33
Chapter 2
Basic Economic Problems
Economics is the science of making choice under conditions of
scarcity. What are the basic issues about which choices are to be
made? Any society must make choices about three important problems.
They are
1. What to produce and in what quantities ?
Food or weapons; if so, in what quantities ?
Is it more food and less weapons or vice versa ?
2. How shall goods be produced?
Electricity from thermal power or from hydro power ?
3. For whom shall the goods be produced ?
A few rich and many poor or most people in modest comfort ?
These three basic problems are interdependent. The society must
make proper choice about them in order to meet the development
aspirations of people satisfactorily. The above three questions are
common to all economies but every economic system attempts to make
its own choice. The nature of a particular choice in a particular society
depends on its specific economic system.
Economic Systems
An economic system is a way of answering these basic questions.
Different economic systems answer the above questions differently. An
economic system refers to how the different economic elements will
solve the central problems of an economy: what, how and for whom to
produce. It refers to the production and distribution of goods and services
within which economic activity takes place. It refers to the way different
economic elements, individual workers and managers, productive
organization such as factories or firms and government agencies are
linked together to form an organic whole.
4 INTRODUCTION
What makes this issue different is the collective effort that it represents.
All of the papers rely on growth accounting to decompose changes in
output into the portions due to changes in factor inputs and the portions
due to the changes in efficiency with which these factors are used,
measured as total factor productivity ŽTFP.. All of the papers employ
simple applied dynamic general equilibrium models with aggregate production
functions that treat TFP as external to the micro decision-makers, but
not as invariant to policy. For an analysis of the U.S. Great Depression
from a similar perspective, see Cole and Ohanian Ž1999..
By studying a number of depressions using a common theoretical
framework, the papers collectively establish a set of depression facts and
point to directions where future research is needed. To the extent that the
depression facts established in this issue foster a better understanding of
the factors that give rise to great depressions, they can lead to great
depressions becoming a thing of the past.
The growth accounting and applied general equilibrium analysis in this
issue yield some surprising results. In sharply defining a number of puzzles,
these results direct future research. The results that indicate that it is
changes in TFP that are crucial in accounting for depressions, for example,
direct research to understanding how government policy affects TFP.
These results also underscore the importance of backing up any macro
mechanism for policy to affect TFP with micro theory and measurement.
THE GROWTH MODEL AND GROWTH ACCOUNTING
Our growth accounting is based on the general equilibrium growth
model used in all of the papers in this issue.2 This growth accounting is
closely related to, but differs from, that of Solow Ž1957., who developed his
accounting procedures prior to the development of the general equilibrium
growth model in which the consumptioninvestment decision and the
laborleisure decision are endogenous. The model has two central elements.
The first is the technology, which consists of an aggregate production
function and an equation that relates the next period’s capital stock to
the current period’s capital stock and investment. The second is a utility
function for the stand-in household that depends on the path of consumption
and leisure.
The aggregate production function defines the maximum output that
can be produced given the quantities of the inputs. With competition, this
2 HayashiPrescott develop this growth accounting, although they make a distinction
between employment rate and hours per employee.
النتائج (
العربية) 1:
[نسخ]نسخ!
33الفصل 2المشاكل الاقتصادية الأساسيةعلم الاقتصاد هو علم جعل الاختيار تحت ظروفندرة. وما هي القضايا الأساسية التي اختيارات لتكونأدلى؟ يجب أن أي مجتمع اختيارات حوالي ثلاث مشاكل هامة.وهم1. ما لإنتاج وما هي الكميات؟الغذاء أو الأسلحة؛ إذا كان الأمر كذلك، ما هي كميات؟هل هو أكثر غذاء وأقل من الأسلحة أو العكس بالعكس؟2-كيف يصدر السلع؟الكهرباء من الطاقة الحرارية أو الطاقة المائية؟3. لما أنتج البضائع؟عدد قليل من الأغنياء والكثير من الفقراء أو معظم الناس في الراحة المتواضعة؟هذه المشاكل الأساسية الثلاث مترابطة. ويجب المجتمعجعل الاختيار السليم حول لهم من أجل تحقيق تنميةتطلعات الشعب نحو مرض. المسائل الثلاث المذكورة أعلاهالمشتركة لجميع الاقتصادات ولكن كل نظام اقتصادي يحاول جعلخيارها. طبيعة خيار معين في مجتمع معينيعتمد على نظامها الاقتصادي محددة.النظم الاقتصاديةنظام اقتصادي وسيلة للإجابة على هذه الأسئلة الأساسية.النظم الاقتصادية المختلفة الإجابة على الأسئلة الواردة أعلاه بشكل مختلف. علىالنظام الاقتصادي يشير إلى كيف سيكون مختلف العناصر الاقتصاديةحل المشاكل الرئيسية للاقتصاد: ماذا وكيف ومنهم إلىإنتاج. وهو يشير إلى إنتاج وتوزيع السلع والخدماتالذي يحدث النشاط الاقتصادي. وهو يشير إلى طريقة مختلفةالعناصر الاقتصادية وفرادى العمال والمديرين والإنتاجيةorganization such as factories or firms and government agencies arelinked together to form an organic whole.4 INTRODUCTIONWhat makes this issue different is the collective effort that it represents.All of the papers rely on growth accounting to decompose changes inoutput into the portions due to changes in factor inputs and the portionsdue to the changes in efficiency with which these factors are used,measured as total factor productivity ŽTFP.. All of the papers employsimple applied dynamic general equilibrium models with aggregate productionfunctions that treat TFP as external to the micro decision-makers, butnot as invariant to policy. For an analysis of the U.S. Great Depressionfrom a similar perspective, see Cole and Ohanian Ž1999..By studying a number of depressions using a common theoreticalframework, the papers collectively establish a set of depression facts andpoint to directions where future research is needed. To the extent that thedepression facts established in this issue foster a better understanding ofthe factors that give rise to great depressions, they can lead to greatdepressions becoming a thing of the past.The growth accounting and applied general equilibrium analysis in thisissue yield some surprising results. In sharply defining a number of puzzles,these results direct future research. The results that indicate that it ischanges in TFP that are crucial in accounting for depressions, for example,direct research to understanding how government policy affects TFP.These results also underscore the importance of backing up any macromechanism for policy to affect TFP with micro theory and measurement.THE GROWTH MODEL AND GROWTH ACCOUNTINGOur growth accounting is based on the general equilibrium growthmodel used in all of the papers in this issue.2 This growth accounting isclosely related to, but differs from, that of Solow Ž1957., who developed hisaccounting procedures prior to the development of the general equilibriumgrowth model in which the consumptioninvestment decision and thelaborleisure decision are endogenous. The model has two central elements.The first is the technology, which consists of an aggregate productionfunction and an equation that relates the next period’s capital stock tothe current period’s capital stock and investment. The second is a utilityfunction for the stand-in household that depends on the path of consumptionand leisure.The aggregate production function defines the maximum output thatcan be produced given the quantities of the inputs. With competition, this2 HayashiPrescott develop this growth accounting, although they make a distinctionbetween employment rate and hours per employee.
يجري ترجمتها، يرجى الانتظار ..