,Thinking Like an Economist像经济学家一样思考,Chapter 2,Every field of study has its own terminology,Mathematics,Psychology,Law,每个研究领域都有自己的语言,数学,心理学,法律,每个研究领域都有自己的语言,经济学,供给,需求,弹性,消费者剩余,比较优势,机会成本,无谓损失,Economics trains you to. . . .,Think in terms of alternatives. Evaluate the cost of individual and social choices. Examine and understand how certain events and issues are related.,经济学训练你. . . .,从不同的角度思考问题。 评估个人和社会选择的成本。 检查和理解一些事件和问题是如何相互关联的。,The Economist as a Scientist作为科学家的经济学家,The economic way of thinking . . . 经济学思考方法 Involves thinking analytically and objectively. 客观地分析与思考。 Makes use of the scientific method. 利用科学的方法。,The Scientific Method,Uses abstract models to help explain how a complex, real world operates. Develops theories, collects, and analyzes data to prove the theories.,Observation, Theory and More Observation!,科学方法,利用抽象的模型帮助解释复杂的真实世界如何运行。 形成理论，收集并分析数据来验证理论。,观察, 理论 ，更多的观察,The Role of Assumptions,Economists make assumptions in order to make the world easier to understand. The art in scientific thinking is deciding which assumptions to make. Economists use different assumptions to answer different questions.,假设的作用,为了使这个世界更容易理解，经济学家做一些假设。 科学思考的艺术就是决定作出什么样的假设。 经济学家利用不同的假设来回答不同的问题。,The Economic Way of Thinking,Includes developing abstract models from theories and the analysis of the models. Uses two approaches:,Descriptive (reporting facts, etc.) Analytical (abstract reasoning),经济学思考方法,利用理论建立抽象的模型，然后进一步分析模型。 利用两种方法:,描述性的方法 (报告实情等) 分析性的方法 (抽象推理),Economic Models,Economists use models to simplify reality in order to improve our understanding of the world Two of the most basic economic models include:,The Circular Flow Model,The Production Possibilities Frontier,经济模型,经济学家利用模型来简化真实世界，使我们更好地理解这个世界。 两个最基本的经济学模型是：,循环流向图,生产可能性边界,The Circular-Flow Model经济循环流向图,The circular-flow model is a simple way to visually show the economic transactions that occur between households and firms in the economy. 循环流向图一个直观地说明一个经济体内家庭和企业之间的经济交易行为的简单方式。,The Circular-Flow Diagram,Firms,Households,Market for Factors of Production,Market for Goods and Services,经济循环图,企业,家庭,生产要素 市场,物品与劳务 市场,Figure 1 The Circular Flow,Copyright 2004 South-Western,Spending,Revenue,Income,= Flow of inputs,and outputs,= Flow of dollars,The Circular-Flow Diagram,Households Buy and consume goods and services Own and sell factors of production,Firms Produce and sell goods and services Hire and use factors of production,经济循环流向图,家庭 购买并消费物品与劳务 拥有并出售所有生产要素,企业 生产并出售物品与劳务 雇佣并使用生产要素,The Circular-Flow Diagram,Markets for Factors of Production Households sell Firms buy,Markets for Goods & Services Firms sell Households buy,经济循环图,生产要素市场 家庭出售 企业购买,物品与劳务市场 企业出售 家庭购买,The Circular-Flow Diagram经济循环图,Factors of Production 生产要素 Inputs used to produce goods and services 用于生产物品与劳务的投入 Land, labor, and capital 土地、劳动和资本,The Production Possibilities Frontier,The production possibilities frontier is a graph showing the various combinations of output that the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of production and technology.,生产可能性边界,生产可能性边界 表示一个经济在可得到的生产要素与生产技术既定时所能生产的产量的各种组合的图形。,The Production Possibilities Frontier生产可能性边界,Quantity of Computers Produced,Quantity of Cars Produced,3,000,1,000,2,000,2,200,A,700,600,300,0,1,000,B,C,D,Production,possibilities,frontier,电脑产量,汽车产量,生产 可能性边界,Concepts Illustrated by the Production Possibilities Frontier,Efficiency Tradeoffs Opportunity Cost Economic Growth,生产可能性边界阐明的概念,效率 权衡取舍 机会成本 经济增长,The Production Possibilities Frontier,Quantity of Computers Produced,Quantity of Cars Produced,3,000,2,000,A,700,0,1,000,An outward shift in the production possibilities frontier,生产可能性边界,计算机产量,汽车产量,3,000,2,000,A,700,0,1,000,生产可能性边界 向外移动,Microeconomics and Macroeconomics,Microeconomics focuses on the individual parts of the economy. How households and firms make decisions and how they interact in specific markets Macroeconomics looks at the economy as a whole. How the markets, as a whole, interact at the national level.,微观经济学与宏观经济学,微观经济学 的研究对象是经济中的个体。 家庭和企业如何作出决策，以及他们如何在特定市场上相互交易。 宏观经济学 研究经济总体现象。 从总体上看，各种市场在国家水平上如何相互影响。,Two Roles of Economists经济学家的两个角色,When they are trying to explain the world, they are scientists. 当他们努力去解释世界时，他们是科学家。 When they are trying to change the world, they are policymakers. 当他们想要改变世界时，他们是政策顾问。,Positive versus Normative Analysis,Positive statements are statements that describe the world as it is. Called descriptive analysis Normative statements are statements about how the world should be. Called prescriptive analysis,实证分析与规范分析,实证表述 是企图描述世界是什么的观点。 被称为描述性分析。 规范表述 是企图描述世界应该如何运行的观点。 被称为命令性分析。,?,?,Positive or Normative Statements?实证性还是规范性表述？,An increase in the minimum wage will cause a decrease in employment among the least-skilled. 提高最低工资水平会导致最低技能工人的就业减少。 Positive 实证性,?,?,?,Positive or Normative Statements?实证性还是规范性表述？,Higher federal budget deficits will cause interest rates to increase. 较高的联邦赤字水平会导致利率上升。 Positive 实证性,?,?,?,?,Posi