Unit-1-Introduction-to-Economics---学生阅读.docx

Unit one        Introduction to Economics

READING ONE

Introduction to Economics

People usually ask such question----what is economics? Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), a famous economist of the past, once said: Economics is the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment and with the use of the material requisites of well-being.
Nowadays, economics has been defined as the study of decision-making. It explains how human interaction within markets help people get what they want or accomplish certain goals. Basically, economics is a driving force of human interaction, which interprets people and governments’ behavior in particular ways.
Therefore, economics can describe all aspects of a country’s economy, such as how a country uses its resources, how much time laborers devote to work and leisure, the outcome of investing in industries or financial products, the effect of taxes on a population, and why businesses succeed or fail. Knowledge of economics will allow us to analyze and assess the values of policies and decisions made by politicians, and it will help us to become more aware of the current and future problems of our society.
As for individuals, since we are all consumers, we are interested in the goods and services which we buy and how much they cost us, and we are interested in the incomes we can earn. Even our own personal decisions are often affected by the state of the economy, so we could make better choices if we understood the way the economy operates.
Everyone is affected by employment and government policies. Employment is a key aspect of any economy. One can describe employment variously to refer to the ability of an economy to put people to work. Employment, or unemployed levels of an economy, is typically determined over a specified period of time, usually one year or more depending on the circumstances.
The economic system is made up of human beings and so human behavior is crucial to the system. The principles and motives form which people act are not necessarily economic in origin, and are often based on non-economic values. Differing values and social forces have led to countries developing different economic systems, but all countries face the same economic problems—such as whether they are producing the right things and by the best methods, how wants are to be satisfied, and whose wants are to be satisfied.
There is no denying that the debate on whether economics is a science never stops. Since it is a social science, economics is affected by the many influences that lead to incessant change. Human behavior, based on what is known as a value judgment, which means it is based on the personal values of individuals, cannot be examined with the same precision and is extremely difficult to test or measure.
 Economics is a study of living and working in society; but not all societies behave in the same way.
 Organization becomes essential in the case of producing the things people want. An economic system is made up of the collection of relationships, customs, institutions, laws and arrangements that are combined to satisfy the economic wants of the community—to determine what and how production takes place, and who receives the output. Naturally it depends on the participation of the members of the community. An economic system is not just an abstraction; it is the real world.
The job of an economic system is to form a framework of organization which enables choices and decisions to be made on how to satisfy the wants of the community. The way it does this depends largely on the type of society. In the USA there is still a belief in the value of free enterprise and the ability of individuals to succeed if they work hard enough. In some countries, such as England and possibly Sweden, there is a belief in the welfare state, that it is up to the government to look after the citizens from the cradle to the grave, although there have been criticisms of this approach because of cost. Countries like Australia seem to represent mixture of both these attitudes.
  National characteristics and belief systems have led to many differences between economic systems. It cannot by say that just because two countries have the same political governments, they will run their economics in the same way. It is not easy to compare one economy with another and say that one is better or worse—there is too much diversity, and adequate measurement is impossible. One can, however, say that the standard of living is better in one economy than in another. Or one can compare such things as the level of unemployment or the stability of prices. But these single measures cannot show a true or complete picture of an economy.
New Words and Proper Terms
abstraction 抽象概念；抽象化
assess 评定；确定；估价
diversity 多种多样；多样性
framework 框架；结构
incessant 连续的；持续不断的
inflation 通货膨胀
requisite 必须的食物；必须的物品
specialization 专业化
specimen 样品；标本（复数加S）
Sweden 瑞典（国名）
verify 证实；核对

 Notes
1． Alfred Marshall. (1842-1924) He was a British economist. He gave the name economics to the science formerly known as political economy. Marshall examined the low of supply and demand. His most important works are Principles of Economics(《经济学原理》，1890)，Industry and Trade(《工业与贸易》,1919),and Money, Credit and Commerce(《货币 、信贷与商业》，1923)

Exercises
I. Check Your Understanding
Answer the following questions according to the text.
1. What is the definition of economics?
2. What are the main concerns of economics?
3. What are economic goods and services?
4. What influences the type of economic system in a country?
5. What type of economic system operates in China?

II. Build Up Your Vocabulary
经济体系                        经济机构
经济目标                        经济布局
经济活动                        经济命脉
经济增长                        经济结构
经济萧条                        经济合同
经济理论                        经济危机
经济收益                        经济业绩
经济效益                        经济效益

III. Translate the following phrases from English into Chinese.
1. value judgment
2. living standard
3. natural science
4. construct socialism with Chinese characteristics
5. The “great Depression” of the 1930s resulted in social instability in many countries.
6. We may compare the unemployment rate and the stability of prices of two countries.
7. All entrepreneurs go after maximum profits and minimum costs.
8. It is the duty of every citizen to pay personal income tax.

IV. Translate the following paragraph from Chinese into English.
经济学经常被认为是一门科学。但它是不精准的科学，因为它是一种社会科学，受许多引起事物不断变化的因素的影响。人类行为不能以自然科学家观察实验标本那样的精准度来观察。社会科学、包括经济学、心理学、社会学、和政治行为永远不会成为精准的科学，因为人类行为实在难以测量。许多经济行为是基于“价值判断”的基础上的。也就是说，它们是基于每个人的个人价值基础之上的。因此，他们不能用现实的方法得以证实。经济学是一门活的学问，它在不断地发展，影响着我们每一个人。

READING TWO

The Economic Problem of Scarcity
Scarcity is said to be the basic economic problem because human wants are always greater than the resources available to satisfy them. The economic problem then faced by human society and business operators is how to allocate scarce resources to the provision of various goods and services within the economy.
Economic resources can be generally divided into three major categories: land, labor, and capital.
Land. The term “land” refers to the natural resources such as water sources, minerals, and even climate. Land cannot be increased, so as a resource its extent is fixed, although sometimes it can be improved in quality by irrigation or fertilization.
Labor resource. Labor resource depends on size and quality of the workforce, is the available manpower or the entire workforce. It is the total number of employees who are working in a company or organization or the total number of individuals who are available for work or service.
The quality of the workforce depends on the skills and education of the workers. Business enterprise and skill is sometimes classified as separate resource, but for simplicity it is here included under the general hiding of labor. Labor as a resource includes all types of human effort, mental and physical, which is put into the process of production of goods and services.
Capital. Capital refers to the stock of capital goods that a country possesses. Capital goods can be defined as plant and machinery, tools, factory buildings, communication systems, roads and transport systems. Capital goods are those goods which are manufactured and are used to produce other goods. When economists talk about “capital” they usually mean manufactured resources which are used in the process of production.
Taking human behavior into consideration, obviously, with a few exceptions, people always seem to want more material goods or pleasures than they are able to obtain, and this is at the root of the economic problem.
What we can get is limited by our own resources and efforts. These resources may be the working time needed to earn enough to buy what we want, and even then there is the problem of choice. We have to decide which of our wants should be satisfied first, and then how much of our time or our income should be devoted to these priorities before looking at the satisfaction of others. These decisions are personal ones, but they demonstrate the basic economic problem of decision-making and choice.
Another point worth mentioning is that you cannot produce two separate things at the same time from the same resources unless less of each is produced. For example, if a  farmer has a piece of land intends to grow oranges on it, then the land cannot be used to plant wheat, unless it is possible to divide the land up and the climate is suitable for both crops. A person with a large garden may decide to cultivate flowers, or dig up the ground to make a swimming pool.
Land, as we have seen, is one of the economic resources which are limited in quantity and for which a choice has to be made-on the wants to be satisfied and on the extent of that satisfaction.
Time is not satisfied as an economic resource, but it is an individual resource, and is limited. The individual has to choose the best way in which to use leisure time. You cannot play tennis and look at TV at the same time, although you could play tennis for a short while and then look at the television for the remainder of the time; but something has to be given up. In economic terms this is called opportunity cost. This expression means that the want which was given up was the  real cost of the want which was satisfied.
All societies face the same problem----scarce resources and limitless wants----and the need for decision-making. The way the problem is approached depends on the type of economic system in operation. In one type of system people are perfectly free to buy as much of the available goods as they wish, so long as they can pay for them. In another type of system the government decides how much shall be made and how it shall be shared out. The available resources must be allocated in some way to produce a desired result.
In different societies, choices about the allocation of resources are made in a community about the most desirable objectives to pursue rests on value judgments and opinions. Decisions on what is to be given priority depend on the particular society and its political and cultural framework. The actions of people in an economic system reflect their personal values and interests. They come into contact with each other and agree, disagree, co-operate and compete. This interaction and interdependence develops into a pattern of organization which is characteristic of the system. An economic system concerns people. Their needs and wants, and is not a mere abstraction. The individuals and groups in society, such as households, businesses, governments, trade unions and financial institutions, are all part of the system.
The term of scarcity in economics is being used in a special way. Limited supplies are not necessarily the same as scarcity in the economic sense. Something has to be in demand and to have alternative uses to be scarce in the economic sense. Even if there is only one example of an item, it is not scarce if nobody wants it. Nor is it scarce if it cannot be used for some purpose or other. In the economic sense, scarcity means that a resource which can be used for more than one purpose is in demand, and therefore a choice must be made on how to allocate the resource among the competing purposes.
The kind of choices which must be made in an economic system stems from three main questions:
·What is to be produced?
·How is it to be produced?
·For whom is it to be produced?
And how these questions are answered depends on:
·the resources available, and
·the type of economic and social system in operation.
Society is a system of human relationships. People enter into varies kinds of relationships, political, social and economic .We could define political relationships as those which arise from an authority or power structure. Power and position are acquired by certain people or groups in a society and they can make political decisions for the whole community. These groups also make economic decisions, which are usually the result of certain policy decisions. In most countries the political and economic decisions which affect the entire country are made by the government, but even then they are often influenced by other forces.
There is much debate worldwide over natural resource allocations, this is partly due to increasing scarcity, but also because the exportation of natural resources is the basis for many economies. Natural resources are not evenly distributed. Countries do not have equal shares of oil minerals nor do they have the same climatic conditions. Some parts of the world have rich, fertile agricultural land, but other parts are deserts. Countries and economic system must develop those resources in which they are richest, and so their decisions on how to satisfy the wants of their community will be based on the resources they possess and how they can best utilized. Societies must make the best of what they possess, whether it is land suitable for growing crops or raising sheep, or a large labor force.
The task of an economy is to bring together the various productive elements needed to supply the goods and services desired by the society and see that they are distributed according to the prevailing standards. What kind of things are to be produced is the first questions to b