Welcome to CIA4U1

Semester 1 2012-2013Ms. LeMoine

• Here we will look at economic basics:

UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTIONUNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION

The Who:

not to be confused with The Who

• the what

• the where and when This one is easy: -

everywhere and always

• the why

• and, of course, the sixth “w” how

and thus in summary...

Get it? Well, stay tuned...more to come.

Now, a little bit about economics itself.

Economics Defined:• Economics is the science

and use of goods and servicesthat deals with the

production, allocation,

The Dismal Science Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)

• Okay - Economics doesn’t have the best reputation - then again neither do economists.

If all the economists in the world were laid end to end, it wouldn't be a bad thing. Peter Lynch

If all the economists were laid end to end, they'd never reach a conclusion. George Bernard Shaw

If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid. John Maynard Keynes

• It is often said that if you put ten economists in one room to solve a problem you come out with eleven solutions.

Meet Adam Smith and Karl Marx.

(More on them later)

• How can this be?

UNIT TWO: MICROECONOMICS•

IT’S REALLY ALL ABOUT SUPPLY AND DEMAND

• Scarcity

• Resources

• Opportunity cost

• Needs vs. Wants

• Choices

• Decision Making

First the basics

• Then a closer look at Supply and Demand

The Laws

Pretty simple really - they either go up or down.

The Curves...first alone

Demand Supply

...and then together

And finally...The elasticity of Supply and Demand

Yup, it really has to do with how changeable supply and demand

are.

Then we look at Business Structures

What’s the difference between Jim’s Pizza Palace, IBM, Canada Post, and Mountain Equipment Co-op?

Which is better?

Can you say Oligopoly?

Well, anyway, it’s basically about competition.

And Market Structures

What is Monopolistic Competition?

• Corporate Concentration

• and Cartels - legal and otherwise

Unit two concludes with a brief look at

• YEAH Macroeconomics! Well...it’s better than Micro anyway.

UNIT THREE: MACROECONOMICS

How do we measure activity in the economy?

• GDP

• - Gross Domestic Product

• CPI

• - Consumer Price Index

• Labour Survey

• CLI

• - Composite Leading Indicator

How do we control economic activity?

Do we let the invisible hand run amuck or...

...do we use:• Fiscal Policy

and/or

• Monetary Policy

And this leads to: Money and the Canadian Banking System

UNIT FOUR: ECONOMIC DECISION MAKING

The Welfare State

hmmm...do you think it’s working?

Yeah Taxation!!!!Quite simply you can’t live with it...

...and you can’t live without it.

But is it working anyway?

UNIT FIVE: THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

• Trade:

• Globalization

• Economic Development

• Globalization

• Economic Development