Microeconomics 2011 Chapter 1 微观经济 讲解材料.ppt

Today’s Quote;You are studying economics at a time of extraordinary change. Your life will be shaped by the challenges you face and the opportunities that you create. But to face those challenges and seize the opportunities they present, you must understand the powerful forces at play. The economics that you’re about to learn will become your most reliable guide. ;Definition of Economics;Two Big Economic Questions ;Two Big Economic Questions ;What, How, and For Whom? Goods and services are the objects that people value and produce to satisfy human wants. What? Agriculture accounts for less than 1 percent of total U.S. production, manufactured goods for 20 percent, and services for 80 percent. In China, agriculture accounts for 10 percent of total production, manufactured goods for 50 percent, and services for 40 percent. ;Figure 1.1 shows these numbers for the United States and China. It also shows the numbers for Brazil. What determines these patterns of production? How do choices end up determining the quantity of each item produced in the United States and around the world? ;How? Goods and services are produced by using productive resources that economists call factors of production. Factors of production are grouped into four categories: Land Labor Capital Entrepreneurship;The “gifts of nature” that we use to produce goods and services are land. The work time and work effort that people devote to producing goods and services is labor. The quality of labor depends on human capital, which is the knowledge and skill that people obtain from education, on-the-job training, and work experience. The tools, instruments, machines, buildings, and other constructions that businesses use to produce goods and services are capital. The human resource that organizes land, labor, and capital is entrepreneurship.;Figure 1.2 shows a measure of the growth of human capital in the United States over the last century—the percentage of the population that has completed diffe