Instructions
Listed below are possible discussion topics for this module, but if you have personal experiences or examples that relate to the topics presented in the assigned readings, please feel free to add those to this discussion as well. In developing your thoughts and opinions here, please look to incorporate citations and statistics both from the textbook and other outside sources. Lastly, let’s always remember to keep these discussions civilized and respectful, even when we disagree on certain topics.
Module 1:
1.Give an example of how “scarcity” plays a role in your daily life and decision making. What are the opportunities forgone as a result of the choices made?
2.In your work places what examples of trade offs do you see on a daily basis? What are the dominant factors of production that are seen in your places of employment?
3.In thinking about how you make choices as individuals, what influences your economic decision making? How do you come to decisions in terms of consumption and how you use your resources?
4.In our society who dictates What is Produced? Consumers or Producers? Please cite specific examples here in developing your thoughts on this topic.
Answer
M1 Icebreaker Discussion
Scarcity is the situation of limited accessibility of goods and services an individual wants. Scarcity exists because human needs for goods and services exceed the rate of production of goods and services. Finances are an example of a scarce resource that plays a role in our daily life and decision-making. For instance, people with limited finances are seen to make decisions that are not effective (Kapp, Berger & Steppacher, 2011). Such cases are exhibited by such as late access to needs such as medication and managing finances. People make bad decisions because scarcity distracts them from concentrating on other. Consequently, an inference from this discussion indicates access to good health as one of the opportunities foregone due to scarcity.
In economics, Trade-off refers to the exchange of one resource for another resource of more or less equal worth, especially to effect a negotiation. According to Kapp, Berger and Steppacher (2011), resources available for production may be in a limited amount. Therefore, it is upon the firm to plan in effectively to know which tradeoff of resources will be effective. An example of a trade-off in a firm can be using capital-intensive technology rather than hiring more employees. The dominant factors of production what is used in the production process to produce output. The dominant factors of production in my area of work include land, capital, labor and entrepreneurship.
When making choices as an individual, there are factors that influence economic decision-making. Those factors include Constraints of a budget influence nearly all economic decisions, desire to maximize benefits while minimizing costs, and rational decision making (Silvia, 2011). An individual considers many factors in decisions in terms of consumption. Some of these factors include prices of the resources and availability of such resources.
In our society, either of the consumer or producers dictates output to be produced. In a monopoly market, the producer dictates the output to be produced. However, in a competitive market in a society, the consumers influence the output that a producer will produce (Maruyama & Sonoda, 2011).
References
Kapp, K., Berger, S., & Steppacher, R. (2011). The foundations of institutional economics. London: Routledge.
Maruyama, Y., & Sonoda, T. (2011). A theory of the producer-consumer household. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Silvia, J. (2011). Dynamic economic decision making. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
