princ-ch3-生产与增长培训课件.ppt

* Again, if you’re not going to cover the production function, you can safely delete the last bullet point. * I moved this case study from the middle of the chapter to the end of this PowerPoint presentation. Feel free to move it back if you wish. Due to space constraints, the last bullet point is a bit different than the corresponding material in the textbook. The textbook argues the following: In a market economy, scarcity is reflected in market prices. If the world were running out of natural resources, the prices of those resources would be rising over time. But, in fact, they are not. The prices of most natural resources (in real terms) are stable or falling. It appears that our ability to conserve these resources is growing more rapidly than their supplies are dwindling. * This definition of technology is more broad than what most people think of as technology. To most people, improvements in technology mean a smaller cell phone, a faster computer, a higher-definition television set, an MP3 player that can hold more songs, and so forth. But “technology” doesn’t just mean computer-related stuff. Technology refers to the knowledge that allows producers to transform inputs into output. Here’s an important example of technological progress that doesn’t involve computers at all: Henry Ford discovered that he could boost productivity in his auto factory simply by rearranging the workers and machines, and reassigning the workers’ tasks. (Interesting trivia: While Henry Ford is famous for introducing the assembly line in 1913, did you know that the idea was already over 100 years old? In 1799, Eli Whitney introduced assembly line production into the manufacture of muskets for the U.S. Government. Whitney was famous for inventing the cotton gin, but his discovery of the assembly line has had a far greater impact on productivity and living standards in the U.S.) * You might also add that technological knowledge can easily be shared among i