Download Econ Basics PPT

Connecting Economics
& Work

ECONOMICS is the name of the social
science concerned with the way a society
uses its productive resources to fulfill the
needs and wants of each member.

It comes from the Greek word
oikonomikos which means management of
a household
CONNECTING ECON & WORK
NEEDS are necessities
 WANTS are luxuries


The system for producing & distributing
goods has changed but the same basic
process remains.
CONNECTING ECON & WORK

Limited Resources are natural resources that
are in short supply

Labor
Capital
Natural products (land)



They prevent us from producing/consuming
unlimited quantities of a good or service
CONNECTING ECON & WORK

Scarcity exists when people have limited
resources compared to their wants.

Economic System is then put in place. It is
the method a society uses to determine how
it will use & distribute available resources.
◦ This process can also be called resource allocation.

ITS MAIN PURPOSE: To provide a process for
the production & distribution of goods &
services
CONNECTING ECON & WORK

Free Enterprise System also called Market
Economy or Capitalism is the economic
system where people may own the means of
production and have the freedom to use
them as they see fit.


They may freely create & operate business.
Little government interference

In other words…all consumers, workers,
producers, savers & investors are involved in
the decisions
CONNECTING ECON & WORK

4 ECONOMIC FACTORS TO CONSIDER
Unemployment
 Inflation
 Supply & Demand
 GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

CONNECTING ECON & WORK

There are 2 things that our economy
produces:

Goods – Items produced and have a cost
value to them
◦ Industrial – goods that are produced for and sold to
other producers to make products
◦ Consumer – Goods that are produced and sold to
consumers for personal, family or household use

Services – Tasks that cannot be weighed or
measured but still have value
◦ Examples: physician, beauty shop, repair shop
CONNECTING ECON & WORK

PROFIT – money left over after all expenses
have been paid
◦ (necessary to train workers, create jobs, etc)

MARKET – group of people or organizations
that purchase a particular good or service

OPPORTUNITY COST – the resource or
service given up in order to improve a budget
or focus on another aspect of a business or
lifestyle.
CONNECTING ECON & WORK