Monetary Policy
a set of actions taken by the Federal Reserve to control the nation's overall money supply and help moderate the effects of expansion and contradiction in the economy.
open market operations, adjusting the discount rate, and adjusting the reserve requirement
3 main tools for monetary policy
the purchasing and selling of government securities
What are open market operations?
changing the interest rate on loans the Fed makes to financial institutions to influence their own interest rates
What is adjusting the discount rate?
changing the required reserved ration that banks must keep on reserve and not use to make loans, taking money out of circulation
What is adjusting the reserve requirement?
slow down
Does offering government bonds slow down or speed up the economy?
fiscal policy
the use of government spending and taxation to influence the economy.
expansionary policy
involves increased government spending and reduced taxes to help increase economic growth.
contractionary policy
involve decreased government spending and increased taxes to slow economic growth.
most of government spending is fixed, it is difficult to predict how something will affect the economy, most actions don’t create immediate results, and coordinating many policies can be difficult.
What are some challenges to fiscal policy?
Economics
the study of choices that people make to satisfy their needs and wants
economist
someone who studies the economy
microeconomics
the study of decisions made by individual economic actors such as households, companies, and individual markets
macroeconomics
the study of the behavior of entire economies, such as entire countries.
positive economics
used to answer questions about the way the economy works, and usually relies on facts
normative economics
says how the economy should work and relies on what people think might happen
producer
people who make things to satisfy the wants and needs of the consumer
consumer
someone who buys the products
resource
anything that people use to make or obtain what they need or want
Natural resources, human resources, capital resources, and entrepreneurship
4 factors of productions
things provided by nature to produce a good
What are natural resources?
all the human labor used to create a product
What are human resources?
the manufactured materials or machinery used to make a product
What are capital resources?
the combination of organizational abilities and risk taking involved in starting a new business or introducing a new product.
what is entrepreneurship?
Scarcity
the basic problem that causes the studying of the decisions individuals make. It is a result of people’s virtually unlimited needs and wants combined with limited resources.
Due to scarcity societies and individuals are forced to make careful choices on how they use their resources.
Why is scarcity important in economics?
What to produce, How to produce, and For whom to produce
What are the 3 basic economic questions?
models
any simplified version of reality that is used to better understand a real life situation
that all other relevant factors remain unchanged
What assumption is made with models?
ceteris paribus
we assume that all other relevant factors remain unchanged
it keeps multiple independent variables from changing the dependent variable without knowing which one made the change.
what is ceteris paribus’s importance in making models?
productivity
the level of output that results from a given level of input
efficiency
the use of the smallest amount of resources to produce the greatest amount of output
trade off
when one good is sacrificed for another
opportunity cost
cost of a trade off, or the value of the next best alternative
a graph that shows all of the possible combinations of 2 goods or services that can be produced within a stated time period
what is a production possibilities curve?
the amount of available resources and technology will not change during the period being studied and that all natural, human and capital resources are being used in the most efficient manner possible.
what are the two assumptions made for a PPC
Changes occurring with technology or with the factors of production could cause a shift in the PPC.
what will cause a shift in a PPC
If there are improvements to technologies or new resources become available
what would cause a PPC to shift to the right?
If the technologies falter or if resources become unavailable
What would cause a PPC to shift to the left?
Traditional economies
Economic activities are based on the collection of rituals, habits, laws, and religious beliefs developed by the group’s ancestors.
Haiti
Example of traditional economy
Command Economy
Relies on government officials or the central government to answer the three basic economic questions. Government has control over who makes what products.
North Korea
Example of a command economy
Market economy
Individuals answer the 3 basic economic questions, not the government.
Australia
example of a market economy
traditional, command, and market
Types of pure economic systems
public private control, total government control, partial state control
Types of mixed economies
public private control
Where there is a joint venture between state and private entities.
United States
example of public private control
Total government control
the state directly influences the functioning of the entities.
China
example of total government control
partial state control
The factors of production are owned by private entities, but there is government regulation.
free enterprise
a system under which business can be conducted freely with little government intervention
being able to win private property and enter in contracts, make individual choices, engage in economic competitions, make decisions based on self-interest, and participate in the economy with limited government involvement and regulation.
five main features of free enterprise
producers, consumers, and government
3 main economic actors in the US
provide goods and services in the market
producers role in US economy
influence production by purchasing goods and services.
consumers role in US economy
oversee and regulate the effects of the 3 basic questions on the economy as a whole.
government role in US economy