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Economic Problems
Economic systems as a type of social system must confront and solve the three fundamental economic problems:Samuelson, P. Anthony., Samuelson, W. (1980). Economics. 11th ed. / New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 34 * What kinds and quantities of goods shall be produced, "how much and which of alternative goods and services shall be produced?" * How shall goods be produced? ..by whom and with what resources (using what technology)...?" * For whom are the goods or services produced? Who benefits? Samuelson rephrased this question as "how is the total of the national product to be distributed among different individuals and families?" Economic systems solve these problems in several ways:"... by custom and instinct; by command and centralized control (in planned economies) and in mixed economies that "...uses both market signals and government directives to allocate goods and resources." The latter is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with ele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economic System
An economic system, or economic order, is a system of production, resource allocation and distribution of goods and services within an economy. It includes the combination of the various institutions, agencies, entities, decision-making processes, and patterns of consumption that comprise the economic structure of a given community. An economic system is a type of social system. The mode of production is a related concept. All economic systems must confront and solve the four fundamental economic problems: * What kinds and quantities of goods shall be produced: This fundamental economic problem is anchored on the theory of pricing. The theory of pricing, in this context, has to do with the economic decision-making between the production of capital goods and consumer goods in the economy in the face of scarce resources. In this regard, the critical evaluation of the needs of the society based on population distribution in terms of age, sex, occupation, and geography is very ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marginal Benefit
Marginal utility, in mainstream economics, describes the change in ''utility'' (pleasure or satisfaction resulting from the consumption) of one unit of a good or service. Marginal utility can be positive, negative, or zero. Negative marginal utility implies that every consumed additional unit of a commodity causes more harm than good, leading to a decrease in overall utility. In contrast, positive marginal utility indicates that every additional unit consumed increases overall utility. In the context of cardinal utility, liberal economists postulate a law of diminishing marginal utility. This law states that the first unit of consumption of a good or service yields more satisfaction or utility than the subsequent units, and there is a continuing reduction in satisfaction or utility for greater amounts. As consumption increases, the additional satisfaction or utility gained from each additional unit consumed falls, a concept known as ''diminishing marginal utility.'' This idea is u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital Intensity
Capital intensity is the amount of fixed or real capital present in relation to other factors of production, especially labor. At the level of either a production process or the aggregate economy, it may be estimated by the capital to labor ratio, such as from the points along a capital/labor isoquant. The inverse of capital intensity is labor intensity. Capital intensity is sometimes associated with industrialism, while labor intensity is sometimes associated with agrarianism. Growth The use of tools and machinery makes labor more effective, so rising capital intensity (or " capital deepening") pushes up the productivity of labor. Capital intensive societies tend to have a higher standard of living over the long run. Calculations made by Robert Solow claimed that economic growth was mainly driven by technological progress (productivity growth) rather than inputs of capital and labor. However recent economic research has invalidated that theory, since Solow did not properly consi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labour Intensity
Labor intensity is the relative proportion of labor (compared to capital) used in any given process. Its inverse is capital intensity. Labor intensity is sometimes associated with agrarianism, while capital intensity is sometimes associated with industrialism. Labor intensity has been declining since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, while its inverse, capital intensity, has increased nearly exponentially since the latter half of the 20th century. Labor-intensive industries A labor-intensive industry requires large amounts of manual labor to produce its goods or services. In such industries, labor costs are more of a concern than capital costs. Labor intensity is measured by its proportion to the amount of capital to produce goods or services. The higher the labor cost, the more labor intense is the business. Labor cost can vary because businesses can add or subtract workers based on business needs. When it comes to controlling expenses, labor intensive b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wasting
In medicine, wasting, also known as wasting syndrome, refers to the process by which a debilitating disease causes muscle and fat tissue to "waste" away. Wasting is sometimes referred to as "acute malnutrition" because it is believed that episodes of wasting have a short duration, in contrast to stunting, which is regarded as chronic malnutrition. An estimated 45 million children under 5 years of age (or 6.7%) were wasted in 2021. Wasting prevalence declined from 7.5 % in 2012 to 6.8% in 2022, with 6.2% of children under five years old projected to be wasted in 2030, more than double the 3% Sustainable Development Goals target. Prevalence is highest in Southern Asia, followed by Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) and South-eastern Asia. Causes Wasting can be caused by an extremely low energy intake (e.g., caused by famine), nutrient losses due to infection, or a combination of low intake and high loss. Infections and conditions associated with wasting include tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pareto Efficiency
In welfare economics, a Pareto improvement formalizes the idea of an outcome being "better in every possible way". A change is called a Pareto improvement if it leaves at least one person in society better off without leaving anyone else worse off than they were before. A situation is called Pareto efficient or Pareto optimal if all possible Pareto improvements have already been made; in other words, there are no longer any ways left to make one person better off without making some other person worse-off. In social choice theory, the same concept is sometimes called the unanimity principle, which says that if ''everyone'' in a society (strict inequality, non-strictly) prefers A to B, society as a whole also non-strictly prefers A to B. The Pareto frontier, Pareto front consists of all Pareto-efficient situations. In addition to the context of efficiency in ''allocation'', the concept of Pareto efficiency also arises in the context of productive efficiency, ''efficiency in prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resource Efficiency
Resource efficiency is the maximising of the supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively, with minimum wasted (natural) resource expenses. It means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising environmental impact. Natural resource efficiency is embedded into the work of initiatives like the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and international strategies such as the European Union's " Green Deal". Definition The UK Government has defined resource efficiency for research purposes as "the optimisation of resource use so that a given level of final consumption can be met with fewer resources". It has been noted that improvements in resource efficiency can occur at production, consumption, and end of product life stages. Resource efficiency measures, methods, and aims are quite similar to those of resource productivity/ resource intensity and of the sli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Goods
A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike an intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good. When used in measures of national income and output, the term "final goods" includes only new goods. For example, gross domestic product (GDP) excludes items counted in an earlier year to prevent double counting based on resale of items. In that context, the economic definition of goods also includes what are commonly known as '' services''. Manufactured goods refer to products that have undergone processing or assembly, distinguishing them from raw materials. Law Various legal definitions exist for consumer products, depending on jurisdiction. One such definition is found in the United States' Consumer Product Safety Act, which provides extensive explanation of consumer products. CONSUMER PRODUCT.- The term ‘‘consumer product ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital Goods
In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory. At the macroeconomic level, "the nation's capital stock includes buildings, equipment, software, and inventories during a given year." The means of production is as a "... series of heterogeneous commodities, each having specific technical characteristics ..." "capital goods", are one of the three types of intermediate goods used in the production process, the other two being land and labour. The three are also known collectively as "primary factors of production". This classification originated during the classical economics period and has remained the dominant method for classification. Capital can be increased by the use of a production process (see production function and factors of production). Outputs of the production process are normally classif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Product (business)
In marketing, a product is an object, or system, or service made available for consumer use as of the consumer demand; it is anything that can be offered to a domestic or an international market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. In retailing, products are often referred to as Merchandising, merchandise, and in manufacturing, products are bought as raw materials and then sold as finished goods. A Service (economics), service is also regarded as a type of product. In project management, products are the formal definition of the Product breakdown structure, project deliverables that make up or contribute to delivering the objectives of the project. A related concept is that of a sub-product, a secondary but useful result of a production (economics), production process. Dangerous products, particularly physical ones, that cause injuries to consumers or bystanders may be subject to product liability. Product classification A product can be classified as tangible asset, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarcity
In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good."Samuelson, P. Anthony., Samuelson, W. (1980). Economics. 11th ed. / New York: McGraw-Hill. If the conditions of scarcity did not exist and an "infinite amount of every good could be produced or human wants fully satisfied ... there would be no economic goods, i.e. goods that are relatively scarce..." Scarcity is the limited availability of a commodity, which may be in demand in the market or by the commons. Scarcity also includes an individual's lack of resources to buy commodities. The opposite of scarcity is abundance. Scarcity plays a key role in economic theory, and it is essential for a "proper definition of economics itself".Montani G. (1987) Scarcity. In: Palgrave Macmillan (eds) ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics''. Palgr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
