows you to assess the desirability or undesirability of certain economic phenomena and processes. It answers the question of what should be.
Economy is the economy of a particular region, a group of countries, the whole world.
Economics is a scientific discipline that studies any area of the economic life of society.
Economic theory accepts a number of general scientific methods of cognition:
observation and fact-gathering
experiment
analysis - the study of socio-economic phenomena in parts
synthesis – study of socio-economic phenomena in general
historical and logical - socio-economic phenomena should be studied in their historical sequence and logical conclusions should be drawn
induction – from particular facts to a general conclusion
deduction
analogy is a method of cognition that involves the transfer of properties from a known phenomenon or process to unknown ones
scientific abstraction - consists of highlighting the main, typical in the object of study and abstracting from the secondary, random, mixed. It allowed us to formulate the most general concepts that reflect economic reality. They are called economic categories.
Stages and directions of development of economic thought
The origins of economic science should be sought in the teachings of thinkers of the ancient East, ancient Greece and ancient Rome.
Economic theory as a science developed during the formation of capitalism. Its historical name is political economy (the science of the laws of functioning of the social economy within the state). The first economic school appeared - mercantilism (from Italian - merchant, trader). The bourgeoisie is engaged in trade and operations with gold. The teaching of mercantilists boils down to determining the source of society's wealth, which they saw in foreign trade. A. Montchretien in 1615 introduced the term political economy.
Representatives:
Tom Men talks about protectionism (leader of the East India Campaign), protection of domestic producers
John Law, founder of the first financial pyramid
Jean Baptiste Colbert Superintendent of Finance of France
The next school is classical political economy (second half of 17 - mid 19) (as Karl Marx called it).
William Petit declared labor to be the source of wealth, laying the foundations of the labor theory of value.
In France, the school of physiocrats (from Greek: power of nature) is developing within the framework of classical political economy.
Physiocrats delved into the study of production, but mainly in agriculture.
Key ideas:
Economic liberalism (economic freedom)
Exceptional productivity in agriculture
Unified land tax
The further development of economic science is the market school of the classics.
A. Smith 1776 “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of a Nation”
David Ricardo "The Beginning of Political Economy and Taxation"
Jean Baptiste Say
Smith revealed the mechanism of the free market, which he called the “invisible hand.” Labor saving theory. Ricardo showed that the basis of the value of goods is labor, which allows the income of all classes to be formed. Labor-intensive theory.
In the mid-19th century, the best achievements of classical political economy were summarized in the works of John Steward Mill and Karl Marx. Marx completed the formation of the labor theory of value.
Marx "Capitalist Critique of Economic Theory"
The main idea of Capital is the theory of surplus value.
Surplus value is part of the value of goods produced in capitalist enterprises, which is created by the unpaid labor of hired workers in excess of the cost of their labor power and is appropriated by the capitalist.
Marx draws a conclusion about the exploitation of labor by capital.
Like Smith, Marx considered the market to be a powerful instrument for the accumulation of capital, but unlike Smith, he believed that this process would end with an intensification of the class struggle and the death of capitalism, since its contradictions are so serious that the market mechanism will not be able to cope with them. Marx's critics argue that capitalism has not collapsed, the working class has not become impoverished, and what Marx predicted has not been confirmed. Marx's supporters believe that capitalism, which he studied and whose death he predicted, collapsed during the Great Depression (29-33), and the current market economy is a different model, which is a new stage predicted by Marx on the path to a society of positive humanism.
In the 70s of the 19th century, classical political economics was replaced by marginalism (French - marginal, additional).
Heinrich Hermann Gossen is one of the founders of marginalism.
The first stage of development of marginalism:
Its representatives:
William Staley Jevans (Anglo-American school)
Carl Menger (Austrian school)
Lyon Walras (Lausanne school)
They believed that economic analysis should begin with a study of people's needs, with a search for a criterion for the usefulness of goods at the psychological level.
Second stage:
Neoclassical school (late 19)
Alfred Marshall (English economist)
"Principles of Economics" 1890
To emphasize social neutrality in his research, Marshall proposed abandoning the term positive economics in favor of economics or economic theory.
Central to Marshall's research is the problem of free pricing in the market. Moreover, the reproach is made at the micro level. Representatives of marginalism actively use mathematical research methods.
There are 3 main directions of modern economic science:
institutionalism or institutional sociological direction
Thorsten Veblen (American)
Veblen's followers, to one degree or another, share his following basic ideas:
Economic theory How science (8)
Abstract >> Economic theoryThe problem of forming economy How science. During this period... economic theory: economic relationship V areas production and exchange. On... specifically economic science, studying or separate spheres economic activity ( economy industries), ...
They broadly interpret the subject of economic theory, trying to take into account the entire complex of conditions and factors influencing economic life.
These factors include various social institutions, traditional customs, norms, laws, trade unions, corporations, states, etc.
They are critical of capitalism, considering it necessary to reform it, since it is characterized by earthly monopolies, militarization of the economy and other vices of a consumer society. studying ... , economics- is a collection of public relations related to production, ... sphere includes consideration of such general concepts as How ...
Who might care about economic problems? Probably everyone involved in economic activity. Active participants in economic activity are:
Those who produce goods and services: workers in factories and factories, power plants and construction organizations, restaurants and hospitals, theaters and television, transport...
Those who are engaged in trade in supermarkets and tents, at wholesale centers and retail chains...
Those who are employed in the monetary circulation buffer: employees of banks, exchange offices, currency exchanges...
State: it sets the “rules of the game” and collects taxes, finances science and education, the army and the police, pays pensions and benefits...
Those who consume goods and services: this is each of us, including you, dear readers.
All of these processes are subject to certain laws. In order to make competent decisions in everyday practice, it is necessary to study these laws and principles of behavior of participants in economic activity.
1. Economics: science and economy
Translated from Greek, the word "economics" literally means "the art of housekeeping." In the modern world, farming is conducted and managed not only within a family or city, but also within a region, country, and the whole world. It is organized not only on a territorial basis, but also on a production basis, within enterprises, industries, corporations, many of which are multinational and influence the lives of people in different countries.
In modern Russian, this word has two meanings: “economics as the economy of the country” and “economics as a scientific discipline, economic theory.”
The economy as an economy includes resources, enterprises, households, the legislative system, the structure of government bodies, the traditional way of life that has developed in society, and forms of ownership.
Economics as a science studies economic relations, laws and categories of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods. We will be able to formulate a more complete definition of economics as a science when we find out what the main problem of economics is.
Economics studies economic relations at different levels.
Microeconomics studies the behavior of individual consumers, individual firms, as well as sectoral and regional markets, factor markets, and the problem of external effects. In this case, the scale of the object of study can be small and very large. For example, the objects of study of microeconomics are the markets for bicycles, mobile phones and MP3 players, the local fish market and the wheat market, the land market, the capital market, the automobile industry and electricity market, etc.
Micro- and macroeconomics are interconnected. Conclusions that can be drawn as a result of microeconomic analysis are used in macroeconomics, and vice versa, government decisions at the macroeconomic level directly affect the situation in every family and in every enterprise.
2. Needs and benefits
From the social studies course, you remember that each of us has needs: for food and clothing, for study and entertainment, etc.
Needs express the need to own something to carry out life activities and personal development. First of all, the needs that are a condition of life must be satisfied - these are the needs for air, water, food, clothing, housing. Conventionally, they are called primary. A special place in a person’s life is occupied by spiritual needs, for example: the need to read books, listen to music, watch films, go to theaters, travel. Social needs are the needs for friendship, love, respect, self-esteem. People feel the need for education, for studying nature and society. Each person individually determines which needs are a priority for him. For some of you, the priority is computer games or fashionable clothes, for others - study, career, and some will name friendship, love...
The nature of the needs depends on many circumstances: climate, customs, religious beliefs, standard of living in the country, and the degree of development of production. Needs develop and change under the influence of information. New information creates new needs and capabilities.
vues a qualitative change in existing needs. Advertising plays an important role in shaping our needs, informing us about new products and their qualities. The needs are growing endlessly.
Remember a situation where information influenced the range of your needs.
Needs can be satisfied with the help of goods. Goods are means that satisfy needs. There are free and economic goods.
Free goods are not limited and are available to everyone who needs them: air, sunlight, rainwater, spring water, wind energy, berries in the forest, fish in the sea, etc.
Most benefits are limited and paid. These are economic benefits. It is with this type of goods that economic theory deals. Economic goods are food products, clothing, housing, furniture, etc. People consume economic goods in the form of goods and services.
A product is a product produced for consumption or exchange, for example ice cream, a jacket, a telephone, a computer, a car, an apartment.
A service is an activity that has a certain value, for example education, medical care, cinema, theater, transport services.
Goods that complement each other are called complementary goods, or complements. For example: computer - printer - scanner - speakers.
Goods that replace each other are called substitutes. For example: jacket - coat; bus - taxi.
The classification of goods can be presented more clearly using a diagram.
3. Factors of production
To create economic benefits, resources are needed: labor, natural, material.
What resources are needed to bake a pie?
You will probably name flour, butter, sugar, milk, as well as a stove, dishes, and water. If you think about it, you will remember the cook and the cook, electricity, the kitchen in which they will bake the pie, even the time required for baking, and a dozen other necessary items.
Economists group all the resources needed to produce any good into four groups of so-called factors of production. Factors of production are resources that are directly involved in the production of goods and services. These are labor, land, capital and entrepreneurship.
Labor is the direct application of people's physical and mental abilities in the process of creating economic wealth. The magnitude of this factor in the country as a whole is determined by the number of people of working age, the level of education of people, their qualifications, and motivation to work. The owner of the labor resource receives income called wages.
Labor resources are people of any profession: workers, engineers, scientists, teachers, doctors, etc. Even an unemployed person is a labor resource because he is ready to work. Children, students, pensioners, housewives and other groups of the population are not considered labor resources. This issue will be discussed in more detail in the topic “Unemployment”.
O Is a robot used in production a labor resource? a dog guarding the factory territory?
Land is the conventional name for all types of natural resources, including plots of land, as well as forests, water resources of rivers, seas, oceans, and mineral deposits. The owner of natural resources receives income called rent.
Capital is the means of production created by man: buildings, structures, equipment, transport, materials, semi-finished products. The income of the owner of capital is interest.
In order not to be mistaken in the classification of certain resources, it should be borne in mind that land resources are created by nature, and capital resources are created by man; Capital resources contain past human labor. For example, oil and gasoline: which of them is a land resource and which is a capital resource? Oil is a natural resource, land, and gasoline is capital,
produced by man. Water in a lake and water in a tap: a natural resource is water in a lake, a capital resource is tap water. Fish in the sea is a natural resource, fish in a cannery is capital.
O Is it true that flour, a saucepan, a kitchen, electricity -
Is this all capital?
Physical, or real, capital, which is a factor of production, should be distinguished from money capital. Money is a means of purchasing factors of production, but it is not a factor of production.
The fourth factor of production - entrepreneurship - connects the above three factors (labor, land, capital). Entrepreneurship is proactive, innovative activity, readiness to do business under risk conditions. This is the entrepreneur himself, as well as his ideas, innovations, know-how, ability to make decisions and take risks. Conventionally, time is also included in this factor.
The entrepreneur's income is profit. By investing in the purchase of factors of production, an entrepreneur has no guarantee that the business will be successful and profitable. He takes a risk by opening his own company. An entrepreneur's profit is a payment not only for entrepreneurship, but also for risk.
Some authors also identify information as an independent factor of production. However, information itself does not participate in the production process; it is part of the factors of production. Thus, hired workers have certain information; information about technological processes is an integral part of real, physical capital; entrepreneurs use business information, ideas, innovations, know-how. Regardless of the attribution of information to one or another group of production factors, its importance in the economy is great. As British Prime Minister B. Disraeli said, “in life, as a rule, those who have the best information succeed more than others.”
О Distribute among groups of factors of production the resources needed to bake the cake.
In addition to the main four factors of production, science, general culture, legal culture, and the state of morality also play a major role in the economy.
 |
4. Limited resources
Speaking at the beginning of this topic about needs, we noted that needs are growing without limit. In contrast, factors of production are limited. The available resources are always insufficient compared to the unlimited needs that must be satisfied with the help of these resources. The problem of limitations cannot be solved in principle. This problem is inherent in any society, regardless of the degree of its development and the level of well-being of its citizens, both in the past and in the future; Constantly growing needs outpace the resources available to society. The problem of limited resources is the main problem of the economy.
Now we can give a more complete definition of economics as a science.
Economics is a science that deals with various areas of economic activity and studies how, with the help of limited resources, to most fully satisfy the unlimited needs of people.
Goods that satisfy needs can be free or limited.
To produce economic goods, resources are required: labor, land, capital, entrepreneurship.
The main problem of economics: needs are unlimited, but available resources are limited.
Basic Concepts
Economy
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Needs
Free and economic goods Complementary goods Substitutes Factors of production Limited resources
Questions and tasks
1. What does micro- and macroeconomics study?
2. What factors influence human needs?
3. Is it true that economic benefits are divided into free and limited?
4. List the factors of production. What is the income of the owner of each factor of production called?
5. What is the main problem of the economy?
6. Can the problem of scarcity be solved if people reduce their needs? if scientific and technological progress will significantly increase the production of economic goods?
7. “There is nothing more practical than a good theory” (R. Kirchoff). Explain the meaning of this statement.
1. Economics subject
2. Methods of economic research
1. Economics subject
A. Economic choice
Economics (economic theory) as a science exists because people's needs are unlimited, while the resources they have to satisfy them are limited. Hence the problem of choice related to the best use of limited resources. All human life is a continuous choice, and when choosing one thing, you have to give up something else.
For example, a buyer cannot buy up the entire store due to lack of funds. At the same time, he will not buy only bread or only milk; His task is to get the optimal set of benefits for his money.
For its part, the firm cannot produce everything due to the same limitations of its production resources; it needs to distribute limited resources for the production of various goods in such a way as to obtain maximum profit.
Local authorities are not able to build a school, a road, and a hospital at the same time. They also have to choose.
How individuals, firms, and society as a whole make their choices in conditions of limited resources is what economics deals with.
The subject of choice are economic (rare) benefits, i.e. goods, the quantity of which is limited in comparison with the need for them. Rare goods can be divided into two types: production resources and consumer goods produced on their basis. Goods, the quantity of which is not limited in comparison with the needs for them, are called free. Examples could be atmospheric air, clean drinking water for people living somewhere in a Siberian village, etc. As free goods are exhausted, they can become economic goods.
In their reasoning, economists proceed from the hypothesis that rational behavior people. This means that economic agents are able to determine their needs and strive to achieve maximum results with available resources, i.e. To efficient use of resources. Thus, it is usually believed that individuals maximize their personal well-being, firms maximize profits, and the state maximizes the well-being of society as a whole.
At the same time, economists are interested in how economic agents interact with each other when making decisions, and what results these interactions lead to. It is important, for example, to determine how the equilibrium market price of a given product is formed as a result of competition between producers and consumers.
Finally, the task of economic research is to understand how the well-being of economic agents can be improved. It is possible, for example, that to reduce costs or increase production, markets should be made more competitive or government agencies should operate more efficiently.
Thus, economics subject– decisions made in society when distributing limited resources between different options for their use in order to maximize people's well-being.
Economic choice involves answering three main questions:
1). What and how much to produce?
For example, local authorities stopped building a road.
2). How to produce?
The road can be built in different ways. You can hire a bunch of diggers with shovels, or you can use less manual labor and more machines. We are therefore talking about the choice of production technology.
3).For whom to produce?
Once the “pie is baked,” it must be divided. When applied to a road, this means deciding which cars should be allowed to travel on it, whether travel should be paid or free, who should be given travel benefits, etc.
B. Economic costs and sunk costs
In the selection process, the concept of economic costs (costs) arises. It is fundamentally different from the familiar concept of accounting costs. When estimating costs, the accountant records the amount of actual payments made for the resources purchased by the company. Against, economic costs receiving a certain benefit is other benefits, which could be obtained using the same resources, but which will have to be abandoned if the choice is made in favor of this good. Therefore, they are also called opportunity costs or opportunity costs.
Let's say someone decides to estimate the opportunity costs of going to college. First of all, he will probably remember the tuition fees in rubles or dollars. However, the size of the payment in itself does not say much. Whether studying is expensive or cheap can be said only by taking into account the amount of goods that could be purchased with tuition fees. If, for example, a semester costs the same as a new suit a student needs, then the economic cost of studying is equal to the suit. (Sometimes, however, they say just that: “We were on vacation and passed on a new fur coat!”)
In practice, however, economic costs are not limited to cash payments. Studying requires time, during which a student could earn money, renovate an apartment, raise a child, just relax... He refuses all this, deciding to study. Therefore, the economic costs of education also include unearned money (or rather, those benefits that could be bought with this money), a neglected apartment, an ill-mannered child, lost vacation, etc.
It is important to keep two things in mind. First: opportunity costs arise only where there is an alternative. From this point of view, for example, food costs during the period of study are not taken into account as the economic costs of obtaining an education. The fact is that these expenses are not related to training: you want to eat regardless of whether an individual studies or not. Only if studying requires additional costs for food, this surplus is included in the economic costs.
Second: there are a lot of alternative goods. A student can, for example, study economics all evening, or go to a club, or clean an apartment, or watch TV, etc. All this cannot be done at the same time. Therefore, to assess the alternative costs of obtaining economic knowledge, one must take into account the best possible alternative.
To summarize, we can say once again: in order to evaluate the full economic costs of obtaining a certain benefit, it is necessary to sum up all the alternative losses (in the form of the best benefits not received) that one has to bear in connection with this. It is very convenient if these losses can be measured in money. With this approach The economic cost of obtaining a given good is the value of other goods that could be obtained with the most profitable of all alternative uses of limited resources.
Measuring costs in monetary terms is not always easy. It is not easy, for example, to estimate in rubles the value of lost rest or the damage from lack of attention to a child from a mother who is studying. However, people intuitively do this when making this or that decision. A very common phrase: “For that kind of money, I’d rather sit at home!” can be translated into economic language as follows: “The wages received at work are less than my opportunity costs of labor, expressed in the cost of rest, which I will lose by going to work.”
A distinction must be made between economic costs and sunk costs. Sunk costs– these are costs that were previously incurred and cannot be returned .
Let someone face a choice: to study or not to study. To make a choice, he will have to compare all the benefits of training with all the economic costs associated with it. Let's assume that both can be expressed in rubles. Let the benefits be 120 rubles, and the costs – 100 rubles. The benefits outweigh the costs and the student begins his studies.
Very soon, unfortunately, it turns out that the teaching is worse than expected. In this regard, the actual benefits of such education are only 80 rubles. Thus, a new question arises: to continue or quit studying. If the student had known about the poor teaching earlier, he would not have gone to study at all (the costs exceed the benefits), but now the situation is more complicated. Let out of 100 rubles. costs 70 rub. - this is a tuition fee, and 30 rubles. – all other costs expressed in lost wages due to activities, lost rest, etc. After the tuition fee is paid, these 70 rubles, which the student will not receive back in any case, turned from an opportunity cost into a sunk cost. Further they can be ignored.
Therefore, a rationally thinking individual will reason something like this: “Of course, I was deceived by the promise of better knowledge. However, if I take away the documents, I will not receive 80 rubles worth of education benefits, having saved only 30 rubles. costs. As for the 70 rubles already paid, they are lost to me under all circumstances. It’s better to continue!”
So, sunk costs do not influence future decisions. Therefore, economists who study alternative uses of resources do not take them into account.
B. Microeconomics and macroeconomics
Economic theory includes two main parts - micro- and macroeconomics.
Microeconomics studies the behavior of individual economic agents (firms, consumers, savers, etc.) and their interaction in individual markets. Its focus is on the prices and production volumes of individual goods, the choice of an individual consumer, the output and resources of an individual firm, etc.
Macroeconomics studies the national economy as a whole as a unified system. Its focus is on such general indicators of social production as gross domestic product, economic growth, employment and unemployment, inflation, etc.
Three things are important here. First: the prefix “micro” (small) in the word “microeconomics” should not be misleading. It's not about size at all. Microeconomics deals with the behavior and interaction of individual economic agents as the primary links of the economic system. However, these are not only individual consumers or households, but also companies, including giant ones. On the other hand, microeconomics studies the formation of prices for individual goods in individual markets. But we are not necessarily talking about local or even national markets; The world market of any important product is also a subject of microeconomic research.
Second: it cannot be said that microeconomics deals with problems that are less important than macroeconomics. Just as everything big is made up of small things, the functioning of the entire economy and its large aggregates is directly determined by the activities of each economic entity and cannot be correctly understood in isolation from the latter.
Third: it is impossible to draw a clear line separating micro- and macroeconomics. Both of these sections of economic theory are closely intertwined, complement each other and imperceptibly transform into one another.
