The Subject Matter of Economics

No one comes to economics as a traveller to an unknown land. Much of our everyday experience is related to economics. Studying economics is directly connected with very important things that involve everyone, such as unemployment, inflation, wages, poverty, taxes, banks, foreign currencies.

Economics is the science that deals with the production, distribution and consumption of wealth and with the various related problems of labour, finance, taxation etc. Economics is concerned with the economy or economic system. The economic system determines how the nation’s resources of land, labour, machinery and raw materials are allocated and used. The problem of allocating resources is a central theme of economics, because most resources are scarce. The allocation of scarce resources and the distribution of the product of those resources are a major part of the subject matter of economics.

In Western economies many resources are allocated to whoever is willing and able to pay the most for them. The distribution is determined by the amounts of money paid as wages, rent and other forms of income.

Economists use assumptions to build models, both for explanation and for prediction of economic events. They summarize conclusions on economic questions into economic principles. Western economists believe that all economic questions can be analysed by examining the decisions of individuals and the outcome of those decisions made by people as consumers or as managers of firms. The Marxist analysis of Western economies is based on the interrelations between social classes - workers and capitalists - whose interests and behaviour are regarded as uniform enough for a whole class to be seen as a single unit. The Communist system was based on an economic and social theory that called for a take-over of the state by the workers. Although Communist central planning did bring about strong economic growth in some countries - such as in the rapidly industrializing Soviet Union of the 1920s and 1930s - it often resulted in long-term inefficiency and economic stagnation.

A country’s economic system is its way of organizing economic activities, including the ways in which people come to specialize in particular tasks they do best. There is a variety of economic systems, which can be divided into three groups:

a) Market or decentralized economic systems in which economic decisions are taken by individuals. Free-market economists examine markets using a fundamental method of economics: supply and demand analysis.

b) Planned or centralized economic systems, in which economic decisions are taken by government planners.

c) Mixed economic systems, in which many economic activities are organized in a decentralized way, but in which the government takes some of the most important economic decisions. In practice, every economic system is mixed to some extent.

Economics is connected with such sciences as psychology, history, law, political science, accounting, engineering, mathematics and statistics.

1... that involve everyone -... которые касаются каждого

2 economics is concerned with... - экономика имеет дело с...

(занимается...)

3 by examining - путем изучения /изучая

4... are regarded as uniform -... рассматриваются как

enough достаточно однородные

5... that called for a take-over -... которая предусматривала, что

of the state by the workers рабочие возьмут на себя

руководство государством

6 did bring about strong - действительно привело к значительному

economic growth экономическому росту

7 supply and demand - спрос и предложение

8 in a decentralized way - децентрализовано

9 to some extent - до некоторой степени

Поиск по сайту: