Leah

Outlines for Chapter 1, Section 2

Economic

01-08-10

Basic Economic Concepts

经济基本概念

Goods, Services, and Consumers

商品、服务和消费者

Goods — items that are economically useful or satisfies an economic want [automobile].

Consumer good — intended for final use by individuals.

Capital goods — the manufactured goods are used to produce other goods [computer in high school, oven in bakery].

Durable good — any good that lasts three years or more when used on a regular basis [includes both capital goods and consumer goods].

Nondurable good — lasts for less than three years [food, writing paper, most clothing items].

Service — work that is performed for someone, intangible, something that cannot be touched.

Haircuts, Home repairs, Forms of entertainment [concerts].

Doctors, Lawyers, and Teachers perform.

Consumer — person who uses goods and services to satisfy wants and needs.

【注释1】

• (1)goods 商品；consumer goods 消费品，生活资料；capital goods 生产资料；durable goods 耐用消费品；undurable goods 日用品；
• (2)automobile 汽车
• (3)item 项目，一则，一件商品（或物品）
• (4)items 所有物品
• (5)intended 目的，故意的，有意的；未婚妻（夫），已订婚者，结婚对象
• (6)manufacture 制造，加工，制造业，产品
• (7)oven 烤箱，炉，灶
• (8)bakery 面包店
• (9)regular 常规的，定期的；～ basis 定期
• (10)perform 执行，完成，演奏，机器运转
• (11)intangible 无形的，难以理解的，触摸不到的
• (12)entertainment 娱乐，消遣

Value, Utility, and Wealth

价值、效用和财富

Value refers to a worth that can be expressed in dollars and cents.

Paradox of Value — the situation where some necessities have little monetary value, whereas some non-necessities have a much higher value.

Utility — the solution to the paradox of value

The utility of a good or service may vary from one person to the next. A good or service does not have to have utility for everyone, only utility for someone. For something to have value, it must be scarce and have utility.

Wealth — the accumulation of those products that are tangible, scarce, useful, and transferable from one person to another.

Nation’s wealth is comprised of all items [include natural resources, factories, books, houses, footballs].

The Wealth of Nation 1776, Adam Smith. Referring specifically to the ability and skills of a nation’s people as the source of its wealth.

【注释2】

• (13)paradox 悖论，反论，似是而非的论点，自相矛盾的人或事
• (14)monetary 货币
• (15)utility 实用，效用，公共设施，实用程序
• (16)vary 不同，变化，变异，违反
• (17)scarce 缺乏的，不足的，稀有的
• (18)accumulation 积累，累计，堆积物
• (197)tangible 有形的，切实的，可触摸的；有形资产
• (20)transferable 可转让的
• (21)comprise 包含；由…组成

The Circular Flow of Economic Activity [key future, market]

经济活动的循环流动

Factor Markets — markets where productive resources are brought and sold.

This is where entrepreneurs hire labor for wages and salaries acquire land in return for rent, and borrow money for interest.

Product Markets — markets where producers sell their goods and services to consumers.

The money that individuals receive from businesses in the factor markets returns to businesses in the produce markets.

Productivity and Economic Growth

生产效率和经济增长

Economic growth, occurs when a nation’s total output of goods and services increase over time.

Productivity — a measure of the amount of output produces by a given amount of inputs in a specific period of time [applies to all factors of production].

It goes up whenever more output can be produced with the same amount o input in the same amount of time.

Division of Labor and Specialization [can improve productivity]

分工与专业化

Division of labor takes place when work is arranged so that individual workers do fewer tasks than before.

Specialization takes place when factors of production perform tasks that they can do relatively more efficiently than others. It is not limited to a single factor of production, as labor.

Investing in Human Capital — the sum of skills, abilities, health, and motivation of people.

Investing in the Future — investing in human capital and physical capital can eventually increase production and promote economic growth.

Economic Interdependence

Events in one part of the counry or the world often have a dramatic impact elsewhere.

【注释3】

• (22)factor market 要素市场

• (23)productivity 生产效率，生产率

• (24)occur 发生，出现，存在于，出现在

• (25)division 分开，分割，分配

• (26)arrange 安排，筹备，排列，整理

• (27)task (尤指艰巨或令人厌烦的)任务，工作

• (28)efficiently 有效地，效率高地

• (29)Investing in Human Capital 人力资本投资

• (30)eventually 最后，最终，终于

• (31) promote 促进，推进，晋升，提升

• (32)Interdependence 相互依存，相互依赖

• (33)dramatic 突然的，巨大的，令人吃惊的

• (34)impact 巨大影响，强大作用，撞击，冲撞，冲击力