Economic Qs
Economic Qs
Economic Qs
Microeconomics
is the part of economics concerned with decision making by individual
customers, workers, households, and business firms
At this level of analysis, we observe the details of their behavior under a
figurative microscope
Microeconomics
We measure
The price of a specific product
The number of workers employed by a single firm
The revenue or income of a particular firm or household
The expenditures of a specific firm, government entity, or family
In microeconomics, we examine the sand, rocks, and shells, not the
beach
Macroeconomics
Examines the performance and behavior of the economy as a whole
It focuses its attention on
Economic growth
The business cycle
Interest rates
Inflation
The behavior of major economic aggregates such as the government,
household, and business sectors
An aggregate is a collection of specific economic units treated as if they
were one unit.
Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics speaks of such economic measures as
Total output
Total employment
Total income
Aggregate expenditures, and
The general level of prices in analyzing various economic problems
Q4. Briefly explain the critical and closely interrelated features of economic
perspective?
► Scarcity and Choice
► Purposeful Behaviour
► Marginal Analysis: Comparing Benefits and Costs
Q11. Discuss the two economics systems under which nations allocate their
resources. Briefly explain each.?
Socialism – Command economic system
A command economic system or a socialist or communist system
Under this structure, power is centralized either to the government or a sole
ruler
They decide the rules of the game and command how economic interactions
take place
Examples of command economies include Belarus, Iran, North Korea
Capitalism – Market economic system
A capitalist economic system is where the means of production is owned and
controlled by private enterprise rather than the government
Instead of government dictating what goods and services should be
produced, these are driven by supply and demand mechanisms
Pure Capitalist economic system does not exist
Q-12 Illustrate a budget line with combination of movie tickets and
paperback books attainable with an income of $120 (price of movie ticket
$20 & Book $10). Also list down ideas budget line illustrates.
A Budget Line- Example
To understand the idea of a budget line, suppose that you received an
Amazon gift card as a birthday present
The $120 card is soon to expire
You go online to Amazon.com and confine your purchase decisions to two
alternatives:
Movies
Paperback books
Movies are $20 each and paperback books are $10 each
Q-13 Briefly discuss “Individual’s Economizing Problem”?
Individual’s Economizing Problem
Limited Income
We all have a finite amount of income, even the wealthiest among us
Even Bill Gates must decide how to spend his money- majority of us have
much more limited means
Our income comes to us in the form of
Wages
Interest
Rent, and Profit
Although we may also receive money from government
programs or family members
Individual’s Economizing Problem
Unlimited Wants
For better or worse, most people have virtually unlimited wants
We desire various goods and services that provide utility
Our wants extend over a wide range of products, from
Necessities (for example, food, shelter, and clothing)
Luxuries (for example, perfumes, yachts, and sports cars)
Some wants such as basic food, clothing, and shelter have biological roots
Other wants, for example, specific kinds of food, clothing, and shelter, arise
from the conventions and customs of society
Services, as well as goods, satisfy our wants
(A custom is about habit, something that happens a lot
A convention is about agreement, that it is accepted, formally or informally)
A Budget Line
We can clarify the economizing problem facing consumers by visualizing a
budget line (or, more technically, a budget constraint)
It is a schedule or curve that shows various combinations of two products a
consumer can purchase with a specific money income
To understand we assume two products, the analysis to the full range of
products available to consumers
Individual’s Economizing Problem
Economizing
Problem
The budget line illustrates
several ideas
Attainable and Unattainable
Combinations
Trade-Offs and Opportunity
Costs
Choice
Income Changes
Q-14 Briefly explain “Society’s Economizing Problem”?
Scarce Resources
Society has limited or scarce economic resources
This includes all natural, human and manufactured resources that go into the
production of goods and services
Resource categories (Factors of production):
Land
Labor
Capital
Entrepreneurial Ability
Scarce Resources
Resource categories (Factors of production):
Land: Includes all land and natural resources used in the production process
Labor: Physical actions and mental activities that people contribute to the
production of goods and services
Capital: All manufactured aids used in producing consumer goods and
services
Investment
Refers to spending that pays for the production and accumulation of capital
goods
Scarce Resources
Capital
We have two types of goods
Consumer goods
Satisfy wants directly
Capital goods
Satisfy wants indirectly by aiding the production of consumer goods
Economists do not count money as an economic resource because money
produces nothing
Money is just a means for purchasing goods and services, including capital
goods
Entrepreneurial Ability
Entrepreneur functions
The entrepreneur takes the initiative in combining the
resources of land, labor, and capital to produce a good or a service
Acts both as a sparkplug and a catalyst
The entrepreneur is the driving force behind production
The agent who combines the other resources in what is hoped will be a
successful business venture
The entrepreneur makes the strategic business decisions that set the course
of an enterprise
Entrepreneurial Ability
Entrepreneur functions
The entrepreneur innovates
He or she commercializes
New products
New production techniques
Even new forms of business organization
Entrepreneurial Ability
Entrepreneur functions
The entrepreneur bears risk
Innovation is risky, as nearly all new products and ideas are subject to the
possibility of failure or success
Progress would cease without entrepreneurs
They are willing to take on risk by devoting their time, effort, and ability
Entrepreneurial Ability
They are prepared to invest their own money and the money of others to
commercializing new products and ideas that may enhance society’s standard
of living
Because land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial ability are combined to
produce goods and services, they are called the factors of production, or
simply “inputs”
Q-15 Define an “Entrepreneur”? List its characteristic and skills.
Society’s Economizing Problem
Entrepreneurial Ability
Entrepreneur functions
The entrepreneur takes the initiative in combining the resources of land,
labor, and capital to produce a good or a service
Acts both as a sparkplug and a catalyst
The entrepreneur is the driving force behind production
The agent who combines the other resources in what is hoped will be a
successful business venture
The entrepreneur makes the strategic business decisions that set the course
of an enterprise
Society’s Economizing Problem
Entrepreneurial Ability
Entrepreneur functions
The entrepreneur innovates
He or she commercializes
New products
New production techniques
Even new forms of business organization
Society’s Economizing Problem
Entrepreneurial Ability
Entrepreneur functions
The entrepreneur bears risk
Innovation is risky, as nearly all new products and ideas are subject to the
possibility of failure or success
Progress would cease without entrepreneurs
They are willing to take on risk by devoting their time, effort, and ability
Society’s Economizing Problem
Entrepreneurial Ability
They are prepared to invest their own money and the money of others to
commercializing new products and ideas that may enhance society’s standard
of living
Because land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial ability are combined to
produce goods and services, they are called the factors of production, or
simply “inputs”
Q-16 Describe & compare Positive and Normative economics?
Positive economics
Example: "An increase in taxes leads to a decrease in consumer spending."
Normative Economics:
Example: "The government should implement tax cuts to stimulate economic
growth."
Q-17 List participants in a market system?
A Market System
The participants in a market system include:
Direct market players such as
Producers
Buyers/Customers
Consumers who drive economic activity in the market
Suppliers of supporting goods and services such as
Finance
Equipment
Business consulting
Entities that influence the business environment
Q-18 List characteristics of the “Market System”?
1. Private property
2. Freedom of enterprise
3. Freedom of choice
4. Self-interest
5. Competition
6. Market and prices
7. Technology and Capital Goods
8. Specialization
9. Use of money
10.Active, but Limited, Government
Q-19 Discuss complex capital goods which market system encourages for
extensive use and rapid development?
The market system encourages extensive use and rapid development of
complex capital goods:
Tools
Machinery
Large-scale factories
Facilities for storage- warehousing
Communication
Transportation
Marketing
Q-20 Describe how specialization is explained in term of division of labor,
support your answer with examples?
Specialization within the division of labor means that individuals focus on
specific tasks based on their abilities and skills. This allows them to efficiently
use their talents and fosters skill development through focused practice. For
example, Muhammad Rizwan specializes in cricket, while Aima Baig specializes
in singing. This optimized distribution of talents saves time by avoiding task
switching and ensures that individuals excel in their respective areas of
expertise within the market system. In a bakery, the bread baker specializes in
making bread, the cake decorator focuses on decorating cakes, and the pastry
chef specializes in making pastries. This specialization within the division of
labor ensures efficient production and high-quality products.
Q-21 List five fundamental questions of a market system?
The Five Fundamental economic Questions
What goods and services will be produced?
How will the goods and services be produced?
Who will get the goods and services?
How will the system accommodate change?
How will the system promote progress?
Q-22 Briefly explain virtues of the market system?
Efficiency: Efficient use of resources in producing goods and services most
wanted by society, promoting innovation and adopting efficient production
techniques.
Incentives: Encourages skill acquisition, hard work, and innovation, leading
to higher production, incomes, and living standards. Rewards
entrepreneurship and successful innovations.
Freedom: Emphasizes personal freedom, coordinating economic activity
without coercion, allowing freedom of enterprise and choice, and enabling
individuals to pursue self-interest within the system's rewards and
penalties.
Q-23 Identify and explain reasons of “The Demise of Command Systems”?
Command system (Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China) was a
failure because the system encountered two insurmountable problems
The coordination problem
Set output targets for all goods – setting a factory for cars
The central planners had to coordinate the millions of individual
decisions by
Consumers
Resource
Suppliers
Businesses
The coordination problem became more difficult as the economies
Expanded
The incentive problem
Central planners determined the output mix
They misjudge how many automobiles, shoes, shirts, and chickens were
wanted at the government-determined prices
It created, persistent shortages and surpluses of those products
No adjustments for surplus or shortage
The command systems of the former Soviet Union and China before its
market reforms also lacked entrepreneurship
Central planning did not trigger the profit motive, nor did it reward
innovation and enterprise (endeavor)
Q-24 Illustrate “The Circular Flow Model” briefly explain how simplified
economy in which there is no government works?
The Circular Flow Model
Households
The rectangle on the right side of the circular flow diagram represents
households
Defined as one or more persons occupying a housing unit
There are currently about 32.21 million households in the Pakistan
economy
Households buy the goods and services that businesses make available
in the product market
Households obtain the income needed to buy those products by selling
resources in the resource market
Households
All the resources in our no-government economy are ultimately owned
or provided by households
For instance, the members of one household or another directly provide
all of the labor and entrepreneurial ability in the economy
Households also own all of the land and all of the capital in the
economy
They either own it
Directly, as personal property,
or Indirectly, as a consequence of owning all of the businesses in the
economy
Q25.Define a corporation? List what all it can do on its own behalf?
CORPORATION:
Is an independent legal entity
It means that its owners bear no personal or financial responsibility for
corporation’s debts and obligations
If a corporation has failed to repay a loan to a bank, the bank can sue
the corporation but not its owners
Professional managers run most corporations like Google, Ford etc.