What is Economics?

The Dismal Science

 **Grab a chromebook on your way in**

Kickoff:

This unit we will answer our kickoff questions in google classroom under
the assignment Unit 5 Kickoffs.

You will type the date, and then the writing prompt/questions each day,
along with your response (in blue).

I have set up the first one for you.

Be sure to always answer the Kickoff in blue ink.

Free write: What do you think economics is and why is it important to study
Announcements

Grades are in and complete

Lets make the 2nd quarter better than the first

First quiz of the quarter will be Friday (tentatively scheduled)

First test of the quarter is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14th.

There will probably be less total grades this quarter

High School Slang

In your groups, take 5-10 minutes to come up with as many slang terms as
you can that high schoolers use in their everyday conversations.

Ex: Bae, or snake

Each group will pick their best three terms to ask me to see if I know what
it means.

You need more than 3 terms in case another group uses one of yours.

We will list every term I dont know on the board and you can test me on
them tomorrow to see if I pass.
Why did we just teach Mr. Greene your
slang?

Within the study of economics, there are

many specific vocabulary terms that you
must become comfortable using.

For instance, it is vital that you know the

difference between gross income, and net
income. Or that you know when to
correctly use the term revenue, as
opposed to profit.

Now that you can hold me accountable for

your vocabulary, I will be holding you
accountable for mine.
What is Economics?
The Dismal Science
 What is Economics anyway??

Economics is the study of how decisions are made and how people seek to
satisfy wants and needs, in a world of limited resources.
Want or Need??
Wants vs. Needs

Need- things required for survival Want- things we would like to have
because they make life more
Food and Water
comfortable or enjoyable
Shelter
Vacations
Clothing
Entertainment
Stayin alive, stayin alive. Oh oh oh oh
stayin aliiiivvvveeeee

The separation between wants and needs

is not always clear (E.G. Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs)

Economics has a hard time taking into

account, non-quantifiable concepts
Goods vs. Services

In order to satisfy these wants and needs we

produce:

Goods: tangible products

Video games

Phones

Furniture

Services: work performed for someone

else
Factors of Production

There are four things required for all goods and services to be produced

We call these things the Factors of Production:

I. Land: includes all natural resources

A. Trees, minerals, fossil fuels, etc.

II. Labor: effort for which someone is paid

A. White collar workers- high skilled office work

Factors of Production

III. Capital: human-made resource to invest in or to produce goods or

services

A. Physical Capital- tools, machinery, and buildings used to make other products.

B. Human Capital- knowledge and skills a worker gains through education, training, and
experience.

IV. Entrepreneurs: innovators who take risks, start new businesses,

indtroduce new products, and improve techniques

A. Someone's gotta be first, right??

Identify the Factor(s) of Production in each
picture:
What do all of the Factors of
Production have in common?
I cant get no, sat-is-faction - The Rolling
Stones

We as people have
UNLIMITED wants and
needs.

The factors of
production on the other
hand are LIMITED.
Houston, we have a problem.

When there are not enough

resources to produce all the
things we would like to have,
scarcity occurs.

Scarcity- unlimited wants, meets

limited resources

Scarcity is the Fundamental

Problem of Economics
Why do you think I refer to
Economics as The Dismal
Science?

BECAUSE I DONT BELIEVE ITS A SCIENCE

What do you want to learn about
Economics?
Crash Course Economics