Leah
Outlines for Chapter 2, Section 1
Economic
01-19-10
Economic Systems
經濟制度
Economic System — an organized way of providing for the wants and needs of their people.
Three major types — Traditional, Command, and Market.
Traditional Economies
傳統經濟
- In a society with a traditional economy, the allocation of scarce resources, and nearly all other economics activity, stems from ritual, habit, or custom.
- Individuals are not free to make decisions based on what they want or would like to have. Their roles are defined by the customs of their elders and ancestors.
Example. Inuit parents taught their children how to survive in a harsh climate, make tools, fish, and hunt. Their children, in turn, taught these skills to the next generation. [Hunters get meat in order.]
Advantages
- Everyone knows which role to play.
Disadvantages
- It tends to discourage new ideas and new ways to doing things. The lack of progress leads to a lower standard of living than in other types of economic societies.
【註釋1】
- (1)Traditional 傳統的，習俗的，慣例的，因襲的，守舊的
- (2)allocation 劃撥的款項，撥給的場地，分配的東西，劃，撥，分配
- (3)steam (花草的)莖，(花或葉的)梗，柄;(高腳酒杯的)腳，菸斗柄
- (4) ritual 程序，儀規;禮節，(尤指)宗教儀式，習慣，老規矩
- (5)role 職能，地位，角色，(演員的)角色，影響程度，作用
- (6)ancestor 祖宗，祖先，(動物的)原種，(機器的)原型
- (7)survive 生存，存活，繼續存在，倖存，倖免於難，艱難度過，比…活(或存在)的時間長
- (8)harsh 殘酷的，嚴酷的，嚴厲的，惡劣的，艱苦的，強烈刺眼的，醜陋的
- (9)advantage 有利條件，有利因素，優勢，優點，(局末平分後)佔先，優勢分
- (10)disadvantages 劣勢，不利因素，障礙，不便之處
- (11)tend 往往會，常常就，趨向，走向，傾向，趨於，照料，照管，護理
- (12)discourage 阻攔，阻止，勸阻，使灰心，使洩氣，使喪失信心
- (13)lack 缺乏，匱乏，短缺
Command Economies
計劃經濟
- Economic decisions are made by the government, which the people have little influence over how the basic economic questions are answered.
Example. [North Korea, Cuba, the communist bloc countries of Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union.] in the former Soviet Union, the State Planning Commission directed nearly every aspect of Soviet economy, which determined needs, decided goals, and set production quotas for major industries.
Advantages
- It can change direction drastically in a relatively short time.
- There is little uncertainty in this type of economy. Most command economies tend to provide minimum levels of education, health, and other public services at little or no cost to its people.
Disadvantages
- It is not designed to meet the wants of consumers, even though man basic needs are provided.
- The system does not give people the incentive to work hard. [Workers with different skills and responsibilities receive similar wages. And people seldom lose their jobs, regardless of the quality of their work.]
- The command economy requires a lager decision-making bureaucracy. [Most decisions cannot be made until after consulting a number of people and processing a lager amount of paper-work. These procedures slow decision making and raise the costs of productions.
- It does not have the flexibility to deal with minor, day-to-day problems.
- People with new unique ideas find in difficult to get ahead in a command economy.
【註釋2】
- (14)bloc (政治利益一致的)國家集團
- (15)goal 球門，射門，進球得分，目標，目的
- (16)quota 定額，限額，配額，定量，指標，(候選人當選所需的)規定票數，最低票數
- (17)drastically 徹底地，激烈地
- (18)incentive 激勵，刺激，鼓勵
- (19)ureaucracy 官僚主義，官僚作風，官僚體制，實行官僚體制的國家
- (20)flexibility 柔韌性，靈活性，彈性，適應性
- (21)minor 較小的，次要的，輕微的，小調的，小音階的
- (22)unique 唯一的，獨一無二的，獨特的，罕見的(某人、地或事物)獨具的，特有的
Market Economies
市場經濟
- People and firms act in their own best interest to answer the WHAT, HOW, and FOR WHOM questions.
- A market is an arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to come together in order to exchange goods and services.
- In market economy, people’s decisions act as votes. When consumers buy a particular product, they are casting their dollar “votes” for that product. The consumers play a key role in determining WHAT to produce.
Examples. Most of the largest and most prosperous economies in the world. [US, Canada, South Korea, Singapore Western Europe]
Advantages
- Over time, it can adjust change.
- Its high degree of individual freedom.
- The relatively small degree of government interference.
- The decision making is decentralized, or not concentrated in the hands of a few.
- The incredible variety of goods and services available to consumers.
- The high degree of consumer satisfaction.
Disadvantages
- It dose not provide for the basic needs of everyone in the society-some members of the society may be too young, too old, or too sick to care for themselves.
- It does not provide enough of the services that people value highly.
- The relatively high degree of uncertainty that workers and business face as the result of change.
- Market economies can fail if three conditions are not meet.
- Markets must be reasonably competitive, allowing producers to compete with one another to offer the best value for the price.
- Resources must be reasonably free to move from one activity to another.
- Consumers need access to adequate information so that they can weight the alternatives and make wise choices.
[When markets fail, some business become too powerful and some individuals receive incomes much larger than justified by their productivity. So that we also have to rely on govern to ensure that sufficient competition, freedom of resource movement, and adequate information exist.]
【註釋3】
- (23)firm 商行，商號，公司；堅固的，堅硬的，結實的
- (24)arrangement 安排，籌備，安排方式，佈置，商定，約定
- (25)particular 專指的，特指的(與泛指相對)，不尋常的，格外的，特別的，講究，挑剔
- (26)prosperous 繁榮的，成功的，興旺的
- (27)decentralize 分散，下放(權力)，將…的權力下放
- (28)incredible 不能相信的，難以置信的，極好的，極大的
- (29)variety (同一事物的)不同種類，多種式樣，變化，多樣化，多變性
- (30)reasonably 尚可，過得去，合乎邏輯地，明智地，通情達理地，公平合理地，適度地
閱讀更多 鐫刻的時光 的文章
