Ten Principles of Economy

Chapter : 1
 What is Economics?
The study of how society manages its
scarce resources.

Scarcity
Scarcity means the society has limited
resources and therefore cannot produce
all the goods and services people wish to
have.
Economy
An economy is just a group of people
interacting with one another as they go
about their lives.

Managerial Economics
the applications of economics to the real
business activities, so as to get the desired
business results mean Managerial
Economics.
Ten Principles of Economics
How People
Make
Decision
Ten
Principles How People
of Interact
Economics

How the
Economy as a
Whole Works
 Principle # 1 : People Face Tradeoffs

There is no free lunch

Making decision requires trading off one goal
against another.
The classic tradeoff is between guns and
butter
Efficiency: The property of society getting the most
it can from its scarce resources.
Equity: The property of distributing economic
prosperity fairly among the members of society.
 Principle # 2 : The Cost of Something is What
You Give Up to Get it.

Decision making requires comparing the

Costs and benefits from the alternative.
The cost of some action is not as obvious
as it might first appear.
This Principle lack the time factor
Opportunity Cost: Whatever must be given
up to obtain some item.
 Principle # 3 : Rational People Think at
the Margin
Decision in life are rarely black or white
The decisions involves shades of gray
The Popular Adage:
It is good to aspire for No.1 position
but there is no disgrace to achieve
second or third position.
People behave rationally and thus accepts
marginal changes
Marginal Changes: Small incremental adjustments to
a plan of action.
An Airline Example.
 Principle # 4 : People Respond to Incentives.

Decisions are based on Costs & Benefits

Rational consumers look for profitable
deals.
The consumes want to keep their expense
bracket in tact.
The concept of Marginal change do
influence here.
An apple & Orange Example.
 Principle # 5: Trade Can Make Everyone
Better off.

Trade brings the world together.

Countries as well as families benefit from
the ability to trade with one another.
Trade allows countries to specialize in
what they do best and to enjoy a greater
variety of goods and services.
Trade brings in Innovation and Invention.
Principle # 6: Markets Are Usually a Good Way to
Organize Economic Activity

The government could organize economic activity

in a way that promotes economic well-being for
the country as a whole.
Market determines the demand for the product
Central planners decided what goods and services
were produced, how much was produced and who
produced and consumed these goods and services.
Market Economy: An economy that allocates resources
through the decentralized decisions of many firms and
households as they interact in markets for goods and
services.
Free markets contain many buyers and sellers of
numerous goods and services and all of them are
interested primarily in their own well-being.
 Principle # 7 : Government Can Sometimes
Improve Market Outcomes
There are two broad reasons for a government to
intervene in the economy: to promote efficiency
and to promote equity.
Externality: The impact of one persons actions on the
well-being of a bystander.
Market Power: The ability of a single economic actor (or
small group of actors) to have a substantial influence on
market prices.
A market economy rewards people according to
their ability to produce things other people will to
pay for.
Public policy is made not by angels but by a
political process that is far from perfect.
 Principle # 8 : A Countrys Standard of living
depends on its ability to produce Goods and
Services.
The large variation in the average income of two
countries is reflected in various measures of the
quality of life
Citizens of high-income countries have more TV
sets, more cars, better nutrition, better health
care and longer life expectancy than citizens of
low-income countries.
Productivity: The amount of goods and services
produced from each hour of a workers time.
 Principle # 9: Prices Rise when the
Government Prints Too Much Money

In Germany in January 1921, a daily news

paper cost 0.30 marks. Less than two years
later in November 1922, the same
newspaper cost 70,000,000 marks.
Inflation: An increase in the overall level of
prices in the economy.
Inflation Public Enemy number one
What causes Inflation? Growth in the
Quantity of Money
Principle # 10: Society faces a Short-Run Tradeoff
between Inflation & Unemployment.

By reducing inflation is often thought to

cause a temporary Unemployment.
This simply means that, over a period of
a year or two, many economic policies
push inflation and unemployment in
opposite directions.