The British economist Ralph G. Hawtrey regards trade cycle as a purely monetary phenomenon. According to him, non-monetary factors like wars, earthquakes, strikes and crop failures may cause partial and temporary depression in particular sectors of an economy. However, these non-monetary factors cannot cause full and permanent depression involving general unemployment of the factors of production in a trade cycle. On the other hand, changes in the flow of money are the exclusive and sufficient cause of changes in trade cycle. In Hawtrey’s opinion, the basic cause of trade cycle is the expansion and contraction of money in a country. According to Hawtrey, changes in the volume of money are brought about by changes in the rate of interest. For instance, if banks reduce their rate of interest, producers and traders will be induced to borrow more from banks so as to expand their business. Borrowing from banks will lead Continue reading
Economics Concepts
Total, Average and Marginal Revenues
When a firm undertakes the task of production and purchases inputs it incurs cost. Having produced the output, on selling it the firm earns some income. The income receipt by way of sale proceeds is the revenue of the firm. We can study the concept of revenue by distinguishing between total revenue, average revenue and marginal revenue. Total Revenue (TR) Total revenue is the sale-proceeds or the aggregate receipts obtained by the firm for selling its product. Each unit of output sold in the market fetches a price and when this price is multiplied by the number of units sold we obtain the total revenue. Thus the total revenue depends on two factors: The price of the product (P) The units of output sold (Q) Thus, Total Revenue = Price x Quantity sold or, TR = P x Q For example, if the price of one Continue reading
What is a Circular Economy?
The term circular economy (CE) has both a linguistic and descriptive meaning. Linguistically it is an antonym of a linear economy. A linear economy is one defined as converting natural resources into waste, via production. Such production of waste leads to the deterioration of the environment in two ways: by the removal of natural capital from the environment (through mining/unsustainable harvesting) and by the reduction of the value of natural capital caused by pollution from waste. And the word circular has a second, inferred, descriptive meaning, which relates to the concept of the cycle. There are two cycles of particular importance here: the biogeochemical cycles and the idea of recycling of products. By circular, an economy is envisaged as having no net effect on the environment; rather it restores any damage done in resource acquisition while ensuring little waste is generated throughout the production process and in the life history Continue reading
Effects of Inflation on Different Groups of Society
It is true that in times of general rise in the price level, if all groups of prices, such as agricultural prices, industrial prices, prices of minerals, wages, rent and profit rise in the same direction and by the same extent, there will be no net effect on any section of people in the community. For example, if the prices of goods and services, which a worker buys rises by 50 per cent and if the wage of the worker also rises by 50 per cent then there is no change in the real income of the worker, ie., his standard of living will remain constant. However, in practice, all prices do not move in same direction and by same percentage. Hence, some classes of people in the community are affected by inflation more favorably than others. This is explained as follows: Producing Classes: All producers, traders and speculators gain Continue reading
Economic Systems – Planned Economy, Free Market Economy and Mixed Economy
System of Planned Economy Under the conditions of the planned economy, all decisions concerning what to manufacture, how to manufacture and to whom to manufacture are approved by the sole center or group. This economy is based on collective ownership. Fixed production assets are owned by the government, and resources, production and the quantities of future products are distributed according to a plan. The type of the system of the command economy was prevailing in the USSR, Cuba, and North Korea. The plans of the system of the centralized economy are drawn up and implemented by the authorities and governmental political leaders after consulting with highly ranked professionals: engineers, economists, industrialists, and other experts. These planners decide which products to manufacture and which services to render. Their vote is decisive in approving decisions whether new undertakings are to be constructed, how many employees are to be employed at undertakings, whether Continue reading
Laws of Returns in Economics
The relationship between the inputs and the output in the process of production is clearly explained by the Laws of Returns or the Law of Variable Proportions. This law examines the production function with only one factor variable, keeping the quantities of other factors constant. The laws of returns comprise of three phases: The Law of Increasing Returns. The Law of Constant Returns. The Law of Diminishing Returns. The Laws of Returns in Economics may be stated as follows: “If in any process of production, the factors of production are so combined that if the varying quantity of one factor is combined with the fixed quantity of other factor (or factors), then there will be three tendencies about the additional output or marginal returns: Firstly, in the beginning, as more and more units of a variable factor are added to the units of a fixed factor, the additional Continue reading