Summary

Charts

Indexes

Indices are used to determine the level and dynamics of many economic indicators.

Let's assume that we are interested in the question of the development of housing construction in Russia in recent years. Statistics show that in 1992 residential buildings with a total area of ​​41.5 million square meters were built. meters; in 1993 - 41.8 million sq. m; in 1994 - 39.2 million sq. m and in 1995 - 41.0 million sq. meters. These data clearly show the level of housing construction and indicate that in 1993 it increased, in 1994 it decreased, and in 1995 it increased again, without, however, reaching the level of 1992. But these data alone the data does not show how high the growth rate of housing construction was in 1993 and how significant the rate of its decline was in 1994. To get a clearer picture of the dynamics of the level of housing construction, let us take it in 1992 as 100%, then in 1993 it will be equal to 100.7%; in 1994 - 94.5% and in 1995 - 98.8%. Now we see that in relation to the level of 1992, housing construction in 1993 increased by 0.7%, in 1994 it decreased by 5.5% and in 1995 it was 1.2% lower than in 1992 The picture of housing construction dynamics is not distorted if we drop the “%” sign. In this case, the indicators of the level of housing construction in 1992-1995. are usually called indices, and the level taken as 100 units is called the base level.

The index method is used when considering the dynamics of the volume of output by industry and other sectors, consumer spending of the population, the volume of exports and imports of goods, etc.

The index method is of great importance for determining the level and dynamics of prices, in particular the price level for consumer goods and services. We will return to these issues later when considering specific problems of the economy.

Economic analysis methods often rely on the use of graphs. A graph is a drawing that is used to visually depict the quantitative dependence of one economic value on a quantity. It assumes that there are two variables related to each other. There is a functional dependence between them (for example, the level of consumption on the amount of income). This functional dependence is described using one or another mathematical equation. It can also be presented in the form of a numerical table. The advantage of the graph is its clarity. Graphing is a way in which geometry, as a branch of mathematics, serves to describe an economic model.

Man lives in a world of limited opportunities. The reason for this is that the numerous and evolving needs of people are limitless, but at any given moment there is a limited number resources, used to produce everything people need.

The means by which people's needs are satisfied are called goods. Free goods are available in abundance, and the need for them can be satisfied by anyone who needs them. Economic goods are found in society in limited quantities and therefore are not available to everyone or are available in such quantities that do not allow everyone to fully satisfy their needs for these goods.

To produce economic goods, factors of production are used, consisting of three groups: natural resources, capital and labor. Natural resources include everything that is given by nature in finished form and is used either as a condition for production or as a substance that is processed to produce the desired consumer item. Capital is the means of production made by people; they are necessary for the production of a good or service. Labor is capabilities man, which he uses to produce everything he needs for life.

Limited resources place a person in a situation of constant choice. The choice is associated with the search for answers to the three main questions of economics: WHAT to produce? HOW to produce? FOR WHOM TO PRODUCE? The subject of economic science is the choice of directions and methods of using limited resources to satisfy the unlimited needs of people.

Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of economic units: the individual consumer and producer, markets for specific goods. Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that studies large-scale economic phenomena affecting the economy as a whole.

Economists, trying to explore and substantiate the patterns of people's economic behavior, proceed from the fact that economic entities behave rationally. Rationality in people's behavior means, firstly, the purposefulness of their actions, secondly, the choice of criteria that guide them in their desire to achieve their goal, thirdly, the determination of the price of the perfect choice, which is called opportunity cost, and fourthly, comparison of income received with costs incurred.

Opportunity cost is the best of the rejected options or what has to be sacrificed by making a choice in favor of another. This definition of opportunity cost is valid in a situation where, by choosing one option, all others are rejected. But if others cannot be completely rejected, “both are necessary,” then in this case the alternative cost appears as the amount of an alternative good that has to be sacrificed in order to increase the production of a good that we need in larger quantities.

In order to understand and explain how the economy functions and develops, it is necessary to identify from the whole variety of small and random facts and events the most important, most significant connections and dependencies between the phenomena of economic life. This suggests that an economist must develop and justify a theory that explains how an economy develops.

The development of economic theory is based on the construction of an economic model. An economic model is a simplified description of an economy that expresses a functional relationship between two or more variables.

In their research, economists rely on statistical material. When analyzing the economy, it is necessary to keep in mind that economic quantities have unequal dimensions. Some quantities that represent flows (output, income, etc.). have interval dimension; other quantities representing stocks (funds), for example capital, the value of household property, etc., have a moment dimension.

Economic analysis requires distinguishing between nominal and real indicators. It relies on the use of indices that provide a clear picture of the dynamics of economic values.

? Test questions and assignments

1. Name the reasons causing the increase in people's needs. What does “growth” mean in this case? Is it just quantitative changes in needs?

2. How does the concept of “resources” differ from the concept of “factors of production”?

3. List all types of income that I receive! owners of factors of production.

4. Describe the fundamental problems of the economy. Why do they face any society, regardless of its level of economic development?

5. Give examples of rational and irrational human behavior.

6. Local authorities have allocated money for the construction of a children's leisure center in the area. What could be the opportunity cost of a child care center?

7. Everyone knows that football is much less necessary for people than food or steel. However, professional football players are paid much more than farmers or steel workers. Why?

8. What is the difference between positive economics and normative economics?

9. Why does developing economic models involve a number of assumptions that simplify the economy?

Chapter 2. Market economic system. Mixed economy

2.1 Two ways to solve fundamental economic problems

2.2 Administrative planning system

2.3 Market and its functions

2.4 Circulation of income in a market economy

2.5 Limited market opportunities. Mixed economy

After reading this chapter, you will learn:

How are fundamental issues solved? Problems economics;

What was the planning and administrative system and why did it collapse;

What is the market and what are its functions;

How does the circulation of income occur in a market economy?

Why a purely market system cannot function and develop successfully:

What role does the state play in the conditions of a market economy and what is a mixed economy;

What are the limits of government intervention in market economy .

In the previous chapter, we established that in any conditions, limited resources posed and poses three fundamental problems to society: what, how and for whom should be produced in order to best satisfy people’s needs for economic goods. We found out what the choice price (opportunity cost) and the production possibilities curve are. But we left aside the question of how the fundamental problems of the economy are solved? Meanwhile, it is the way of solving these problems that determines the main, most essential features of a particular economic system

Economic model- this is a simplified image of economic reality, allowing you to highlight the most important things in a concise, compact form.

Economic models must meet a number of requirements:

There are two types of models: optimization and equilibrium. Optimization models are used to study the behavior of individual economic agents or their groups and show how economic agents (their groups) maximize their well-being. Examples may be a model of behavior of a company, a model of behavior of an individual consumer. Equilibrium models are needed to study the relationships between economic agents and their groups. An example is a model for the formation of a market price under the influence of the demand of all buyers and the supply of all sellers.

Microeconomics as a branch of economic theory.

Modern economic theory is divided into two key parts: micro- and macroeconomics.

Microeconomics as an independent scientific discipline was formed in the last third of the 19th century. She studies the behavior of individual economic entities.

Economic subjects (agents) are consumers (buyers of goods and services); firms producing goods and services; hired workers; capital investors; landowners. Economic entities vary in scale and functions in economic processes, but the role of each of these groups of economic entities is significant and necessary.

Microeconomics explains how and why economic decisions are made at the lowest level. For example, how changes in prices and income affect the purchase of goods, how firms plan the scale of production, why workers decide where and how much they need to work.

Microeconomics studies the interaction of economic entities in industry markets (markets in which homogeneous goods are traded), explains the mechanisms of market pricing, and the influence of government policy on the activities of economic entities.

Today, the boundaries between micro- and macroeconomics are blurring, however, microeconomic analysis retains its specificity and develops in depth.

The central microeconomic problem is the problem of pricing, the formation of market prices.

Basic economic systems and their types.

In the last 150-200 years, different types of economic systems have operated in the world: two market ones (a market economy of free competition (pure capitalism) and a modern market economy (modern capitalism)) and two non-market systems (traditional and administrative-command).

Market economy is an economic system based on the principles of free enterprise, diversity of forms of ownership of the means of production, market pricing, contractual relations between economic entities, and limited government intervention in economic activities. It is inherent in socio-economic systems where there are commodity-money relations.

Give examples of rational and irrational human behavior.

Local authorities have allocated money for the construction of a children's leisure center in the area. What could be the opportunity cost of a child care center?

Everyone knows that football is much less necessary for people than steel or food. However, professional football players are paid much more than farmers or steel workers. Why?

TM5

Answer the questions:

Why does the development of economic models involve a number of assumptions that simplify the economy?

What are economic models?

What are economic data and economic variables?

What is dimension? How does instantaneous dimension differ from interval dimension?

What is the difference between flows and stocks (funds) in the economy?

What is the difference between absolute and relative indicators in economics?

What are the differences between nominal and real values ​​in economics?

What are indexes? What is the index method used for?

What is a schedule? What is a graph used for when analyzing an economy?

Practical module 1.

Read the text, answer the questions about it.

"On the division of labor."

“The greatest progress in the development of the productive power of labor and a significant share of the art, skill and intelligence with which it

directed and applied, were apparently a consequence of the division of labor... For example, let's take... the production of pins.

A worker who is not trained in this production (the division of labor has made the latter a special profession) and who does not know how to handle

machines used in it (the impetus for the invention of the latter was probably also given by this division of labor) is hardly

Perhaps, with all his efforts, he can make one pin a day and, in any case, will not make twenty pins. But at that

organization that this production now has, it itself as a whole not only represents a special profession, but also

is divided into a number of specialties, each of which, in turn, is a separate special occupation. One

a worker pulls the wire, another straightens it, a third cuts it, a fourth sharpens the end, a fifth grinds one end to

inserting the head; making the head itself requires two or three independent operations... Thus, a complex

the labor of making pins is divided into approximately eighteen independent operations... I had to see...

a manufacture of this kind, where only ten workmen were employed, and where, consequently, some of them did two and

three different operations... These ten men produced over 48,000 pins per day.

Uncategorized

It is a very common way of analyzing and forecasting the economic situation. Moreover, economic models can be used both at the level of an ordinary entrepreneur or investor, and at the level of large companies, states, and when studying the processes occurring in the global economy.

The essence of economic modeling is to build a simplified diagram of the processes occurring in a certain area of ​​the economy and highlight the most important factors in a compact and concise form.

Building an economic model requires compliance with a number of factors, these include:

— realistic assumptions made

— possibility of forecasting

— sufficient information support

— possibility of practical verification.

In different cases, different sets of these requirements are prioritized; building a model that fully complies with all of them is quite difficult and the need for this arises quite rarely. This is due to the fact that the main goal of economic modeling is the practical application of models and, depending on the requirements, the priority requirements for the properties of the model change.

Process building an economic model goes through a number of stages. There are three main stages:

1. Selection of variables used
2. Making the necessary assumptions
3. Identification of the main hypotheses that explain the relationship between the model parameters.

Variables are specific data that form the basis of the model; they are divided into exogenous and endogenous. That is, internal and external. Assumptions make it possible to simplify a number of processes occurring in the model and thus simplify the model itself and speed up the process of its creation.

Nowadays, the most common types of economic models are equilibrium and optimized. Optimized ones are used mainly in marketing research and market research. In such models, various marginal indicators most often appear, such as marginal revenue, marginal utility. This modeling method is often called margin analysis.

Equilibrium models are used to study the relationships between various objects of the economy. The main assumption in such models is that any modeled system is in equilibrium and factors that can throw it out of balance are not taken into account. Typically, the construction of economic models of this type is used to study various sales markets and the interaction of companies operating in the same market.

It is equilibrium models that are most applicable to private entrepreneurs and investors, since with their help they can obtain valuable information about the market in which they operate and the prospects for its development.

In addition to these types of models, they are also divided into positive and normative. In positive models, the main purpose of construction is to find the causes and consequences of any event or economic phenomenon. However, assessments of these phenomena are not given.

Normative models, on the contrary, allow one to evaluate a phenomenon or event, but do not allow one to establish the causes and consequences of this phenomenon. Both types of model building are interrelated and are used simultaneously for the most accurate modeling of economic processes.

Do you use economic models in your activities?

Andrey Malakhov, professional investor, financial consultant

Economic model is a simplified image of economic reality that allows you to highlight the most important things in a condensed, compact form.

Economic models must meet a number of requirements:

• content;
• the realism of the accepted premises and assumptions;
• the ability to make forecasts;
• possibility of information support;
• possibility of verification.

There is no general consensus among economists about which requirements should be prioritized.

Main stages of creating an economic model

The creation of any theoretical model, including an economic one, goes through several stages:

• variable selection;
• determining the assumptions that need to be made so as not to complicate the model;
• putting forward one or more assumptions, hypotheses explaining the relationship between parameters;

Variables used in theory are specific quantities that have different meanings.

There are endogenous and exogenous variables:

Endogenous Variables- these are variables that are directly included in the model, being objects of study (in our example, this is the number of goods: grain and rockets)

Exogenous variables- these are variables that affect the quantities being studied, but are not the object of study (in our example, the number of goods produced by society is influenced by the availability and level of technology). For convenience, they are taken as constant values.

Assumptions (scientific abstractions) help avoid excessive complexity in creating a theory. (in the model, such assumptions include: limiting production to two goods, a given amount of resources, a constant level of scientific and technological progress, and the absence of foreign economic relations).

Hypothesis— the main element of the model. A hypothesis is an attempt to explain in one statement how endogenous variables are related to each other.

In our example, an analysis of the behavior of society under conditions allows us to notice that a certain amount of one product inevitably forces a reduction in the production of a certain amount of another product and vice versa. This allows us to hypothesize the existence of opportunity costs of production.

Hypotheses, as a rule, involve the formation of a functional relationship between unknowns in the form of a formula, table and graph.

Main types of economic models

Economic theory mainly uses models two types: optimization and equilibrium.

Optimization models are used to analyze the behavior of individual economic agents (consumers, producers, etc.) to find optimal values. These models use marginal indicators: , marginal revenue, etc. This analysis is usually called (from the English margin).

Models are used to study relationships between economic agents. In the analysis, it is assumed that the system is in equilibrium if the interacting forces are balanced and there is no internal impulse to disturb the equilibrium.

The importance of equilibrium models is explained by the fact that individual market subjects, households and firms can optimize their position only if they have complete information about the market for the good they offer and about the markets for the resources they consume. The absence of such information forces the subject to make a decision: how much of a good he could buy (or sell) with some change in its price and provided that the prices of all other goods remain unchanged.

The model of equilibrium between supply and demand is the basis of microeconomic market analysis.

Types of economic models

As a science, economic theory has not only its own subject (what is studied), but also special research methods (how it is studied). The most important method is the construction of economic models.

We use models widely in our daily lives without even realizing it. A typical model is a city map, i.e. his image described according to certain rules. On it we see the location of streets and highways, objects of interest to us. Such a map, however, does not contain information that seems unimportant in this case (shop opening hours, street cleanliness, road surface condition, etc.).

Likewise economic model is a simplified formal description of the aspects of the economic phenomenon that interest us.

There are two types of models: optimization and equilibrium. Optimization models are used to study the behavior of individual economic agents or their groups and show how economic agents (their groups) maximize their well-being. Examples may be a model of behavior of a company, a model of behavior of an individual consumer. Equilibrium models are needed to study the relationships between economic agents and their groups. An example is a model for the formation of a market price under the influence of the demand of all buyers and the supply of all sellers.

A good economic model has a number of properties:

• it is not overloaded with details; the information it contains should not be more than is necessary to solve the task;
• the premises and assumptions of the model are meaningful and realistic;
• it is possible to collect information that corresponds to the conditions of the model;
• The model allows us to explain and predict actually observed economic phenomena.

Mathematical models play a very important role in economics. Their use allows us not only to make general assumptions about various events, but to accurately calculate the quantitative consequences of certain decisions and thereby provide specific recommendations to the government and business. For example, there is a very pressing question about Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Supporters of accession talk about its advantages, opponents focus on the disadvantages, but only competent economists, based on econometric models, can say: “Here the gain will be approximately this much, and in this area such and such losses are very likely.”

Models are built for normative and positive analysis. Positive analysis establishes the causes and consequences of economic phenomena without assessing them. Such an analysis answers questions like: “What and why is happening in the economy today?”, “What and why happened yesterday?”, “What will happen if?..” For example, a Russian hero at a crossroads sees signs: “If you go to the right, there is a horse you will lose. If you go to the left, you’ll lose your head,” etc. These are all typical examples of positive statements.

Against, normative analysis contains an assessment of the desirability of certain consequences. The range of his questions is: “What needs to be done in order to?..” Normative analysis therefore contains a recommendatory part. There is a close relationship between these two types of analysis: normative statements influence the choice of the subject of positive analysis, while the results of the latter facilitate the achievement of normative goals.

For example, it was recognized as necessary to reduce inflation in the economy. This is a normative statement. But this goal can be achieved in different ways:

• by raising taxes to reduce the state budget deficit;
• by reducing government spending;
• freezing prices for basic types of raw materials and energy resources;
• limiting the growth of the dollar against the ruble, etc.

A positive analysis will allow you to choose the best method. For example, raising taxes will lead to such and such, reducing government spending will lead to such and such... Economic theory, therefore, does not relieve people of choice, but allows them to make this choice more conscious and responsible .