Ten Key Economic Principles

[☭proletarian☭]

You, the idiot who think I lose something by picking up a rock are attacking an adherent of the Austrian School?

 

[eagleseven]

You, the idiot who think I lose something by picking up a rock are attacking an adherent of the Austrian School?

You lose the time it took you to pick up the rock. Instead of picking up a rock, you could have picked up a shell, or a stick, or a piece of fruit.

So the cost of that rock was a shell, a stick, or a fruit.


"But what if I pick up the fruit next?"

Then the opportunity cost of picking up the fruit next is a second rock. In the time it took you to pick up a fruit and a rock, you could have picked up two rocks. Or two fruits.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

The cost of that rock was a shell, a stick, or a fruit.

To lose something I have to have had it. Nice try, though

 

[eagleseven]

The cost of that rock was a shell, a stick, or a fruit.

To lose something I have to have had it. Nice try, though

If we're going to be nitpicky, you lost a minute of your life, but gained a rock. So that rock cost you one minute of time. A minute you could have spent on something else, like finding a piece of yummy fruit (can you tell I'm hungry).

That's why they say "Time is money"

 

[pinqy]

The cost of that rock was a shell, a stick, or a fruit.

To lose something I have to have had it. Nice try, though

You dont' seem to be getting the concept of opportunity cost. If you do one thing, then you can't do something else. The cost of the rock is the time it takes you to get it...time in which you can't do something else.

Back to the picking up $100 on the street, the cost is a few seconds of your time. You don't count it as a cost because you don't value those few seconds highly. But if you're rushing to catch a taxi, bus, train, plane, or to pull a small child out of traffic, the cost of those few seconds is a lot higher.

There's a difference between "no cost" and "negligible cost."

 

[editec]

Greg Mankiw's Blog: ECONOMICS!!

Everything has a cost. There is no free lunch. There is always a trade-off.

Cost is what you give up to get something. In particular, opportunity cost is cost of the tradeoff.

One More. Rational people make decisions on the basis of the cost of one more unit (of consumption, of investment, of labor hour, etc.).

iNcentives work. People respond to incentives.

Open for trade. Trade can make all parties better off.

Markets Rock! Usually, markets are the best way to allocate scarce resources between producers and consumers.

Intervention in free markets is sometimes needed. (But watch out for the law of unintended effects!)

Concentrate on productivity. A country’s standard of living depends on how productive its economy is.

Sloshing in money leads to higher prices. Inflation is caused by excessive money supply.

!! Caution: In the short run, falling prices may lead to unemployment, and rising employment may lead to inflation.

Words to live by.

We lived by these words for about the last 30 years.

How'd that work out for us?

 

[The Rabbi]

Greg Mankiw's Blog: ECONOMICS!!

Everything has a cost. There is no free lunch. There is always a trade-off.

Cost is what you give up to get something. In particular, opportunity cost is cost of the tradeoff.

One More. Rational people make decisions on the basis of the cost of one more unit (of consumption, of investment, of labor hour, etc.).

iNcentives work. People respond to incentives.

Open for trade. Trade can make all parties better off.

Markets Rock! Usually, markets are the best way to allocate scarce resources between producers and consumers.

Intervention in free markets is sometimes needed. (But watch out for the law of unintended effects!)

Concentrate on productivity. A country’s standard of living depends on how productive its economy is.

Sloshing in money leads to higher prices. Inflation is caused by excessive money supply.

!! Caution: In the short run, falling prices may lead to unemployment, and rising employment may lead to inflation.

Words to live by.

We lived by these words for about the last 30 years.

How'd that work out for us?

Actually we didnt.
But since you ask, how much has the economy expanded since 1980? How many jobs have been created in that time? What are the top 20 largest businesses in the US and where were they in 1980?

But you seem to want to maintain that history started 2 years ago. Such short sightedness is more responsible for economic malady than anything else.

 

[Paulie]

The big mistake most people make with inflation is forgetting to factor in "Credit" as part of the equation.

Which is what I touched on. Until banks lend their newly "created" reserves, price inflation will remain minimal or flat. That money has to enter the economy and chase goods and services.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

You guys are really stretching here

 

[The Rabbi]

You guys are really stretching here

We are trying to stretch your understanding around the simple concept of opportunity cost. Obviously three posters cannot do this. Probably nothing could.
This explains why you likely voted for Obama.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

This explains why you likely voted for Obama.

You just get more and more retarded every time you post

 

[The Rabbi]

This explains why you likely voted for Obama.

You just get more and more retarded every time you post

I am trying to dumb down to your level.

 

[eagleseven]

We lived by these words for about the last 30 years.

How'd that work out for us?

Who's we?

The millions of Americans who continually voted for a free lunch, while maxing out their credit cards and second home mortgage? The politicians who believed that the government can "save jobs?" The bankers who believed wrapping worthless loans in fancy terminology would make them valuable?