Ten Key Principles of Economics

1. Everything has a cost. There is no free lunch. There is always a trade-off.
2. Cost is what you give up to get something. In particular, opportunity cost is cost of the tradeoff.
3. One More. Rational people make decisions on the basis of the cost of one more unit (of consumption, of investment, of labor hour, etc.).
4. Incentives work. People respond to incentives.
5. Open for trade. Trade can make all parties better off.
6. Markets Rock! Usually, markets are the best way to allocate scarce resources between producers and consumers.
7. Intervention in free markets is sometimes needed. (But watch out for the law of unintended effects!)
8. Concentrate on productivity. A country’s standard of living depends on how productive its economy is.
9. Sloshing in money leads to higher prices. Inflation is caused by excessive money supply.!!
10. Caution: In the short run, falling prices may lead to unemployment, and rising employment may lead to inflation.



Thursday, August 12, 2010

Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire

Though it seems illogical to, in effect, raise taxes during an extreme bout of unemployment, the article suggests just that. The author states that tax cuts are an inefficient form of expansionary policy because people are often inclined to save a portion of what they don't pay to Uncle Sam. Instead, the increased revenues could be used for direct stimulus that would be applied exclusively to the wounds still out there.
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