Ch.1+Introduction+to+Economics

Section 1 Economics: Study of the choices that people make to satisfy their needs and wants. Economist: the people who study economics. Microeconomics: Study of the choices made be economic actors such as households, companies, and individual markets. Macroeconomics: examines the behavior of entire economies. Consumer: people who buy products. Producer: people who make the things that satisfy consumers' needs and wants Good: physical objects that can be purchased. Service: actions or activities that are performed for a fee. Resource: anything that people use to make or obtain what they need. Factor of product: resources that cane be used to produce goods and services. Natural Resources: items provided by nature that can be used to produce goods and to provide services. Human resources: human effort exerted during production. Capital resource: the manufactured materials used to create products. Capital Goods: buildings, structures, machinery, and tools used in the production process. Consumer Goods: goods and services that people can buy. Technology: technical knowledge and methods to create new products or make existing products more efficiently. Entrepreneurship: the organizational abilities and risk taking involved in starting a new business or introducing a new product. Entrepreneur: a person who attempts to start a new business or introduce a new business.
 * 1. Terms:**

Section 2 Scarcity: combination of limited economic resources and unlimited wants. Allocate: distribute. Productivity: the level of output that results from a given level of input. Efficiency: the use of the smallest amount of resource to produce the greatest amount of output. Division Labor: assigning a small number of tasks to each worker. Specialization: the focus on one activity.

Section 3 Trade-off: the fact that when people make choices, it creates a good that must be sacrificied Opportunity Cost: the value of the next-best alternative Production Possiblities Curve: shows all of the possible combinations of two goods or services that can be produced within a stated time period

Section 4 Barter: economic actors exchange goods Money: any item that is readily accepted by people in return for goods and services. Exchange: Producers and consumers agree to provide one type of item in return for another. Credit: Allows consumers to use items before completing payment for the merchandise. Value: The amount of money or price that is given to an item. Utility: Usefulness to a peson. Self-sufficiency: Fulfilling all of their needs without outside assistance. Interdependence: Events or developments in one region of the world or sector of the economy influence events or developments in other regions or sectors.


 * 2. Topics:**

Section 1: An Economic Way of Thinking ..A. Economic Decisions ....1. Economists study decision makers (consumers and producers) and their decisions made ....2. A person's needs and wants influence his or her choices about goods and services ..B. Economic Resources ....1. Natural Resources: factor of production when it's scarce or it's being paid for ....2. Human Resources: human physical or intellectual effort is used to produce a product ....3. Capital Resources: a. include capital goods and money used to purchase them ....................................b. type of goods depend on how they are being used (either consumer or capital) ....................................c. technonlogy helps increase production ....4. Entrepreneurship: a.goal--to develop a new combination of other factors of production, creating something of value ..................................b. find answers to own questions when first beginning a business or developing a product

Section 2: Scarcity and Choice ..A. Scarcity ....1. Requires the decisions people make to be about how to use resources effectively ....2. Contributing Factors: low rainfall->low harvests, use of materials to make a different product than usual ..B. Identifying Economic Questions-to distribute resources effectively answer the basic questions ....1. What to Produce? .......a. determine urgency of needs and wants ....2. How to Produce? .......a. decide what methods will be used to create and sell the product ....3. For Whom to Produce? .......a. determine how to distribute the goods and services a society produces .......b. consider who will consume goods and services ..C. Productivity ....1. determines if resources are being used wisely ....2. improving efficiency, introducing a division of labor, or using machines may help increase productivity

__Section 4__ Money has 3 functions: - standardized form of trade for goods and services Standardized as in set worth and commonly used. - used as a measure of value - store of value that could be used at a later date

Credit allows consumers to use items now and make payments later. With a credit card, a consumer is billed every 28-30 days. The consumer can pay in full, as much as he/she can, the minimum payment, or nothing at all and suffer fees and interest later.

// Here's a link to the new law about credit cards // : []

//Advantages to credit:// a) convenience b) ease of use c) build credit score d) rewards e) safter than cash f) security measures g) emergency use

//Disadvantages to credit:// a) ID theft b) fees c) overuse d) fine print e) lower credit score if not used properly f) potential debt g) impulse buying

Barter- Exchanging one set of goods for another Money- any item that is readily accepted by people in return for goods and services Credit-allows consumers to use items before completeing payment.
 * Forms of exchange**

wacky credit card stories**
 * 3. Application to Everyday Life:
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