OUTLINE
 
by Paul Nervy
Copyright (c) 2006 by Paul Nervy
 
Visit www.paulnervy.com.


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ECONOMICS

Contents
Methodology
	Philosophy of economics.
	Science of economics
Areas of economics
	Basic concepts
	Economic systems
	World economics
	National economics
	Industries.  Markets.  Sectors.
	Economics of the firm (business)
	Economics of the individual consumer.
	Inflation
	Unemployment
	Taxes
	Stocks and bonds
	Development economics
History of Economics.  Theory and Practice.


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METHODOLOGY

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Philosophy of economics

Metaphysics of economics.

Epistemology of economics

Ethics of economics


Methodological issues

Normative issues



Philosophy of classical economics
The unit of study is the individual.
The individual is assumed to be rational.
Behavioristic.
Egoistic.
Utilitarianism.
Decision theory.
Free market.

Critiques of classical economics.
Environmental critiques.
Marxist critiques.
Welfare economics.
Rawls

Social choice theory.  Kenneth Arrow.




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Science of economics

Quantitative methodologies

Qualitative methodologies

Comparative economics - compare how two countries economies are running

Economic models - simple and complex models of the economy
	Computer modeling.

Statistical methods
	Probability.

Calculus methods
	first derivative measures slope
	second derivative measures slope of slope

Questionnaires.
Interviews.
Opinion polling.
Observation.
Participation.
Experiments.
	Double blind experiments.
	Controlled experiments.


Money focus. Economics as primarily about money. Money methodologies.
	Mathematical modes.  Equations.
	Statistics.  Data gathering.
vs.
Human focus. Economics as primarily about people. Human methodologies.
	Rational choice
	Consumer behavior.  Save.  Spend.  Invest.
	Consumer psychology



What is philosophy of economics?

What is the methodology in economics?

What is the metaphysical status of economic concepts?


How does one measure what is going on in the economy?
The government asks businesses to report.
What about areas where stats are not collected?
Large parts of the economy can go unrecognized.


To what degree is the economy measurable?
To what degree is the economy predictable?
To what degree is the economy controllable or manageable?


Assumptions of economics.
Assumption of money as the primary value.
Assumption of primary importance of economics and business in world, life, society.
Assumption of the invisible hand.
Assumption of rationality of consumer.
Assumption of individual consumer.


What is a healthy economy?
	A fair economy
	A growing economy



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BASIC ELEMENTS OF ECONOMICS

Economics.

What is economics?  How to define economics?
Economic philosophy.
Economic science.
Economic techniques and practices.

How important is economics?
How useful is economics in shaping the world?

How well can economists measure, predict and control the economy?

Is economics merely a battle ground for competeing political ideologies?
Or is economics the root of all, as Marx argued.




needs, 

resources, 

scarcity, 

utility, 

value


Opportunity Cost.  What you can't make if you make something else.

Production possibility curve.  If you make more of one, you make less of another.

Marginal analysis.  
	Marginal utility.  The value or worth of items change as you acquire more.
	Marginal benefit
	Marginal cost


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Supply, Demand, Equilibrium, Price, Elasticity.

Supply

Demand

Equilibrium

Prices



Change in demand
Change in quantity demanded.

Change in supply
Change in quantity supplied

Equilibrium
Price ceilings and price floors.

Elasticity

elastic
inelastic

	What is elasticity?
	factors in elasticity: 
		supply factors and 
		demand factors
	PED - price elasticity of demand
	PES - price elasticity of supply


Macroeconomic supply and demand.
	World economy.
	National economy.

Microeconomic supply and demand.
	Market or industry.
	Firm


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Circular Flow Model.  
Producers and consumers.
	Producers give products to get money.
	Consumers give money to get products.



Production.  Four factors of production.  Capital, land, labor, entrepreneurship.

Distribution.  Prices, market mechanisms

Consumption.  consumer income, spending, saving, and investing


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Parts of the economy
	The government sector.
	The business sector
	The individual consumer sector


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Levels of economics
	macroeconomics
		world level
		regional level
			Ex. NAFTA. Europe. Aisa. Middle East.
		national level
	microeconomics
		industry or market level
		corporation or business level
		individual person level


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Types of economics
urban economics
suburban economics
rural economics


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Types of things produced and consumed
goods
services
experiences
information


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Economics of non-profits and philanthropic organizations
Economics of religions

Economics of the Hidden economy: barter, housework, etc.

Economics of ideas: education industry.  Public schools.  Colleges.
Economics of entertainment: movies, sports, travel, music, books.


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Major economic decisions and alternatives answers.

What is made.
Who makes it.
How is it made.
Who gets it.

Who decides what the company does?  What to make.  How to make it.
The executive?
The board of directors?
The share holders?
The workers?
The public?

Who get the profits of the company?
The executive?
The board of directors?
The share holders?
The workers?
The public?

Who owns the assets of the company?
The executive?
The board of directors?
The share holders?
The workers?
The public?



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ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

Goals of an economic system
Efficiency.  The economic system must react in a timely manner.
Growth.  The economic system must grow with the population.
Development.  The economic system must develop toward justice and sustainability.
Just, Fair.  The economic system must be free of corruption.
Stable.  The economic system must weather boom and bust.

Economic system ills.
Unemployment.
Inflation.
Recession.
Injustice
Corruption.


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CAPITALISM

Definitions of capitalism
Free markets.  No controls on markets.
Invisible hand.  No government planning of economy.
Private ownership.  Private property.


Arguments for capitalism

Critiques of capitalism.


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COMMUNISM

Definitions of communism.
Government ownership of everything.  No private property.
Government planning of economy.

Marxism

Marx
Wrote the Communist Manifesto

Engels




Principles of Marxism.

The people, or the state, or the workers own the means of production.

"From each according to ability, to each according to need", to paraphrase Marx.

Economic determinism: economics determines the shape of society.

Class struggle: Upper classes exploit lower classes.
  
Marx's critique of capitalism.  Capitalism will wither away and be replaced by communism.

Marx's view of communism as the apex of economic development.




Lukacs

Communism in practice
	USSR.  Trotsky.  Lenin.  Stalin.  KGB.  Gulags.
	China.  Mao Tse Tung.  Little red book.  Cultural revolution.  Famine.
	Cuba.  Che Guerra.  Fidel Castro.  
	East Germany.
	Vietnam.  

Totalitarianism.


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SOCIALISM

Definitions of socialism.
Government ownership of some things.

Socialism is the median between pure capitalism and pure communism.

Socialism in England.  The Dole.
Socialism in Japan.  Keriatsu.  


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Capitalist economies
Examples.  Describe them.  How have they fared.


Socialist economies.
Examples.  European socialism.  Describe them.  How have they fared.
Higher pay.
Longer vacation.
Shorter work week.
Better housing.
Child care for working mothers.
Better health care.
Better education.

Iceland
Norway.
Sweeden.
Canada.

Communist economies
Examples.  Describe them.  How have they fared.



Free market economies.
vs.
Command economies.


Private property economies
vs.
Communal property economies.


Comparative economic measurements.  To compare the above economies.

What is being produced?  Necessities like food, clothing and shelter?  Or luxuries at the expense of necessities?

Who is getting the results of labor?  One individual only, like some king?  Or only a few people, like oligarchs?  Or only the people who are working?  Or everyone?

How many hours does it take to produce an object?

How much money does a worker get per hour and what can that money buy?

How is money balanced against other values, like justice?



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WORLD ECONOMY

Which countries are most developed economically?
Which countries are least developed economically?
Which countries are developing fastest economically?
Which countries are developing slowest economically?
Which countries have the fairest overall systems?
Which countries have the slowest overall systems?
I.e., fast economic growth is not fair if it is accomplished via slave or prison labor.


How many people worldwide live below the poverty level?
What can be done to help them?
What are the causes of poverty?
What are the solutions for poverty?


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Comparative advantage
Comparative advantage is when one nation can produce a product cheaper than another nation.  Due to labor costs.  Due to natural resources.  Due to investment in technology like factories.



Balance of trade
Balance of trade is the ratio of imports to exports.

Exports 
Exports are goods being sold to other countries.

Imports
Imports are good coming into a country.

Trade deficit.  
A trade deficit is when you have more imports than exports.  Trade deficit is when you have a negative balance of trade.



Trade Protectionism

Arguments for trade protectionism
To protect jobs.
To protect developing industries.

Arguments against trade protectionism
Trade protectionism leads to higher prices.

Types of trade protectionism
Types of trade protectionism include quotas and tariffs.

Quotas
Quotas set limits on the amount of foreign imports.  A quota of zero means no foreign imports.

Tariffs
Tariffs are a tax on foreign imports.

Trade barriers
Trade barriers are devices that limit free trade.


Free trade

Arguments for free trade
	absolute advantage
	comparative advantage

Arguments against free trade


Free trade agreements
Free trade agreements are agreements that foster free trade.

Trade liberalization 
Trade liberalization means moving toward free trade.

Dumping
Dumping is a practice of sending many, low cost items.


International trade agreements.
NAFTA
CAFTA
European Union
OPEC


Foreign Trade multiplier




What if a country imports more than it exports?

What if a country tries to isolate itself economically?





What are the causes and effects of the following cases:

Amount of monetary worth of of exports and imports.
Export much, import little.  You are self sufficient and producing a surplus.  Good.
Export little, import much.  You are not self sufficient and not producing a surplus.  Bad.
Export much, import much.
Export little, import little.  You are closed to trade.  Bad.

Types of exports and imports.
Export one good, import one good.  You have a single good economy.  Bad.
Export one good, import many goods.
Export many goods, import one good.
Export many goods, import many goods.
If you export one product you have a single product economy.
If you export many products you have a diversified economy.


Export finished goods, import raw materials.  You are a first world mercantalist society.
Export raw good, import finished goods.  You are a third words exploited country.
Equal balance of export and import of raw and finished goods.





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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Multinational corporations.

American jobs going overseas to other countries

Foreign investment in US
US investment abroad


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INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE.  


Gold standard

Floating exchange rates

Parity or pegged exchange rates.



Balance of payments

Exchange rates.  

Strength of dollar relative to foreign currencies.  The gold standard.

pegged (fixed) exchange rates.  Pegged to gold or silver.

floating (floating) exchange rates

clean float
dirty float

national currencies
regional currencies - ex. euro
world currencies


International finance.

How does one express what a currency is worth?  In terms of what products it can buy, like gold or oil.

How does one express what a product is worth?  In terms of money.

How does one express one currency in terms of another currency?  Both are expressed relative to products they can buy.

Which country has the strongest currency.

Is currency strength a reflection of inflation?
		

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WORLD ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS

G7 - Group of Seven

GATT

World Bank

WTO - World Trade Organization

IMF - Internation Monetary Fund


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REGIONAL ECONOMIES

Asia - China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, Koreas, Taiwan
Europe - European Union - Euro
Middle East - OPEC - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai, etc.
North America - Nafta.  USA, Canada, Mexico
South America - Brazil, etc.


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NATIONAL ECONOMY

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GNP
GDP
GNP - GDP = ?

What percentage of total national production and consumption is by the US government, business and individual consumers?

US government revenues
	Business taxes
	Individual taxes

US government expenditures
	Social security
	Welfare
	Military

US Business - B2B, Wholesalers

US Individuals - consumers, retail


	GNP
	Net National Product
	National Income

	aggregate demand
	aggregate supply


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USA is currently, per capita, in the world
richest, wealthiest
most productive
most technologically advanced
most powerful
most free (?)
most fair, most just (?)

How long will it stay that way?

Is it due to education?  Japan is better educated.
Is it due to population size?  China and India are more populated.

Is power due to riches?
Is riches due to technology?
Is technology due to hard work?


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national debt rate
national savings rate
national investing rate
national spending rate
national earning rate
USA too much debt and not enough saving


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What percentage of economy is from goods?
What percentage of economy is from services?

What percentage of economy is from retail sales?
What percentage of economy is from wholesale sales?
What percentage of economy is from raw material sales?

What percentage of economy is from
Government spending
Business spending
Individual personal spending.

What percentage of economy is from
Food
Clothing
Shelter
Transportation
Communication
Entertainment and Media
Military
Health care
Energy


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GOVERNMENT ECONOMICS

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Government expenditures

Government revenues
	Taxes


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Federal budget

Federal deficit

Federal debt


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Federal subsidies for businesses

Government economic policies.

Fiscal policy
	taxing
	spending

	Advantages 
	Disadvantages
		Deficits - spending more than you are taking in.

Monetary policy
	printing more money
	taking money out of circulation

	Advantages
	Disadvantages
		Inflation - due to printing too much money.



Fiscal policy (government spending)  
Federal budget.
tax and spend.

Monetary Policy.  (Prime lending rate.  Money supply)  
Federal Reserve.
Change interest rates.

Federal interest rates.  Greenspan raising and lowering to speed up or slow down the 
economy.



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MARKETS

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Types of markets
	Monopoly
	Imperfect competition
		Monopolistic competition: many sellers, similar products
		Oligopoly: competition among the few.  Ex. cartels
	Perfect competition.


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Market structure
	Seller concentration
	Product differentiation
	Barriers to exit and entry


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Types of markets by industry

How big is the market?
	In dollars revenue annually.
	In number of people it employs.
	What percentage of GNP is it?
	Is the market growing or shrinking?  Relative to rest of economy.


Energy market.  Oil.  Gas.  Coal.  Hydropower.  Solar and wind power.

Raw materials
	Lumber.
	Metals.

Food

Housing.  Shelter.

Transportation.
	Cars and trucks.

Communication.
	Telephone companies.

Media.
	Broadcast.  Television.  Radio.
	Print.  Newspapers.  

Finished goods.
	Clothing.

Home goods.

Financial markets
	Money markets
	Commodities markets
	Stock markets
	Bond markets



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PRODUCTION

THEORY OF THE FIRM

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Factors of production
	land, rent
	labor, wages
	capital, money
	entrepreneurs, management

Marginal productivity

Determination of Factor Prices
	Theory of wages
	Theory of Rent
	Theory of Interest
	Theory of Profit

Cost of Production
	Short run costs
	Long run costs
	Production function


Minimize short run costs.
Maximize short run profits.
Maximize long run profits.


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Business starts
Business failures.  Business bankruptcy.
Business spending. 
	Wholesale sales.


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CONSUMPTION

PERSONAL, INDIVIDUAL ECONOMICS


Consumption
Consumers

Consumer earning
	Wages and salaries.
	Minimum wage.
	Cost of Living.
	Consumer Price Index.

Consumer spending
	Auto sales
	New housing starts
	Retail sales

Consumer saving

Consumer investing

Consumer debt
	Personal bankruptcies


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Personal finance.

Personal Income
Disposable Personal Income

Earn

Spend

Save
Savings accounts.

Invest.
Stocks
Bonds
Mutual funds
Certificates of Deposti (CD's)


Cost of living.

Insurance
Property insurance - for your house
Life insurance - in case you die.
Health insurance - in case you get sick
Automobile liability insurance
Theft insurance - for items stolen, like jewelry.


College tuition.  

Retirement.

Taxes

Estate planning: wills and trusts.

401k and Roth IRAs


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Earning money

Spending money
	Needs
	Wants, Luxuries

Saving money

Investing money


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Quality of Life

COLA

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Cost of living
Cost of living components
Shelter, housing
Food
Clothing
Education
Medical
Transportation
Communication, Information, Entertainment
	Television - monthly bills
	Telephone - monthly bills
	Internet - monthly bills
	Books, music, movies


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DISTRIBUTION
PRICES

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How much do things cost?  
It depends on supply and demand.
Supply: how much is being made
Demand: how much people want it.


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What do prices reflect?
Prices reflect, in part, how much money people have to spend.
Prices reflect, in part, the nature of the product.
	Example, prices of staples.  Must haves.  Food.
	Example, prices of luxuries.  Movies.
	Example, prices of rare objects.


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Price indexes
Producer price indexes
Consumer price indexes


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Price controls
When should price controls be put into effect?
Types of price controls
	Government says you can charge no more than x for a product
	Government says you can charge no less than x for a product.



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Money

Definitions of money

Money "on paper".  I.e., Money that does not exist except as an accounting.

Money in the form of printed bills.  Paper money.

Money in the form of gold bullion.  Gold standard.


Definitions of Money
	M1: Narrow
	M2: Medium Range
	M3: Wide Range
	L: Liquid and Near Liquid Assets


History of money

Barter for unlike objects.

Barter for objects using a universally acknowledged object of value as a medium of exchange.  A portable, durable object, like gold, silver or copper ingots.

Coins, of standard weight, made of gold, silver or copper.  

Paper money.  Paper money as a fiat for gold or other metal.  Gold holding in Fort Knox to back up paper money.  Dollar, Yen, Franc, Deutschmarc, Pound.

Bank checks.  Money orders.

Personal checks.  Travellers checks.

Credit cards.

Conversion of currency for international business and travellers.

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How does the fed decide how much gold to hold?  Less gold than paper currency.  Gold equal to paper currency.  Gold more than paper currency.  If you have a bigger economy than there is gold then there is more paper money than gold.

How does the fed decide how much money to print?
How does the fed know how much money is in circulation?


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Banking

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Types of banking
Government banking
Investment bankers - IPO's, stocks, bonds.
Commercial or business banking.  Commercial banks.
Personal, individual banking


Banks, types of.
Central banks.  Handle money transactions for the government.
Investment banks.  Handle stock and bond transactions for corporations.
Commercial banks.  Handle loans for businesses.
Savings and loans.  Handle accounts for individuals.


Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve Chairman - ex. Greespan


interest
interest rates

Lending
Loans

Prime Lending rate

Deposit Banking
	Goldsmith's principle

Liquidity
Profitability
Safety vs. risk.

FDIC.  Insuring 

Types of banks
Personal banking
	Savings and loan banks
Business banking.  
	Corporate banks
Government banking
	Central banks.


Government monetary Policy via the central banks.
	Major controls
		Change reserve ratios
		Change discount rate
		Open market operations
	Minor controls
		margin regulations
		moral persuasion

Monetary policy involves the government controlling the money supply and interest rates through the central banking system.


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Taxes

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Types of taxes
progressive tax
regressive tax
estate tax
capital gains tax
flat tax
direct tax
indirect tax
income tax
luxury tax
sin tax
value added tax - VAT

Taxes on Income.  
Taxes on Wealth.  
Taxes on activities.
Taxes on products.  Ex. Cigarettes.


Why have taxes?
What if there were no taxes?

Individual vs. business taxes?  Who pays more?  Who pays more per income?
What is the profit of each?  What does each pay?

Corporate taxes.
Corporations don't pay enough taxes.

Income taxes
Fixed tax.  Ex. everyone pays $1000 a year.
Fixed percentage tax.  Ex. everyone pays 33% of they income to taxes.
Proportional percentage tax.  The rich pay a greater percentage than the poor.

Income tax is a tax on income or earnings.
Sales tax is a tax on consumption or spending.  Why tax consumption?


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indexes

price indexes
	consumer price index - cost of living index
	producer price index
	stock price indexes
		Dow Jones
		S&P 500

cost indexes


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Indicators

leading indicators
coincident indicators
lagging indicators

housing starts
auto sales

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Inflation

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Inflation - types, causes and cures
deflation
stagflation
disinflation


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What rate of inflation is optimal?
What rate of inflation is too high?
What rate of inflation is too low?


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Inflation due to quantity of money

Printing too much money can cause inflation.  Your dollar is worth less so your dollar buys less.

Example: Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany

The government may be tempted to print more money to cover debts.

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Inflation due to demand.

When demand exceeds supply it pushes prices up, so your dollar buys less.


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Unemployment

structural unemployment
technological unemployment

unemployment of those searching for a job
unemployment of those who choose to be jobless
unemployment of those who gave up looking

Unemployment - types, causes and cures
What rate of unemployment is too high?  10%
What rate of unemployment is too low?
What rate of unemployment is optimal?


Unemployment rate is rarely 0.
5% unemployment is seen as reasonable.
10% unemployment is seen as unreasonable.


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STOCKS, BONDS, OPTIONS, ETC.

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stocks
dividends
IPO - initial public offer
number of shares created
price per share
EPS - earnings per share
investment bankers
portion of funds that the company gets from IPO

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margin
margin calls

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bonds
junk bonds

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commodities
foods: wheat, soybeans, pork bellies, frozen concentrated orange juice
metals: gold, silver, platinum, copper, zinc, 

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Money markets
Currency markets.

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futures
options
put
call
derivatives
hedge
arbitrage
bid
offer
spread


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shorting - betting price will drop

long - betting it price will rise


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Stock markets
NYSE
Amex
Nasdaq


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Indexes
Dow Jones Industrial
S&P 500
Nasdaq composite


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Buying pieces of the entire market.
QQQ - nasdaq
Spyders - S&P
Diamonds - Dow

Mutual funds.

Market makers
Archipelago

Investment bankers.

Overvalued stocks
Undervalued stocks.

Market measures future values - 6 months out.

Bullish
bearish


Approaches to investing.
Contrarian.
Value investor
Dogs of the dow

People
Peter Lynch - common sense, buy what you know
Warren Buffet - fundamental analysis, analyze financial statements.
Benjamin Graham
George Soros

Books
Random walk down wall street
Confessions of a Stock Operator.  Was it about Jesse Livermore?  Warren Buffet's mentor.

Fundamental analysis - analyze financial statements and management
Technical analysis - chart analysis, momentum, 



Betting the market is going down
Short a stock - sells now, buy back later
Buy a put - an option, more risk but more reward

Betting the market is going up
Long a stock - buy now and sell later
Buy a call - an option, more risk but more reward


Brokerage firms

Brokerage firms serve institutional customers and retail customers.  
Institutional customers buy blocks for pension plans and mutual funds.

Smith Barney
AG Edwards
Charles Schwab.
Goldman Sachs
Bear Stearns
Morgan Stanley
Chase


US markets
Foreign markets

How accurately does a stock represent the value of a company?
How accurately does the stock market represent the health of the entire economy?

Growth stocks.  Increasing in value quickly.
Value stocks.  Good buy for the price.

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Intial public offering.
How many shares, and at what price per share?  How much money was raised at the initial public offering of a stock?

Majority stock holder.
Who owns the most shares of a companies stock?  Do they own more than 50% of shares?  Can owning a majority of shares, through the process of voting for board members, enable one to determine the directon of a company?

Number of shares outstanding.

Earnings per share.
The company announces quarterly earnings.

Price / Earnings ratio.
Price earnings ratio is 

Why does the price earnings ratio sometime not accurately reflect the worth of the stock?  The P/E ratio is based on past performace.  The future performance of the company may be different.  The future business environment may be different.

Stock valuation.
The value of a stock, being the price people are willing to pay for a stock, is based on what people expect the future worth of the stock will be.  There are various methods by which people value stocks.

Greed, fear and stock prices.
Psychological factors such as greed and fear affect stock prices, sometimes leading to bubbles and then burst bubbles.

Information and stock prices.
The amount of information available affects stock prices.  People want timely, accurate information about companies.  If information is not available, or is inaccurate, or is not timely, or is not relevant, then the market ceases to function well.

What functions does the stock market perform?  What functions do stock brokers perform?  What function is performed by individuals buying and selling stocks?
(1) Companies compete with each other to make money, also called gross revenue and net profits.  (2) Companies also compete to raise the worth of the company, as reflected in the value of the company's stock.  (3) The worth of the company as reflected in the value of the stock is a better measure than revenues and profits because a manager could sell all the companies assets to generate short term profits at the expense of long term worth. (3) When informed people, like theoretically a stock broker or an individual day trader, make stock choices they are assessing the worth of companies.  The stock market 

Short term vs. long term outlook.
Businesses manager today are criticized for having a short term outlook instead of a long term outlook.  They look one quarter ahead instead of years or centuries ahead.  They look for short term profitability for the corporation at the expense of the environment and the people.

Narrow outlook vs. wide outlook.


When is the stock market not an accurate reflection of the economy?  When are stock prices disconnected from economic statistics?



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LABOR ECONOMICS
WORK


Labor
Labor markets
How to measure the supply of labor.
	The amount of workers available.
	The amount of work each worker can do.
How to measure the demand for labor.
	The amount of work available.

work

wages and salaries

How to measure work?

How much work is being done?  In person/hours.
How efficient are the workers.  On average.
What is the resulting productivity?

For example.  A person plants 2 acres per day, and works 10 days, thereby planting 20 acres.


Benefits
Medical and Dental
Sick days and personal days
Holidays
Bonuses
Wages and salaries
Childcare
Gym

Work physical environment
Work cultural environment

Hours worked per day
Days worked per week

Take home work
On call 24x7
Changing schedule shifts
Work tasks interesting or boring?


Labor economics

Supply of labor
Demand for labor

Cost of labor 
Wages for labor

Unions

Discrimination

Human Resources 



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History of Labour

Slavery.
Peasants.  Indentured servitude.
Guilds.  Craftsmen.  Trades.
Middle class.
Marx
Industrial revolution.  Assembly line.
Sweatshops.
Worker safety issues.
Maximum hours per week.
Minimum wage.
Triangle Shirt Co. fire.
Migrant workers.  Cesar Chavez.
Sick pay.
Child labor.

Farm workers.
Mine workers.
Assembly line workers.




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WELFARE ECONOMICS

Economics of welfare.  
How many people on welfare?  
How much money spent?
What values are they getting?

Unemployment insurance

Job welfare
What percentage of the population is on welfare?
How much do they get on welfare?  Money.  Food.  Shelter.
How long can they stay on welfare?

Medical insurance
Which countries have national medical insurance
How much does national medical insurance cost?  In total and per capita.
How well does national medical insurance work?

Social Security
What percentage of the Federal budget is social security?

Public education


Why have welfare?
What if there was no welfare?
How many people are on welfare?
What is the total dollar amount spent on welfare?  
How much does each recipient get?
How much does each tax payer contribute to welfare?
How does the amount spent on welfare compare to the rest of the economy?


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GROWTH

economic growth
boom
bust - recession, depression

growing too fast relative to  - inflation
growing too slowly relative to population level - unemployment

Solow growth model
Harrod Dolmar growth model

What growth rate is optimal?
What growth rate is too high?
What growth rate is too low?
How is growth related to inflation and unemployment?


Growth, unemployment and inflation.
Growing too slowly leads to unemployment above 6%.
Growing too quickly leads to inflation.  


Growth of the economy in terms of the number of jobs.
Growth of economy In relation to growth of population.
Growth of economy in relation to standard of living of population.


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DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

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PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT

Hunter - gatherer societies
Agrarian societies
Industrial societies
Information societies

Can any of the above stages of development be skipped?

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CAUSES OF DEVELOPMENT

Science and Technology
	Scientific knowledge spurs technology
	Technology makes possible more science.

Political climate
	Change viewed as good
	Laws reward innovation
	Lack of corruption.
	Rule of law

Educated people
	Literate people.
	Informed people.  Free press.  Free libraries.  Free public education.

Industrious people
	Not lazy

Justice
	People concerned with social justice and environmental sustainability.
	Government concerned with social justice and environmental sustainability.

Incentive
	Incentive for work.
	Incentive for invention and entrepreneurship.

Geography.  The land.
	Arable land.
	Waterways for transportation.
	Transportation. 
	Communication.
	Coasts and ports.

Infrastructure
	Roads
	Schools
	Hospitals.
	Communication lines.


Impediments to development include the lack of any of the above causes of development.


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GOALS OF DEVELOPMENT

Development that is sustainable, environmentally healthy and socially just.
Development without oppression and exploitation.
Development without destroying the earth.

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Development Economics Strategies
	Labor vs. Capital
	Small vs. Large
	Private vs. Public


1st world vs. 3rd world.
Rich countries vs. poor countries
Industrialized countries vs. non-industrialized countries
Northern hemisphere vs. Southern hemisphere

How can the rich countries avoid exploiting the poor countries?
How can the rich countries help get the poor countries on their feet?



Monetary aid.  
	Free money.
	Loans.

Food aid.


Political development.
	Move from dictatorships to democracy.
	Better legal system.  More justice.
Technological development
	Move from agrarian to industrial to information society
Economic development - diversity
	Move from poverty to monied.

Education
Health

Development as growth.  More people
Development as diversity.  More diversity and toleration.
Development as progress.


Amartya Sen



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POVERTY

What are the causes of poverty?

How is the poverty line determined?
How is the poverty line determined in the US?
How is the poverty line determined in the world?

What percentage of the US population lives in poverty?

What percentage of the world population lives in poverty?

Poverty has to do with individuals, not corporations or the government.
Poverty has to do with economic consumption.

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If you take the population and divide it into quarters, or tenths, or even percent by percent, how much income does each 

The top quarter of the population has what percent of total income?  70%?
The second quarter of the population has what percent of total income?  20%?
The third quarter of the population has what percent of total income?  8%?
The bottom quarter of the population has what percent of total income?  2%?

One sees that income is not distributed evenly.


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ECONOMICS CYCLES.

Boom 
Bust.

Over-capacity.
	Due to over-investment.
		Due to lack of forecasting
		Due to slowness of reaction of building, hiring, etc.

Economic cycles
Long cycles
	Kondratieff waves
Short cycles

Business cycles
	AS curve
	Phillips curve
	Unemployment
		Natural Unemployment (4%)
		measuring
		causes, effects
	Inflation
		measuring
		causes, effects

Stabilization theories.
How to stabilize the economy?  How to slow down a booming economy?  How to stimulate a receeding economy?

Keynesian theory.
Government spending during a depression.

Monetary policy.




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Technology and economics

The replacement of human workers by Industrial age machines.
Luddites.

The replacement of human workers by computers.

The replacement of human workers by robots.


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Computers and economics

Internet and economics.

Open source.  
	Many people, geographically dispersed, working for free.
	The product available for free.


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Economic eras or ages.

	Hunter / gatherer.

	Agrarian.

	Industrial.

	Post industrial.  Computer age.


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Economics and politics.

	Economic policies of the left.

	Economic policies of the right.

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World Trade Organization.  WTO


Who runs the WTO?


How influential is the WTO?


What are the goals of the WTO?


Arguments for the WTO

Increases world free trade.  

Raises standards of living worldwide.  

Improves economies worldwide.  

Modernizes countries technologically.  

Improves the political framwork of countries.


Arguments against the WTO

The WTO



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International Monetary Fund.  IMF.


What does IMF do.

Arranges loans to help poor countries.


How does IMF do.


How influential is the IMF?


Arguments for IMF


Arguments against the IMF.

By putting conditions on loans to poor countries, the IMF coerces poor countries to accept corporations.

The IMF helps rich countries dictate exploitive economic policies to poor countries.



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World Bank

What does World Bank do.

How does World Bank do it.

How influential is the World Bank?


Arguments for World Bank

Arguments against the World Bank.


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Economic indicators for US and World.

Employment
	Unemployment.

Housing starts.
New car sales.
Business starts and failures.
GNP per capita.

Foreign trade and investment.
	Foreign investment in US.
	US investment abroad.
	Exports v. imports.

Consumers
	Consumer spending, saving, investment.
	Consumer bankruptcies.

Business
	Business spending, saving, investment.
	Corporate bankruptcies.

Stocks.  
	Dow Jones industrial.
	NASDAQ
	World stock index.

Prices
	Consumer Price Index.

Money
	Inflation.
	Prime lending rate.
	Value of dollar v gold or other currencies.


Other indicators

Poltical indicators.

Technological indicators

Ecological indicators.

Quality of life index.

Number of people in jail.


US v. past US performance.
US v. other countries.




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Forms of Business

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"Businesses" that are not on the books, that do not get figured into economic statistics, and that do not pay taxes.

Barter economy.  
Barter is trade of goods and services conducted without the exchange of money.  Not recorded.  Not taxed.  How big is the barter economy?

Working "off the books".
Workers "off the books", for example, illegal immigrants working illegaly in legal businesses.  How big is this segment.

Unpaid labor
Unpaid labor, for example, housework done by housewives.  How big is this segment?

Illegal businesses.  
For example, illegal gambling, illegal prostitution, illegal drug selling, extortion, murder for hire, that is, criminal acts for money.  How big is this segment.

Slave labor. 
In some countries people are forced to work for no wages.  Slave labor is unethical and should be illegal.  How big is slave labor?

How much money are involved in the above activites?  What percentage relative to the legal economy? 


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Tax exempt organizations.  
What types are there?  Are all tax exempt organizatons non-profit organizations?

Non-profit organizations.  
How many are there in the U.S.?  How to measure what they accomplish if one does not measure it in dollars?


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Businesses that are not corporations.  

Small propriotorships.  
How many are there in the US?  What is their net worth?  What percent of US economy are they?

Small partnerships.  
How many are there in US?  What is their total worth?  What percentage of the US economy are they?


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Businesses corporations.
A business corporation is a legal creation.  Basically, no one is responsible for the economic losses of a corporation.  Is anyone responsible for the ethical and legal status of a corporation?  

Privately owned corporations.
Some business corporations are privately owned, not public.    How many are there in US?  What is their net worth?  What percent of US economy are they?

Publically owned corporations
Some business corporations are publically owned because they issued stock.  How many are there in US?  What is their net worth?  What percent of US economy are they?

All public corporations issue stock?  How much stock can they issue?  Is there a minimum limit?  Is there a maximum limit?


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World wide, there are many people working who are not part of businesses, for example, subsistance farmers in third world countries.  How to measure their output?


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HISTORY OF ECONOMICS (see history database)

History of Theory of Economics


Schools of economics

Classical school - a reaction against mercantalists
	Adam Smith.  "Wealth of Nations".
	David Ricardo.  Supply and demand.  International trade.

	Claims that "invisible hand" results in a self correcting economy.
	All savings are invested.
	Prices and wages are flexible.

Neoclassical school

Austrian school
	Von Hayek

Keynesian school.
	John Maynard Keynes.

	Government controls economy to even out the boom and bust business cycle, 
	in order to avoid recession and depression.

	Savers and investors are different
	Prices and wages are not flexible

Chicago school
	Milton Friedman

Marginalists.

Monetarists.  
	Control economy through control of money supply, which controls interest rates.

Rational Expectations

Supply side economics.

Marxian school


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History of Practice of Economics

Production.
Trade.  Barter.
Money.
Money lending.  Banks.  Savings.  Loans.  Interest rates.  
Taxes.
Feudalism.  Guilds.  Middle class.
Mercantalism
Corporations
Stock and Bond markets
Capitalism
Communism
Socialism
Accounting
Corporations.  Multinational corporations.
Consumer protection laws.
Anti-trust laws.  Monopoly busting.
Private property laws.
Public works projects.
Environmental protection laws.
Credit cards.
History of labour.
History of economics and business is closely tied with technology and politics.
Computerization of economics.
Mathmatization of economics.
Marketing, advertising.  
Internet trading of stocks.
International trade currency exchange.
Labor.  Minimum wage.  Maximum hour limits, 40 hour week, weekend.  Health benefits.
Welfare economics.  Social security.  Food stamps.  Medicare.  Medicaid.  



Primitive economies
Economies of primitive tribes during the 20th century.

Ancient civilization economies.
Ancient Egypt.  Mesopotamia.  Ancient Greece.  Ancient Rome.

Feudal economies

Agricultural economies

Industrial economies

Information economies.  Computer economies.  Internet economies.  Robotic economies.


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MORE TERMS IN ECONOMICS

Evolutionary economics

Environmental economics.  Sustainable economics.

Exchanges
NYSE
NASDAQ
AMEX

Indexes
S&P 500
Dow Jones Industrial
NYSE
NASDAQ

Commodities
Futures
Options.  Stock options.  Index options.
Mutual Funds.
Bonds.
Treasury bills.
Dividends.

Foreign Bourses.
Xetra Dax (Germany)
FTSE (England)
CAC (France)

World Stocks
MSCI World Index

Revenue (gross income)
Net income
Shares outstanding
Earnings per share (EPS)

multiplier effects

indifference curves.
Philips curve

regulation - government controlled
deregulation - not government controlled

privatization - privately owned
nationalization - government owned

uncertainty
risk - ex. risk due to uncertainty
risk of uncertainty
uncertainty of risk

dynamics
statics

resources
renewable
non-renewable

foreign exchange
gold standard
bretton-woods - pegged exchange rate

Smoot-Hawley Act - protectionism.  Helped cause the Great Depression.

Says law

Unconscious assumptions
Shopkeeper-customer relationship
honesty, informative, friendliness

short run
long run
USA too obsessed with short run

subsidies - a form of welfare?

Open Source, philosophy of

assets - financial and physical

BEA - break even analysis
ROI - return on investment

S&P
Moody's

expectations
rational expectations

Market efficiency and inefficiency
Inefficiency causes, effects or costs, and solutions

short term
long term

insurance
real estate

foreclosures
bankruptcy

barriers to entry

risk averse
risk loving

real estate
property - land and buildings
rent
mortgages

financial statements

savings
US citizens don't save enough

social security

productivity
personal
firm
nation
global

expenditures (spending)

Lorenz curve
Laffer curve
Phillips curve
Indifference curve

efficiency
inefficiency
efficiency of production
efficiency of exchange

Time value of money
Present value
Future value - predicted, not guaranteed
Past historical value


Business cycles: boom and bust.  Overproduction.  Excess capacity.

Unemployment as a result of a stagnant or shrinking economy.

Inflation as a result of underproduction.

Costs.  explicit, implicit.  short, long.  incremental, fixed.

Growth in size (dollars, people, geographic regions) vs. increase in diversity of business or trade.

Interest rates (raise and lower)

NICs  Newly Industrialized Countries
LDCs  Less Developed Countries

Profits = Revenues - Costs

econometrics

immigration

economies of scale

Income and Employment Determination
	Income-Expenditure models
	Income-Price models
	Multiplier Principle

Macro economic equilibrium.  
	Quantity theory of money
	Determination of the Interest Rate

Monetarism (i.e., neo-classicism)
	Rational Expectations model
	Income-Price model

Micro demand
	market demand, individual demand
	diminishing marginal utility
	equal marginal utility per dollar
	income effects.  Substitution effects
	consumer demand

Anti-trust Laws


Large cap companies
Mid cap companies
Small cap companies


Trading foreign currencies in hopes that they will appreciate in value relative to the US dollar.
Euro (Europe)
Yen (Japan)
Yuan (China)
Pound (Britain)
Franc (France)
Mark (Germany)
Peso (Mexico)



Raw material suppliers, Manufacturers, Wholesalers and Retailers.
How many of each?
What is the ration of each?  1 to 10 to 100 to 1000?
Wholesale and retail is about distrobution.
Markup of 100% by each.



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Hypothetical positions

No imports or exports, everything made in country..
All imports and exports, nothing made in country.
Equal balance between domestic trade and foreign trade.

All imports, no exports.
All exports, no imports.
Equal balance between imports and exports.


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Economic controls by government
Price control
	Minimum price: subsidies
	Maximum price
Wage control
	Minimum wage for workers
	Maximum wage for ceo's

cooperation
competition

regulation 
deregulation

privitization
nationalization

Nobel prize winners
2002 Kahneman
Amartya Sen

Money supply
interest rates.  
prime lending rate.

Government debt and deficit

producers
consumers

Corporations

Critique of free markets proceeds along the same lines as critiques of the stock market.
Consumers are not rational.


Supply and demand.
When supply exceeds demand then price goes down.
When demand exceeds supply then price goes up.
When supply equals demand the price is at equilibrium.

Goods
Services
Information

private property
public goods: healthcare, education, transportation, infrastructure.



USA.  Savings rate is down.  Even worse, credit card debt is up.


Michael Milken
Ivan Boesky
S&L scandal



1 trading partner (bad) versus many trading partners (good).
1 product produced for trade (bad) versus many products produced for trade (good).



Finance
Raising money: Commercial loans.  Stocks.  Bonds.
Investing profits: Growth, expansion.

Marketing
Radio, television, internet, newspapers, word of mouth, free samples.

Management
Set goals.  Cut costs.  Increase sales.  Improve products.  Develop new products.  Expand distribution into new geographic areas.








International labor.
How many franchises in how many countries?
How much product selling to other countries?  
How much revenue coming from which countries?

International labor
Labor is more expensive in first world countries than third world countries.
Labor is less expensive in third world countries.
Labor is also less expensive in countries where the currency is relatively weaker.



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