Economic equilibrium In economics, economic equilibrium is a state where economic forces such as supply and demand are balanced and in the absence of external influences the (equilibrium) values of economic variables will not change. For example, in the standard text-book model of perfect competition, equilibrium occurs at the point at which quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal.[1] Market equilibrium in this case refers to a condition where a market price is established through competition such that the amount of goods or services sought by buyers is equal to the amount of goods or services produced by sellers. This price is often called the competitive price or market clearing price and will tend not to change unless demand or supply changes and the quantity is called "competitive quantity" or market clearing quantity. Properties of equilibrium[edit] Three basic properties of equilibrium in general have been proposed by Huw Dixon.[2] These are: Example: The competitive equilibrium. See also[edit]
Thermoeconomics Thermoeconomics, also referred to as biophysical economics, is a school of heterodox economics that applies the laws of thermodynamics to economic theory.[1] The term "thermoeconomics" was coined in 1962 by American engineer Myron Tribus,[2][3][4] Thermoeconomics can be thought of as the statistical physics of economic value.[5] Basis[edit] Thermoeconomics is based on the proposition that the role of energy in biological evolution should be defined and understood through the second law of thermodynamics but in terms of such economic criteria as productivity, efficiency, and especially the costs and benefits (or profitability) of the various mechanisms for capturing and utilizing available energy to build biomass and do work.[6][7] Thermodynamics[edit] Thermoeconomists maintain that human economic systems can be modeled as thermodynamic systems. Economic systems[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b Sieniutycz, Stanislaw; Salamon, Peter (1990). Further reading[edit]
Gift economy A gift economy, gift culture or gift exchange is a mode of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards.[1] In contrast to a barter economy or a market economy, social norms and custom govern gift exchange, rather than an explicit exchange of goods or services for money or some other commodity.[2] According to anthropologists Maurice Bloch and Jonathan Parry, it is the unsettled relationship between market and non-market exchange that attracts the most attention. Gift economies are said, by some,[7] to build communities, and that the market serves as an acid on those relationships.[8] Principles of gift exchange[edit] Property and alienability[edit] Gift-giving is a form of transfer of property rights over particular objects. Gift vs prestation[edit] A Kula bracelet from the Trobriand Islands. Inalienable possessions[edit] Reciprocity and the "spirit of the gift"[edit] Charity, debt, and the 'poison of the gift'[edit]
Economic history Development as a separate field[edit] Treating economic history as a discrete academic discipline has been a contentious issue for many years. Academics at the London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge had numerous disputes over the separation of economics and economic history in the interwar era. In the initial period of the subject's development, the LSE position of separating economic history from economics won out. In the US, economic history has for a long time been regarded as a form of applied economics. In recent decades economic historians, following Douglass North, have tended to move away from narrowly quantitative studies toward institutional, social, and cultural history affecting the evolution of economies.[2][a 1] However, this trend has been criticized, most forcefully by Francesco Boldizzoni, as a form of economic imperialism "extending the neoclassical explanatory model to the realm of social relations History of socialism[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit]
World economy The world economy, or global economy, generally refers to the economy, which is based on economies of all of the world's countries' national economies. Also global economy can be seen as the economy of global society and national economies – as economies of local societies, making the global one. It can be evaluated in various kind of ways. It is inseparable from the geography and ecology of Earth, and is therefore something of a misnomer, since, while definitions and representations of the "world economy" vary widely, they must at a minimum exclude any consideration of resources or value based outside of the Earth. It is common to limit questions of the world economy exclusively to human economic activity, and the world economy is typically judged in monetary terms, even in cases in which there is no efficient market to help valuate certain goods or services, or in cases in which a lack of independent research or government cooperation makes establishing figures difficult.
Economic system Among existing economic systems, distinctive methods of analysis have developed, such as socialist economics and Islamic economic jurisprudence. Today the dominant form of economic organization at the global level is based on market-oriented mixed economies.[1] Economic systems is the category in the Journal of Economic Literature classification codes that includes the study of such systems. One field that cuts across them is comparative economic systems. Subcategories of different systems there include: planning, coordination, and reformproductive enterprises; factor and product markets; prices; populationpublic economics; financial economicsnational income, product, and expenditure; money; inflationinternational trade, finance, investment, and aidconsumer economics; welfare and povertyperformance and prospectsnatural resources; energy; environment; regional studiespolitical economy; legal institutions; property rights.[2] Components[edit] Types[edit] Capitalism[edit] Mixed economy[edit]
Business ethics Business ethics (also corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.[1] History[edit] Business ethical norms reflect the norms of each historical period. The term 'business ethics' came into common use in the United States in the early 1970s. Firms started highlighting their ethical stature in the late 1980s and early 1990s, possibly trying to distance themselves from the business scandals of the day, such as the savings and loan crisis. Overview[edit] Business ethics reflects the philosophy of business, one of whose aims is to determine the fundamental purposes of a company. Ethical issues include the rights and duties between a company and its employees, suppliers, customers and neighbors, its fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders.
Informal sector The informal sector or informal economy is that part of an economy that is not taxed, monitored by any form of government or included in any gross national product (GNP), unlike the formal economy.[1] Other terms used to refer to the informal sector can include the black market, the shadow economy, the underground economy, the agora, and System D. Associated idioms include "under the table", "off the books" and "working for cash". Definition[edit] The original use of the term ‘informal sector’ is attributed to the economic development model put forward by W. The term is also useful in describing and accounting for forms of shelter or living arrangements that are similarly unlawful, unregulated, or not afforded protection of the state. Informality, both in housing and livelihood generation has often been seen as a social ill, and described either in terms of what participant’s lack, or wish to avoid. History[edit] Statistics[edit] Estimated size of countries' informal economy[edit]
Consumer spending Macroeconomic factors affecting spending[edit] Taxes[edit] Taxes are a tool in the adjustment of the economy. Tax policies designed by governments affect consumer groups, net consumer spending and consumer confidence. Underlying tax manipulation as a stimulant or suppression of consumer spending is an equation for GDP. Consumer sentiment[edit] Consumer sentiments are the attitudes of households and other entities toward the economy and the health of the fiscal markets, and they are a strong constituent of consumer spending. Government economic stimulus[edit] In times of economic trouble or uncertainty, the government often tries to rectify the issue by distributing economic stimuli, often in the form of rebates or checks. Oil[edit] Oil is an extremely valuable and vital resource to economies and societies everywhere. Luxury consumer spending in the United States[edit] Luxury goods[edit] Debt[edit] Consumerism[edit] Data[edit] United States[edit] See also[edit] References[edit]
Econometrics Econometrics is the application of mathematics, statistical methods, and, more recently, computer science, to economic data and is described as the branch of economics that aims to give empirical content to economic relations.[1] More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on the concurrent development of theory and observation, related by appropriate methods of inference."[2] An introductory economics textbook describes econometrics as allowing economists "to sift through mountains of data to extract simple relationships Econometrics is the intersection of economics, mathematics, and statistics. Basic econometric models: linear regression[edit] The basic tool for econometrics is the linear regression model. Okun's law representing the relationship between GDP growth and the unemployment rate. For example, consider Okun's law, which relates GDP growth to the unemployment rate. ) is a function of an intercept ( and an error term, and can be estimated.
Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as "an aggregate measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident, institutional units engaged in production (plus any taxes, and minus any subsidies, on products not included in the value of their outputs)."[2] GDP estimates are commonly used to measure the economic performance of a whole country or region, but can also measure the relative contribution of an industry sector. This is possible because GDP is a measure of 'value added' rather than sales; it adds each firm's value added (the value of its output minus the value of goods that are used up in producing it). The more familiar use of GDP estimates is to calculate the growth of the economy from year to year (and recently from quarter to quarter). History[edit] The history of the concept of GDP should be distinguished from the history of changes in ways of estimating it. Determining GDP[edit]
Exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate (also known as a foreign-exchange rate, forex rate, FX rate or Agio) between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency.[1] For example, an interbank exchange rate of 119 Japanese yen (JPY, ¥) to the United States dollar (US$) means that ¥119 will be exchanged for each US$1 or that US$1 will be exchanged for each ¥119. In this case it is said that the price of a dollar in terms of yen is ¥119, or equivalently that the price of a yen in terms of dollars is $1/119. Exchange rates are determined in the foreign exchange market,[2] which is open to a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers where currency trading is continuous: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 GMT on Sunday until 22:00 GMT Friday. Retail exchange market[edit] Quotations[edit] Exchange rates display in Thailand Main article: Currency pair