微观经济学十大原理总结.doc

Ten Principles of EconomicsWhat Economics Is All AboutScarcity: the limited nature of societys resources（稀缺性：社会资源的有限性）Economics: the study of how society manages its scarce resources（经济学：研究社会如何管理自己的稀缺资源）how people decide what to buy, how much to work, save, and spendhow firms decide how much to produce, how many workers to hirehow society decides how to divide its resources between national defense, consumer goods, protecting the environment, and other needs*The principles of ：HOW PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONSPRINCIPLE #1: People Face Tradeoffs（原理一：人们要面临权衡取舍）All decisions involve tradeoffs. （所有的选择都包含权衡取舍）Going to a party the night before your midterm leaves less time for studying.Having more money to buy stuff requires working longer hours, which leaves less time for leisure.Protecting the environment requires resources that could otherwise be used to produce consumer goods.Society faces an important tradeoff: efficiency vs. equality （社会面临着一个重要的取舍：效率与平等）Efficiency: when society gets the most from its scarceResources（效率：社会能从其稀缺资源中得到的最大利益）Equality: when prosperity is distributed uniformly among societys members（平等：社会成果在社会成员中的平均分配）Tradeoff: To achieve greater equality, could redistribute income from wealthy to poor. But this reduces incentive to work and produce, shrinks the size of the economic “pie.” （权衡取舍：为了实现更好地平等，将收入从富人到穷人重新分配。但是这会降低工作和生产的积极性，减小经济的蛋糕）PRINCIPLE #2: The Cost of Something Is What You Give Up to Get It（原理二：某种东西的成本是为了得到它所放弃的东西）Making decisions requires comparing the costs and benefits of alternative choices. （做出决策需要比较这些选择的成本与利益）The opportunity cost of any item is whatever must be given up to obtain it（一种东西的机会成本是为了得到这种东西所放弃的东西）It is the relevant cost for decision making（这是决策的有关成本）Examples: The opportunity cost ofgoing to college for a year is not just the tuition, books, and fees, but also the foregone wages. seeing a movie is not just the price of the ticket, but the value of the time you spend in the theater. PRINCIPLE #3: Rational People Think at the Margin（原理三：理性人考虑边际量）Rational people systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives.（有组织的和有目的地做到他们能达到他们目的的最好）make decisions by evaluating costs and benefits of marginal changes, incremental adjustments to an existing plan. （作出决策通过评估边际改变的成本和利益，对于现有计划的增量调整）marginal changes：small incremental adjustments to a plan of action（边际变动：对行动计划的微小增量调整）Examples:When a student considers whether to go to college for an additional year, he compares the fees & foregone wages to the extra income he could earn with the extra year of education.When a manager considers whether to increase output, she compares the cost of the needed labor and materials to the extra revenue. PRINCIPLE #4: People Respond to Incentives（原理四：人们会对激励做出反应）Incentive: something that induces a person to act, i.e. the prospect of a reward or punishment（激励：引起人行动的东西，即前景的奖励或惩罚）Rational people respond to incentives.（理性的人对激励做出反应）Examples:When gas prices rise, consumers buy more hybrid cars and fewer gas guzzling SUVs.When cigarette taxes increase, teen smoking falls. *The principles of ：HOW PEOPLE INTERACTPRINCIPLE #5: Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off（原理五：贸易可以使每个人的状况都变得更好）Rather than being self-sufficient, people can specialize in producing one good or service and exchange it for other goods. （不是自给自足的，人们可以为其他商品专门生产一种产品或服务和交流）Countries also benefit from trade and specialization:（国家也受益于贸易和专业化。）Get a better price abroad for goods they produce（他们所生产的商品在国外得到更好的价格）Buy other goods more cheaply from abroad than could be produced at home（从国外购买其他商品比国内生产更便宜）PRINCIPLE #6: Markets Are Usually A Good Way to Organize Economic Activity（市场通常是组织经济活动的一种好方法）Market: a group of buyers and sellers (need not be in a single location)（市场：是一个由买者和卖者组成的群体）“Organize economic activity” means determining what goods to produce how to produce them how much of each to producewho gets themA market economy allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many households and firms as they interact in markets. （市场经济分配资源通过分散决策的许多家庭和公司作为它们之间的交互作用存在于市场。）Famous insight by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations (1776): Each of these households and firms acts as if “led by an invisible hand” to promote general economic well-being。（每一个这样的家庭和公司的行为好像“受着一只看不见的手”,以推广一般社会福利。）The invisible hand works through the price system:（“无形之手”工作通过价格系统:）The interaction of buyers and sellers determines prices. （买家和卖家的相互作用决定了价格） Each price reflects the goods value to buyers and the cost of producing the good. （每一个价格反应出了产品对于买者的价值和生产产品的成本）Prices guide self-interested households and firms to make decisions that, in many cases, maximize societys economic well-being. （那些价格指南家庭和公司作出决定,在许多情况下,最大化了社会的经济福利。）PRINCIPLE #7: Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes（原理七：政府有时可以改善市场结果）Important role for government: enforce property rights (with police, courts)（政府的重要角色：实施产权等）People are less inclined to work, produce, invest, or purchase if large risk of their property being stolen（如果自己的财产有很大的风险丢失，那么人们就不太倾向于工作、生产、投资或购买）Market failure: when the market fails to allocate societys resources efficiently（市场本身不能有效配置资源的情况）Causes of market failure:Externalities: when the production or consumption of a good affects bystanders (e.g. pollution)（外部性：当产品的生产与消费影响了旁观者。例如：污染）Market power： a single buyer or seller has substantial influence on market price (e.g. monopoly)（市场势力：单个的买者或者卖者对市场价格有显著影响。例如：垄断）Public policy may promote efficiency（公共政策能促进效率）Government may alter market outcome to promote equity.（政府可能会改变市场结果促进平等。）If the markets distribution of economic well-being is not desirable, tax or welfare policies can change how the economic “pie” is divided。（如果市场的经济上的福利分配不理想,税款或者社会福利政策能改变经济“馅饼”的分割）*The principles of： HOW THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE WORKS（整体经济如何运行）PRINCIPLE #8: A Countrys Standard of Living Depends on Its Ability to Produce Goods & Services （原理八：一国的生活水平取决于它生产物品与劳务的能力）Huge variation in living standards across countries and over time:（各个国家随着时间推移生活水平差异很大）Average income in rich countries is more than ten times average income in poor countries. （富裕国家的平均收入是贫穷国家的十倍）The U.S. standard of living today is about eight times larger than 100 years ago.（今天美国的生活标准大约是100年前的八倍）The most important determinant of living standards: productivity, the amount of goods and services produced per unit of labor. （最重要的决定性的生活标准:生产力,商品的数量和劳务的单位劳动。）Productivity depends on the equipment, skills, and technology available to workers.（生产力取决于设备、技术和可行的技术工人。）Other factors (e.g., competition from abroad) have far less impact on living standards.（其他因素(例如：来自海外的竞争)较小影响人民的生活水平。）PRINCIPLE #9: Prices Rise When the Government Prints Too Much Money（原理九：当政府发型了过多的货币时，物价上升）Inflation: increases in the general level of prices. （通货膨胀：经济中物价总水平的上升）In the long run, inflation is almost always caused by excessive growth in the quantity of money, which causes the value of money to fall. （从长期来看,通货膨胀是几乎总是由钱的数量的过度增长引起的,使钱的价值下跌。）The faster the govt creates money, the greater the inflation rate.（政府创造钱越快,通货膨胀率越大）PRINCIPLE #10: Society Faces a Short-run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment（原理十：社会面临通货膨胀和失业之间的短期权衡取舍）In the short-run (12 years), many economic policies push inflation and unemployment in opposite directions. （在短期内，许多经济政策在反方向上推动了通货膨胀率和失业率）Other factors can make this tradeoff more or less favorable, but the tradeoff is always present. （其他的因素可以使这交易或多或少的优惠,但是权衡是永远存在。）SUMMARY：The principles of decision making are:People face trad