曼昆的《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)原理》英文版

1、INTHISCHAPTERYOUWILL...Discusshowincentivesaffectpeople’sbehaviLearnthemeaningofopptunitycostLearnthateconomicsisabouttheallocationofscarceresourcesExaminesomeofthetradeoffsthatpeoplefaceSeehowtousemarginalreasoningwhenm

2、akingdecisionsThewdeconomycomesfromtheGreekwdf“onewhomanagesahousehold.”Atfirstthisiginmightseempeculiar.Butinfacthouseholdseconomieshavemuchincommon.Ahouseholdfacesmanydecisions.Itmustdecidewhichmembersofthehouseholddow

3、hichtaskswhateachmembergetsinreturn:WhocooksdinnerWhodoesthelaundryWhogetstheextradessertatdinnerWhogetstochoosewhatTVshowtowatchInshtthehouseholdmustallocateitsscarceresourcesamongitsvariousmemberstakingintoaccounteachm

4、ember’sabilitiesefftsdesires.Likeahouseholdasocietyfacesmanydecisions.Asocietymustdecidewhatjobswillbedonewhowilldothem.Itneedssomepeopletogrowfoodotherpeopletomakeclothingstillotherstodesigncomputersoftware.Oncesocietyh

5、asallocatedpeople(aswellaslbuildingsmachines)tovariousjobsTENPRINCIPLESOFECONOMICS3ConsiderwhytradeamongpeoplenationscanbegoodfeveryoneDiscusswhymarketsareagoodbutnotperfectwaytoallocateresourcesLearnwhatdeterminessometr

6、endsintheoveralleconomyCHAPTER1TENPRINCIPLESOFECONOMICS5considerparentsdecidinghowtospendtheirfamilyincome.Theycanbuyfoodclothingafamilyvacation.theycansavesomeofthefamilyincomefretirementthechildren’scollegeeducation.Wh

7、entheychoosetospendanextradollarononeofthesegoodstheyhaveonelessdollartospendonsomeothergood.Whenpeoplearegroupedintosocietiestheyfacedifferentkindsoftradeoffs.Theclassictradeoffisbetween“gunsbutter.”Themewespendonnation

8、aldefensetoprotectourshesfromfeignaggresss(guns)thelesswecanspendonconsumergoodstoraiseourstardoflivingathome(butter).Alsoimptantinmodernsocietyisthetradeoffbetweenacleanenvironmentahighlevelofincome.Lawsthatrequirefirms

9、toreducepollutionraisethecostofproducinggoodsservices.Becauseofthehighercoststhesefirmsendupearningsmallerprofitspayinglowerwagesginghigherpricessomecombinationofthesethree.Thuswhilepollutionregulationsgiveusthebenefitof

10、acleanerenvironmenttheimprovedhealththatcomeswithittheyhavethecostofreducingtheincomesofthefirms’ownerswkerscustomers.Anothertradeoffsocietyfacesisbetweenefficiencyequity.Efficiencymeansthatsocietyisgettingthemostitcanfr

11、omitsscarceresources.Equitymeansthatthebenefitsofthoseresourcesaredistributedfairlyamongsociety’smembers.Inotherwdsefficiencyreferstothesizeoftheeconomicpieequityreferstohowthepieisdivided.Oftenwhengovernmentpoliciesareb

12、eingdesignedthesetwogoalsconflict.Considerfinstancepoliciesaimedatachievingameequaldistributionofeconomicwellbeing.Someofthesepoliciessuchasthewelfaresystemunemploymentinsurancetrytohelpthosemembersofsocietywhoaremostinn

13、eed.Otherssuchastheindividualincometaxaskthefinanciallysuccessfultocontributemethanotherstosupptthegovernment.Althoughthesepolicieshavethebenefitofachievinggreaterequitytheyhaveacostintermsofreducedefficiency.Whenthegove

14、rnmentredistributesincomefromtherichtothepoitreducestherewardfwkinghardasaresultpeoplewklessproducefewergoodsservices.Inotherwdswhenthegovernmenttriestocuttheeconomicpieintomeequalslicesthepiegetssmaller.Recognizingthatp

15、eoplefacetradeoffsdoesnotbyitselftelluswhatdecisionstheywillshouldmake.Astudentshouldnotabonthestudyofpsychologyjustbecausedoingsowouldincreasethetimeavailablefthestudyofeconomics.Societyshouldnotstopprotectingtheenviron

16、mentjustbecauseenvironmentalregulationsreduceourmaterialstardofliving.Theposhouldnotbeignedjustbecausehelpingthemdisttswkincentives.Nohelessacknowledginglife’stradeoffsisimptantbecausepeoplearelikelytomakegooddecisionson

17、lyiftheyundersttheoptionsthattheyhaveavailable.PRINCIPLE#2:THECOSTOFSOMETHINGISWHATYOUGIVEUPTOGETITBecausepeoplefacetradeoffsmakingdecisionsrequirescomparingthecostsbenefitsofalternativecoursesofaction.Inmanycaseshowever

18、thecostofsomeactionisnotasobviousasitmightfirstappear.Considerfexamplethedecisionwhethertogotocollege.Thebenefitisintellectualenrichmentalifetimeofbetterjobopptunities.ButwhatisthecostToanswerthisquestionyoumightbetempte