CHAPTER
2
The Economic Problem:
Scarcity and Choice
Prepared by: Fernando Quijano
and Yvonn Quijano
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
What is Production?
• Production is the process by which resources
are _______________________.
• Resources, or inputs, refer to _________
__________________________________
that can be used directly or indirectly to satisfy
human wants.
• Capital resources
• Human resources
• Natural resources
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Three Basic Questions
• The mechanics of decision making in a larger economy
are more complex, but the type of decisions that must
be made are ______________.
• All societies must decide:
• What will be produced?
• How will it be produced?
• Who will get what is produced?
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Three Basic Questions
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Specialization, Exchange and
Comparative Advantage
• David Ricardo developed the ________
_____________________ to explain the
benefits of specialization and free trade.
The theory is based on the concept of
opportunity cost:
• ________________ is that which we give
up or forgo, when we make a decision or
a choice.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Specialization, Exchange and
Comparative Advantage
• According to the theory of
competitive advantage,
__________________________
____________________, even
those that may be absolutely more
efficient producers.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Absolute Versus Comparative Advantage
Output per Day of Work
Food
Clothing
Country A
Country B
6
1
3
2
• Country A has an ____________________ because it can
produce more food and more clothing in one day than
country B.
• Country A has a _________________________ in the
production of food because a worker in country A can
produce 6 times as many units of food as a worker in
country B, but only 1.5 as many units of clothing.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Absolute Versus Comparative Advantage
Output per Day of Work
Food
Clothing
Country A
Country B
6
1
3
2
• The opportunity costs can be summarized as follows:
• For food:
• 1 unit of food costs country A ½ unit of clothing.
• 1 unit of food costs country B 2 units of clothing.
• For clothing:
• 1 unit of clothing costs country A 2 units of food.
• 1 unit of clothing costs country B ½ unit of food.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Absolute Versus Comparative Advantage
Output per Day of Work
Food
Clothing
Country A
Country B
6
1
3
2
• Conclusion:
• Country A will specialize in producing food, and
country B will specialize in the production of
clothing.
• Specialization also works to develop skills
and raise productivity.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Weighing Present and Expected Future
Costs and Benefits
• ___________ is the process of using
resources to produce new capital.
_______ is the accumulation of
previous investment.
• Because resources are ________, the
opportunity cost of every investment in
capital is _______________________.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Capital Goods and Consumer Goods
• Consumer goods are ______
____________________
___________.
• Capital goods are __________
______________________
_______________.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Production Possibility Frontier
• The production possibility
frontier (ppf) is a graph that
shows all of the combinations
of goods and services that
can be produced if all of
society’s resources are used
efficiently.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Production Possibility Frontier
• The production possibility
frontier curve has a negative
slope that indicates the
trade-off that a society faces
between two goods.
• The slope of the ppf is also
called the ______________
___________________.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Production Possibility Frontier
• Points inside of the curve
are inefficient.
• At point H, resources are
either unemployed, or are
used inefficiently.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Production Possibility Frontier
• Point F is desirable
because it yields more of
both goods, but it is not
attainable given the
amount of resources
available in the economy.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Production Possibility Frontier
• Point C is one of the
possible combinations of
goods produced when
resources are fully and
efficiently employed.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Production Possibility Frontier
• A move along the curve
illustrates the concept of
opportunity cost.
• In order to increase the
production of capital goods,
the amount of consumer
goods will have to decrease.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Law of Increasing Opportunity Cost
• The _________ shape of
the production possibility
frontier curve reflects the
__________________
_______________.
• As we __________ the
production of one good, we
__________ progressively
more of the other.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Economic Growth
•
Economic growth is an increase in
the total output of the economy. It
occurs when a society acquires
new resources, or when it learns to
produce more using existing
resources.
•
The main sources of economic
growth are capital accumulation
and technological advances.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Economic Growth
•
Outward shifts of the
curve represent
___________________.
•
To increase the production
of one good without
decreasing the production of
the other, the PPF curve
must shift outward.
From point D, the
economy can choose any
combination of output
between F and G.
•
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Economic Growth
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
•
Not every sector of the
economy grows at the
same rate.
•
In this historic example,
productivity increases
were more dramatic for
corn than for wheat over
the 50-year period.
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Economic Problem
• The economic problem: Given scarce resources,
how, exactly, do large, complex societies go about
answering the three basic economic questions?
• ____________________ are the basic arrangements
made by societies to solve the economic problem.
They include:
• Command economies
• Laissez-faire economies
• Mixed systems
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
The Economic Problem
• In a ___________________, a central government
either directly or indirectly sets output targets,
incomes, and prices.
• In a ______________________, literally from the
French: “allow (them) to do,” individual people and
firms pursue their own self-interests without any
central direction or regulation. The central institution
of a laissez-faire economy is the ________________.
• A __________ is the institution through which buyers
and sellers interact and engage in exchange.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Laissez-Faire Economies:
The Free Market
• ______________________ is the idea that
consumers ultimately dictate what will be
produced (or not produced) by choosing what
to purchase (and what not to purchase).
• Free enterprise: under a free market
system, individual producers must figure out
how to _____, _________, and __________
the production of products and services.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Laissez-Faire Economies:
The Free Market
• The _______________________ is also
determined in a decentralized way. The
amount that any one household gets depends
on its ________ and _______.
• The basic coordinating mechanism in a free
market system is price. Price ____________
________________________. It reflects what
society is willing to pay.
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair
Mixed Systems, Markets, and
Governments
Markets are not perfect, and governments play a
major role in all economic systems in order to:
• Minimize market inefficiencies
• Provide public goods
• Redistribute income
• Stabilize the macroeconomy
• Promote low levels of unemployment
• Promote low levels of inflation
© 2002 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
Principles of Economics, 6/e
Karl Case, Ray Fair