Chapter 1 slides

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Minstery of higher Education and scientific research
National Polytechnic School Algiers
Common Core Department
Chapter 1:
Introduction to general Economics
Prepared by: Dr. S. Taleb
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Objectives of the Lesson
Understanding the fundamental economic problem which constitutes the core
basis of economics
Exploring the main schools of thoughts in economics, what their main ideas are,
and their differences.
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I. What is Economics?
•Economics is the study of scarcity and its implications for the use of resources,
production of goods and services, growth of production and welfare over time,
and a great variety of other complex issues of vital concern to society.
•Fundamental economic problem:
•The fundamental problem in economics is that resources are scarce and wants
are unlimited, so there is always achoice required between competing uses for
the resources.
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The basic economic questions:
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II. Branches of Economics:
A. Microeconomics:
•is concerned with how supply and demand interact in individual markets for goods and services.
A. Macroeconomics:
•is concerned with how the overall economy works.It studies such things as employment, gross domestic
product, and inflation.
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