What does economics study

Что такое микроэкономика и макроэкономика?

What does economics study?

What do you think of when you hear the word economics? Money, certainly, and perhaps more complicated things like business, inflation and unemployment. The science of economics studies all of these, but many more things as well. Perhaps you think that economics is all about the decisions that governments and business managers take. In fact, economists study the decisions we all take every day.

Very simply, economics studies the way people deal with a fact of life: resources are limited, but our demand for them certainly is not. Resources may be material things as food, housing and heating. There are some resources, through, that we cannot touch. Time, space and convenience, for example, are also resources. Think of a day. There are only 24 hours in one, and we have to choose the best way to spend them. Our everyday lives are full of decisions like these. Every decision we make is a trade-off. If you spend more time working, you make more money. However, you will have less time to relax. Economists study the trade-offs people make. They study the reasons for their decisions. They look at the effects those decisions have on our lives and our society.

Что изучает экономика?

О чем вы думаете, когда слышите слово экономика? О деньгах, конечно, и, возможно о более сложных вещах, таких как бизнес, инфляция и безработица. Экономическая наука изучает все это, а также многое другое. Возможно, вы думаете, что экономика – это решения, которые делают правительства и бизнес-менеджеры. На самом деле, экономика изучает решения, которые ежедневно делаем мы.

Проще говоря, экономика изучает то, как люди справляются с таким жизненным фактом: ресурсы ограничены, а наш спрос на них – нет. Ресурсами могут быть такие материальные вещи, как питание, жилье и отопление. Есть ресурсы, которые мы не можем потрогать. Время, пространство и комфорт, например, тоже ресурсы. Подумайте о сутках. В них всего лишь 24 часа и нам необходимо выбрать лучший способ провести их. Наша жизнь полна таких решений. Каждое наше решение – это компромисс. Если вы потратите больше времени на работу, вы получите больше денег. Однако у вас будет меньше времени на отдых. Экономисты изучают компромиссы, на которые идут люди. Они изучают причины этих решений. Они анализируют, какие последствия оказывают эти решения на нашу жизнь и на общество.

What are microeconomics and macroeconomics?

Economists talk about microeconomics and macroeconomic. Microeconomics deals with people, like you and me, and private businesses. It looks at the economic decisions people make every day. It examines how families manage their household budgets. Microeconomics also deals with companies – small or large – and how they run their business. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, looks at the economy of a country – and of the whole world. Any economist will tell you, through, that microeconomics and macroeconomics are closely related. All of our daily microeconomic decisions have an effect on the wider world around us.

Another way to look at the science of economics is to ask, ‘what’s it good for?’ Economists don’t all agree on the answer to this question. Some practice positive economics. They study economic data and try to explain the behaviour of the economy. They also try to guess economic changes before they happen. Others practice normative economics. They suggest how to improve the economy. Positive economists say, ‘this is how it is’. Normative economists say, ‘we should…’.

So what do economists do? Mainly, they do three things: collect data, create economic models and formulate theories. Data collection can include facts and figures about almost anything, from birth rates to coffee production. Economic models show relationships between these different data. For example, the relationship between the money people earn and unemployment. From this information, economists try to make theories which explain why the economy works the way it does.

Что такое микроэкономика и макроэкономика?

Экономисты говорят о микроэкономике и макроэкономике. Микроэкономика имеет дело с людьми, такими как вы и я, и частным бизнесом. Она смотрит на экономические решения, которые люди делают каждый день. Она исследует, как семьи управляют домашними хозяйствами. Микроэкономика также имеет дело с предприятиями – малыми или большими – и как они ведут бизнес. С другой стороны, макроэкономика рассматривает экономику страны и всего мира. Любой экономист скажет, что микроэкономика и макроэкономика тесно связаны. Все наши ежедневные микроэкономические решения влияют на мир вокруг нас.

По-другому посмотреть на экономическую науку можно, задав вопрос: «для чего это надо?» Не все экономисты согласны с ответом на этот вопрос. Некоторые занимаются позитивной экономикой. Они изучают экономические данные и пытаются объяснить поведение экономики. Они также пытаются предугадать экономические изменения до того, как они произошли. Другие занимаются нормативной экономикой. Они предлагают способы улучшения экономики. Позитивные экономисты говорят: «именно так оно и есть». Нормативные экономисты говорят: «мы должны…».

Итак, что делают экономисты? Главным образом, они делают три вещи: собирают информацию, создают экономические модели и формулируют теории. Сбор информации может включать факты и цифры почти о чем угодно, от рождаемости до производства кофе. Экономические модели показывают взаимосвязь между этими различными данными. Например, взаимосвязь между деньгами, которые зарабатывают люди и безработицей. С помощью этой информации экономисты пытаются сформулировать теории, которые объяснят, почему экономика работает так, как работает.

англ яз. What does economics study

What does economics study?

What do you think of when you hear the word economics? Money, certainly, and perhaps more complicated things like business, inflation and unemployment. The science of economics studies all of these, but many more things as well. Perhaps you think that economics is all about the decisions that governments and business managers take. In fact, economists study the decisions we all take every day.

Very simply, economics studies the way people deal with a fact of life: resources are limited, but our demand for them certainly is not. Resources may be material things as food, housing and heating. There are some resources, through, that we cannot touch. Time, space and convenience, for example, are also resources. Think of a day. There are only 24 hours in one, and we have to choose the best way to spend them. Our everyday lives are full of decisions like these. Every decision we make is a trade-off. If you spend more time working, you make more money. However, you will have less time to relax. Economists study the trade-offs people make. They study the reasons for their decisions. They look at the effects those decisions have on our lives and our society.

Что изучает экономика?

О чем вы думаете, когда слышите слово экономика? О деньгах, конечно, и, возможно о более сложных вещах, таких как бизнес, инфляция и безработица. Экономическая наука изучает все это, а также многое другое. Возможно, вы думаете, что экономика – это решения, которые делают правительства и бизнес-менеджеры. На самом деле, экономика изучает решения, которые ежедневно делаем мы.

Проще говоря, экономика изучает то, как люди справляются с таким жизненным фактом: ресурсы ограничены, а наш спрос на них – нет. Ресурсами могут быть такие материальные вещи, как питание, жилье и отопление. Есть ресурсы, которые мы не можем потрогать. Время, пространство и комфорт, например, тоже ресурсы. Подумайте о сутках. В них всего лишь 24 часа и нам необходимо выбрать лучший способ провести их. Наша жизнь полна таких решений. Каждое наше решение – это компромисс. Если вы потратите больше времени на работу, вы получите больше денег. Однако у вас будет меньше времени на отдых. Экономисты изучают компромиссы, на которые идут люди. Они изучают причины этих решений. Они анализируют, какие последствия оказывают эти решения на нашу жизнь и на общество.

What are microeconomics and macroeconomics?

Economists talk about microeconomics and macroeconomic. Microeconomics deals with people, like you and me, and private businesses. It looks at the economic decisions people make every day. It examines how families manage their household budgets. Microeconomics also deals with companies – small or large – and how they run their business. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, looks at the economy of a country – and of the whole world. Any economist will tell you, through, that microeconomics and macroeconomics are closely related. All of our daily microeconomic decisions have an effect on the wider world around us.

Another way to look at the science of economics is to ask, ‘what’s it good for?’ Economists don’t all agree on the answer to this question. Some practice positive economics. They study economic data and try to explain the behaviour of the economy. They also try to guess economic changes before they happen. Others practice normative economics. They suggest how to improve the economy. Positive economists say, ‘this is how it is’. Normative economists say, ‘we should…’.

So what do economists do? Mainly, they do three things: collect data, create economic models and formulate theories. Data collection can include facts and figures about almost anything, from birth rates to coffee production. Economic models show relationships between these different data. For example, the relationship between the money people earn and unemployment. From this information, economists try to make theories which explain why the economy works the way it does.

Что такое микроэкономика и макроэкономика?

Экономисты говорят о микроэкономике и макроэкономике. Микроэкономика имеет дело с людьми, такими как вы и я, и частным бизнесом. Она смотрит на экономические решения, которые люди делают каждый день. Она исследует, как семьи управляют домашними хозяйствами. Микроэкономика также имеет дело с предприятиями – малыми или большими – и как они ведут бизнес. С другой стороны, макроэкономика рассматривает экономику страны и всего мира. Любой экономист скажет, что микроэкономика и макроэкономика тесно связаны. Все наши ежедневные микроэкономические решения влияют на мир вокруг нас.

По-другому посмотреть на экономическую науку можно, задав вопрос: «для чего это надо?» Не все экономисты согласны с ответом на этот вопрос. Некоторые занимаются позитивной экономикой. Они изучают экономические данные и пытаются объяснить поведение экономики. Они также пытаются предугадать экономические изменения до того, как они произошли. Другие занимаются нормативной экономикой. Они предлагают способы улучшения экономики. Позитивные экономисты говорят: «именно так оно и есть». Нормативные экономисты говорят: «мы должны…».

Итак, что делают экономисты? Главным образом, они делают три вещи: собирают информацию, создают экономические модели и формулируют теории. Сбор информации может включать факты и цифры почти о чем угодно, от рождаемости до производства кофе. Экономические модели показывают взаимосвязь между этими различными данными. Например, взаимосвязь между деньгами, которые зарабатывают люди и безработицей. С помощью этой информации экономисты пытаются сформулировать теории, которые объяснят, почему экономика работает так, как работает.

History of economic thought

Economic thought goes back thousands of years. The ancient Greek, Xenophon, used the word oikonomikos (from oikos, meaning family, household, estate, and nomos, for usage, law). He was talking about skilful or clever ways to manage land and households. We could call many of Aristotle’s political writings economics, although he did not use the word. The English word economics first appeared in the 19 th century – two and a half thousand years after Xenophon.

Early economic thought was all about the meaning of wealth or being rich. There early thinkers asked, ‘what makes a state or a country wealthy?’ For nearly 2,000 years, the answer was very simple: gold. A country or a nation’s wealth depended on its owning precious metals. This simple view of the economy remained until medieval times.

During medieval times – roughly the period between 1100 and 1500 AD, trading between nations grew, and a new social class appeared. These were merchants, people who made their money through the buying and selling of goods, and they began to write their own thoughts on the economy. They saw the economy as a way to make the state strong. For them, the nation’s wealth depended on stocks of gold and the size of population. More people meant bigger armies and a stronger state.

These were still simple ideas. However, daily experience had also taught people many basic economic concepts. For example, they understood the importance of trade with other states. They realized that scarcity makes things more expensive and abundance makes them cheaper.

Modern economics was really born in the 19 th century. At this time, thinkers like Adam Smith wrote down ideas that are still important today. Adam Smith if often called the Father of Modern Economics, although the science was called political economy then. Smith realized that a nation’s wealth depended on its ability to produce goods. The value of these goods depended on the cost of production. The cost of production depended on the cost of workers, raw materials and land. This was really the first example of macroeconomics.

Smith and other classical economists were writing at a time of great change. The industrial revolution had begun. Paper money began to replace precious metals. The middle classes were growing stronger. Economists’ theories echoed these changes. They wrote about the division of labour (each worker taking part in the production process). They discussed the problem of population growth. They influenced thinking about social classes.

For classical economists, the value of goods depends on the cost of production. However, the price of goods is not always the same as their real cost. Later economists developed new theories to explain the weakness in classical economics. These are known as the neoclassical economists and they were writing at the end of the 19 th and the early 20 th centuries.

In neoclassical economics, supply and demand make the economy work. In other words, the price of goods depends on how much people want them and how easily they can be found. Consumers want satisfaction from their resources (time and money). Firms want profit. In neoclassical economics this is the basic relationship in the economy. These ideas are still the basic of economic thinking today.

История экономической мысли

Экономическая мысль насчитывает тысячи лет. Древнегреческий писатель, Ксенофонт, использовал слово oikonomikos (от oikos – семья, домашнее хозяйство, имущество, и nomos – пользование, закон). Он говорил об умелых и рациональных способах распоряжения землей и домашним хозяйством. Множество политических писаний Аристотеля можно назвать экономикой, хотя он и не использовал это слово. Английское слово экономика впервые появилось в 19-ом веке – через две с половиной тысячи лет после Ксенофонта.

Ранние экономические мысли были только о значении благосостояния и богатства. Ранние мыслители спрашивали: «что делает государство или страну богатыми?» Почти 2000 лет ответ был очень прост: золото. Богатство страны или нации зависело от владения драгоценными металлами. Этот простой взгляд на экономику просуществовал до средневековья.

В средневековье – приблизительно в период между 1100 и 1500 н.э., росла торговля между странами, появился новый социальный класс. Это были купцы – люди, которые зарабатывали, продавая и покупая товары. Они начали записывать собственные мысли об экономике. Они видели экономику, как один из способов сделать государство устойчивым. По их мнению, благосостояние нации зависело от запасов золота и численности населения. Все больше людей имело в виду более многочисленные армии и более сильное государство.

Пока это все еще были простые мысли. Однако повседневный опыт научил людей многим базовым экономическим концепциям. Например, они осознали важность торговли с другими странами. Они поняли, что дефицит делает товары дороже, а избыток – дешевле.

Современная экономика, в действительности, родилась в 19-ом веке. В это время, такие мыслители, как Адам Смит, высказали мысли, которые до сих пор важны. Адама Смита часто называют отцом современной экономики, хотя тогда наука называлась политической экономией. Смит понял, что богатство нации зависит от ее возможностей производить товары. Стоимость этих товаров зависит от стоимости производства, которая, в свою очередь, зависит от стоимости рабочей силы, сырья и земли. На самом деле, это был первый пример макроэкономики.

Смит и другие классические экономисты писали во времена великих изменений. Началась промышленная революция. Бумажные деньги стали заменять драгоценные металлы. Крепли средние классы. Теории экономистов отражали эти изменения. Они писали о разделении труда (каждый работник принимает участие в процессе производства). Они обсуждали проблемы роста численности населения. Они обратили внимание на социальные классы.

По мнению классических экономистов, стоимость товаров зависит от стоимости производства. Однако цена товаров не всегда равна их реальной стоимости. Позже экономисты разработали новые теории, чтобы объяснить этот недостаток классической экономики. Они известны как неоклассические экономисты, писавшие в конце 19-го, начале 20-го веков.

Economics

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master’s in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

What Is Economics?

Economics is a social science that focuses on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, and analyzes the choices that individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make to allocate resources.

Key Takeaways

Investopedia / Zoe Hansen

Understanding Economics

Assuming humans have unlimited wants within a world of limited means, economists analyze how resources are allocated for production, distribution, and consumption.

The study of microeconomics focuses on the choices of individuals and businesses, and macroeconomics concentrates on the behavior of the economy as a whole, on an aggregate level.

One of the earliest recorded economists was the 8th-century B.C. Greek farmer and poet Hesiod who wrote that labor, materials, and time needed to be allocated efficiently to overcome scarcity. The publication of Adam Smith’s 1776 book, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations sparked the beginning of the current Western contemporary economic theories.

Microeconomics

Microeconomics studies how individual consumers and firms make decisions to allocate resources. Whether a single person, a household, or a business, economists may analyze how these entities respond to changes in price and why they demand what they do at particular price levels.

Microeconomics analyzes how and why goods are valued differently, how individuals make financial decisions, and how they trade, coordinate, and cooperate.

Within the dynamics of supply and demand, the costs of producing goods and services, and how labor is divided and allocated, microeconomics studies how businesses are organized and how individuals approach uncertainty and risk in their decision-making.

Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that studies the behavior and performance of an economy as a whole. Its primary focus is the recurrent economic cycles and broad economic growth and development.

It focuses on foreign trade, government fiscal and monetary policy, unemployment rates, the level of inflation, interest rates, the growth of total production output, and business cycles that result in expansions, booms, recessions, and depressions.

Using aggregate indicators, economists use macroeconomic models to help formulate economic policies and strategies.

What Is the Role of an Economist?

An economist studies the relationship between a society’s resources and its production or output, and their opinions help shape economic policies related to interest rates, tax laws, employment programs, international trade agreements, and corporate strategies.

Economists analyze economic indicators, such as gross domestic product and the consumer price index to identify potential trends or make economic forecasts.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 36% of all economists in the United States work for a federal or state agency. Economists are also employed as professors, by corporations, or as part of economic think tanks.

What Are Economic Indicators?

Economic indicators detail a country’s economic performance. Published periodically by governmental agencies or private organizations, economic indicators often have a considerable effect on stocks, employment, and international markets, and often predict future economic conditions that will move markets and guide investment decisions.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The gross domestic product (GDP) is considered the broadest measure of a country’s economic performance. It calculates the total market value of all finished goods and services produced in a country in a given year. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) also issues a regular report during the latter part of each month. Many investors, analysts, and traders focus on the advance GDP report and the preliminary report, both issued before the final GDP figures because the GDP is considered a lagging indicator, meaning it can confirm a trend but can’t predict a trend.

GDPNow

The GDPNow forecasting model, used by the Federal Reserve, provides a «nowcast» of the official estimate before its release by estimating GDP growth using a methodology similar to the one used by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Retail sales

Reported by the Department of Commerce (DOC) during the middle of each month, the retail sales report is very closely watched and measures the total receipts, or dollar value, of all merchandise sold in stores. Sampling retailers across the country acts as a proxy of consumer spending levels. Consumer spending represents more than two-thirds of GDP, proving useful to gauge the economy’s general direction.

Industrial production

The industrial production report, released monthly by the Federal Reserve, reports changes in the production of factories, mines, and utilities in the U.S. One measure included in this report is the capacity utilization ratio, which estimates the portion of productive capacity that is being used rather than standing idle in the economy. Capacity utilization in the range of 82% to 85% is considered «tight» and can increase the likelihood of price increases or supply shortages in the near term. Levels below 80% are interpreted as showing «slack» in the economy, which may increase the likelihood of a recession.

Employment Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases employment data in a report called the nonfarm payrolls on the first Friday of each month. Sharp increases in employment indicate prosperous economic growth and potential contractions may be imminent if significant decreases occur. These are generalizations and it is important to consider the current position of the economy.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), also issued by the BLS, measures the level of retail price changes, and the costs that consumers pay, and is the benchmark for measuring inflation. Using a basket that is representative of the goods and services in the economy, the CPI compares the price changes month after month and year after year. This report is an important economic indicator and its release can increase volatility in equity, fixed income, and forex markets. Greater-than-expected price increases are considered a sign of inflation, which will likely cause the underlying currency to depreciate.

Economic Systems

Five economic systems illustrate historical practices used to allocate resources to meet the needs of the individual and society.

Primitivism

In primitive agrarian societies, individuals produced necessities from building dwellings, growing crops, and hunting game at the household or tribal level.

Feudalism

A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to 15th century, feudalism was defined by the lords who held land and leased it to peasants for production, who received a promise of safety and security from the lord.

Capitalism

With the advent of the industrial revolution, capitalism emerged and is defined as a system of production where business owners organize resources including tools, workers, and raw materials to produce goods for market consumption and earn profits. Supply and demand set prices in markets in a way that can serve the best interests of society.

Socialism

Socialism is a form of a cooperative production economy. Economic socialism is a system of production where there is limited or hybrid private ownership of the means of production. Prices, profits, and losses are not the determining factors used to establish who engages in the production, what to produce and how to produce it.

Communism

Communism holds that all economic activity is centralized through the coordination of state-sponsored central planners with common ownership of production and distribution.

Schools of Economic Theory

Many economic theories have evolved as societies and markets have grown and changed. However, three disciplines of economics, neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian, have influenced modern society.

The principles of neoclassical economics are often used as a framework to illustrate the virtues of capitalism, including the tendency of market prices to reach equilibrium as the volume of supply and demand changes. The optimal valuation of resources emerges from the forces of individual desire and scarcity.

John Maynard Keynes developed the theory of Keynesian economics during the Great Depression. Arguing against neoclassical theory, Keynes showed that the restrained markets and government intervention in markets create a stable and equitable economic system and advocated for a monetary policy designed to boost demand and investor confidence during economic downturns.

Marxian economics is defined in Karl Marx’s work Das Kapital. Marxian economics is a rejection of the classical view of economics arguing against the idea that the free market, an economic system determined by supply and demand with little or no government control, benefits society. He espoused that capitalism only benefits a select few and that the ruling class becomes richer by extracting value out of cheap labor provided by the working class.

What Is a Command Economy?

A command economy is an economy in which production, investment, prices, and incomes are determined centrally by a government. A communist society has a command economy.

What Is Behavioral Economics?

Behavioral economics combines psychology, judgment, decision-making, and economics to understand human behavior.

Who Has Influenced the Study of Economics in the 21st Century?

Since 2000, several economists have won the Nobel Prize in economics, including David Card for his contributions to labor economics, Angus Deaton for his study of consumption, poverty, and welfare, and Paul Krugman for his analysis of trade patterns.

Brandon Dupont. «The History of Economic Ideas: Economic Thought in Contemporary Context,» Pages 12-13. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 2017.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. «Economists.»

Atlanta Federal Reserve. «GDPNow.»

United States Census Bureau. «Monthly Retail Trade.»

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. «Economic News Releases.»

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. «Consumer Price Index.»

Bureau of Labor Statistics. «Dueling Economies.»

1. Прочитайте и переведите письменно текст.

WHAT DOES ECONOMICS STUDY?

What do you think of when you hear the word economics? Money, certainly, and perhaps more complicated things like business, inflation and unemployment. The science of economics studies all of these, but many more things as well. Perhaps you think that economics is all about the decisions that governments and business managers take. In fact, economists study the decisions that we all take every day.

Very simply, economics studies the way people deal with a fact of life: resources are limited, but our demand for them certainly is not. Resources may be material things such as food, housing and heating. There are some resources, though, that we cannot touch. Time, space and convenience, for example, are also resources. Think of a day. There are only 24 hours in one, and we have to choose the best way to spend them. Our everyday lives are full of decisions like these.

Every decision we make is a trade-off. If you spend more time working, you make more money. However, you will have less time to relax. Economists study the trade-offs people make. They study the reasons for their decisions. They look at the effects those decisions have on our lives and our society.

What are microeconomics and macroeconomics?

Economists talk about microeconomics and macroeconomics.

Another way to look at the science of economics is to ask, ‘what’s it good for?’ Economists don’t all agree on the answer to this question. Some practise positive economics. They study economic data and try to explain the behavior of the economy. They also try to guess economic changes before they happen. Others practise normative economics. They suggest how to improve the economy. Positive economists say, ‘this is how it is’. Normative economists say, ‘we should ‘.

So what do economists do? Mainly, they do three things: collect data, create economic models and formulate theories. Data collection can include facts and figures about almost anything, from birth rates to coffee production. Economic models show relationships between these different data. For example, the relationship between the money people earn and unemployment. From this information, economists try to make theories which explain why the economy works the way it does.

2. Ответьте письменно на вопросы по тексту.

a) What does economics study?

b) What does microeconomics deal with?

c) What does macroeconomics look at?

d) What’s the difference between positive and normative economics?

e) What are the three things that economists do?

3. Подберите к терминам соответствующие определения:

1. budget A. the people who control a country and make laws

2. business B. information

3. convenience C. company that sells goods or services

4. data D. easiness

5. demand E. the amount of money you have for something

6. government F. how much people want something

7. inflation G. the number of people without work

8. resources H. something such as money, workers or minerals belonging to an organization, country, which can be used to function properly

9. trade-off I. rising prices

10. unemployment J. giving away something in exchange for something

4. Переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на функции инфинитива.

a) It is important to carry out theses changes as quickly as possible.

b) To encourage our employees to develop their skills is one of the prime concerns of management.

c) The employers agreed to accept the terms pf the pay deal.

d) Another fact to be born in mind is that some of these ratios only apply to domestic output.

e) The advanced countries provide technical experts to advise and assist the developing countries in their efforts to achieve growth.

Задание 5. Переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на формы и функции герундия.

a) The control of the money supply is one of the most important instruments for regulating total demand in an economy.

b) We discussed opening a new business.

c) Increasing wage rates attracts more workers and encourages them to work longer hours.

d) Many people get satisfaction from doing a good job and creating something useful or beautiful.

e) Imposing taxes on harmful products discourages people ​

Economics

Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth in human society, but this perspective is only one among many different definitions. Economics is also the study of people (as consumers) making choices about which products and goods to buy.

Indiana University says that economics is a social science that studies human behavior. It has a unique method for analyzing and predicting individual behavior as well as the effects of institutions such as firms and governments, clubs, and even religions.

Definition of Economics: The Study of Resource Use

Economics is the study of choices. Though some believe that economics is driven purely by money or capital, the choice is much more expansive. If the study of economics is the study of how people choose to use their resources, analysts must also consider all of their possible resources, of which money is but one.

In practice, resources can encompass everything from time to knowledge and property to tools. As such, economics helps illustrate how people interact within the market to realize their diverse goals.

Beyond defining what these resources are, the concept of scarcity is also an important consideration. These resources—no matter how broad the category—are limited, which is the source of tension in the choices people and society make: Their decisions are a result of the constant tug of war between unlimited wants and desires and limited resources.

Many people break down the study of economics into two broad categories: microeconomics and macroeconomics.

Microeconomics

The Dictionary of Economics defines microeconomics as «the study of economics at the level of individual consumers, groups of consumers, or firms,» Microeconomics is the analysis of the decisions made by individuals and groups, the factors that affect those decisions, and how those decisions affect others.

Microeconomics deals with economic decisions made at a low, or micro, level. From this standpoint, microeconomics is sometimes considered the starting point for the study of macroeconomics, as the former takes a more bottom-up approach to analyze and understand the economy. The prefix micro- means small, and, not surprisingly, microeconomics is the study of small economic units. The field of microeconomics is concerned with:

Microeconomics concerns itself with the behavior of individual markets, such as the markets for oranges, cable television, or skilled workers, as opposed to overall markets for produce, electronics, or the entire workforce. Microeconomics is essential for local governance, business, personal finance, specific stock investment research, and individual market predictions for venture capitalists.

Macroeconomics

In contrast to microeconomics, macroeconomics considers similar questions but at a larger scale. The study of macroeconomics deals with the sum total of the decisions made by individuals in a society or nation such as, «How does a change in interest rates influence national savings?» It looks at the way nations allocate resources such as labor, land, and capital.

Macroeconomics can be thought of as the big-picture version of economics. Rather than analyzing individual markets, macroeconomics focuses on aggregate production and consumption in an economy. Topics that macroeconomists study include:

To study economics at this level, researchers must be able to combine different goods and services produced in a way that reflects their relative contributions to aggregate output. This is generally done using the concept of the gross domestic product, where goods and services are weighted by their market prices.

What Economists Do

Economists do many things, such as:

Economists hold positions in business, government, and academia. An economist’s focus may be on a particular topic, like inflation or interest rates, or her approach might be broader. Using their understanding of economic relationships, economists might be employed to advise businesses, nonprofits, labor unions, or government agencies. Many economists are involved in the practical application of economic policy, which could include a focus on several areas from finance to labor or energy to health care.

Some economists are primarily theoreticians and may spend a majority of their days deep in mathematical models to develop new economic theories and discover new economic relationships. Others may devote their time equally to research and teaching, holding a position as a professor to mentor the next generation of economists and economic thinkers.