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Making Economic Decision

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Decision Making in Economic Issues

Economics is all about how to manage the limited resources in the society. Resources are scarce; if there could be unlimited resources then there could not be economics issues. So, the study of how society manages their scarce resources is Economics. In other word, the essence of economics is to acknowledge the reality of scarcity and then figure out how to organize society in a way that produces the most efficient use of resources.

People need to take right decision in right time. So, how people make economic decisions regarding their buying goods or services at the market, are ruled by four basic principles. They are:

1. People face tradeoffs
All decisions involve tradeoffs.
Examples:
* Going to a party the night before your midterm leaves less time for studying. * Having more money to buy stuff requires working longer hours, which leaves less time for leisure. * Protecting the environment requires resources that could otherwise be used to produce consumer goods.

2. The cost of something is what you give up to get it. * The opportunity cost of any item is whatever must be given up to obtain it (the biggest cost of one of your alternative options). * Making decisions requires comparing the costs and benefits of alternative choices. * It is the relevant cost for decision making.

3. Rational People think at the margin
Systematically and purposefully they can do the best to achieve their objectives. The Rational consumers always try to maximize their utility; similarly, the rational producers/firms always try to maximize their profits. Furthermore, people make decisions by evaluating costs and benefits of marginal changes i.e. incremental adjustments to an existing plan. Marginal benefits are theoretical gains that you would make from some discrete action on the margin. Marginal costs are

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