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1UnitoneIntroductiontoEconomicsREADINGONEIntroductiontoEconomicsPeopleusuallyasksuchquestion----whatiseconomics?AlfredMarshall(1842-1924),afamouseconomistofthepast,oncesaid:Economicsisthestudyofmankindintheordinarybusinessoflife;itexaminesthatpartofindividualandsocialactionwhichismostcloselyconnectedwiththeattainmentandwiththeuseofthematerialrequisitesofwell-being.Nowadays,economicshasbeendefinedasthestudyofdecision-making.Itexplainshowhumaninteractionwithinmarketshelppeoplegetwhattheywantoraccomplishcertaingoals.Basically,economicsisadrivingforceofhumaninteraction,whichinterpretspeopleandgovernments’behaviorinparticularways.Therefore,economicscandescribeallaspectsofacountry’seconomy,suchashowacountryusesitsresources,howmuchtimelaborersdevotetoworkandleisure,theoutcomeofinvestinginindustriesorfinancialproducts,theeffectoftaxesonapopulation,andwhybusinessessucceedorfail.Knowledgeofeconomicswillallowustoanalyzeandassessthevaluesofpoliciesanddecisionsmadebypoliticians,anditwillhelpustobecomemoreawareofthecurrentandfutureproblemsofoursociety.Asforindividuals,sinceweareallconsumers,weareinterestedinthegoodsandserviceswhichwebuyandhowmuchtheycostus,andweareinterestedintheincomeswecanearn.Evenourownpersonaldecisionsareoftenaffectedbythestateoftheeconomy,sowecouldmakebetterchoicesifweunderstoodthewaytheeconomyoperates.Everyoneisaffectedbyemploymentandgovernmentpolicies.Employmentisa2keyaspectofanyeconomy.Onecandescribeemploymentvariouslytorefertotheabilityofaneconomytoputpeopletowork.Employment,orunemployedlevelsofaneconomy,istypicallydeterminedoveraspecifiedperiodoftime,usuallyoneyearormoredependingonthecircumstances.Theeconomicsystemismadeupofhumanbeingsandsohumanbehavioriscrucialtothesystem.Theprinciplesandmotivesformwhichpeopleactarenotnecessarilyeconomicinorigin,andareoftenbasedonnon-economicvalues.Differingvaluesandsocialforceshaveledtocountriesdevelopingdifferenteconomicsystems,butallcountriesfacethesameeconomicproblems—suchaswhethertheyareproducingtherightthingsandbythebestmethods,howwantsaretobesatisfied,andwhosewantsaretobesatisfied.Thereisnodenyingthatthedebateonwhethereconomicsisascienceneverstops.Sinceitisasocialscience,economicsisaffectedbythemanyinfluencesthatleadtoincessantchange.Humanbehavior,basedonwhatisknownasavaluejudgment,whichmeansitisbasedonthepersonalvaluesofindividuals,cannotbeexaminedwiththesameprecisionandisextremelydifficulttotestormeasure.Economicsisastudyoflivingandworkinginsociety;butnotallsocietiesbehaveinthesameway.Organizationbecomesessentialinthecaseofproducingthethingspeoplewant.Aneconomicsystemismadeupofthecollectionofrelationships,customs,institutions,lawsandarrangementsthatarecombinedtosatisfytheeconomicwantsofthecommunity—todeterminewhatandhowproductiontakesplace,andwhoreceivestheoutput.Naturallyitdependsontheparticipationofthemembersofthecommunity.Aneconomicsystemisnotjustanabstraction;itistherealworld.Thejobofaneconomicsystemistoformaframeworkoforganizationwhichenableschoicesanddecisionstobemadeonhowtosatisfythewantsofthecommunity.Thewayitdoesthisdependslargelyonthetypeofsociety.IntheUSAthereisstillabeliefinthevalueoffreeenterpriseandtheabilityofindividualstosucceediftheyworkhardenough.Insomecountries,suchasEnglandandpossiblySweden,thereisabeliefinthewelfarestate,thatitisuptothegovernmenttolook3afterthecitizensfromthecradletothegrave,althoughtherehavebeencriticismsofthisapproachbecauseofcost.CountrieslikeAustraliaseemtorepresentmixtureofboththeseattitudes.Nationalcharacteristicsandbeliefsystemshaveledtomanydifferencesbetweeneconomicsystems.Itcannotbysaythatjustbecausetwocountrieshavethesamepoliticalgovernments,theywillruntheireconomicsinthesameway.Itisnoteasytocompareoneeconomywithanotherandsaythatoneisbetterorworse—thereistoomuchdiversity,andadequatemeasurementisimpossible.Onecan,however,saythatthestandardoflivingisbetterinoneeconomythaninanother.Oronecancomparesuchthingsasthelevelofunemploymentorthestabilityofprices.Butthesesinglemeasurescannotshowatrueorcompletepictureofaneconomy.NewWordsandProperTermsabstraction抽象概念；抽象化assess评定；确定；估价diversity多种多样；多样性framework框架；结构incessant连续的；持续不断的inflation通货膨胀requisite必须的食物；必须的物品specialization专业化specimen样品；标本（复数加S）Sweden瑞典（国名）verify证实；核对Notes1．AlfredMarshall.(1842-1924)HewasaBritisheconomist.Hegavethenameeconomicstothescienceformerlyknownaspoliticaleconomy.4Marshallexaminedthelowofsupplyanddemand.HismostimportantworksarePrinciplesofEconomics(《经济学原理》，1890)，IndustryandTrade(《工业与贸易》,1919),andMoney,CreditandCommerce(《货币、信贷与商业》，1923)ExercisesI.CheckYourUnderstandingAnswerthefollowingquestionsaccordingtothetext.1.Whatisthedefinitionofeconomics?2.Whatarethemainconcernsofeconomics?3.Whatareeconomicgoodsandservices?4.Whatinfluencesthetypeofeconomicsysteminacountry?5.WhattypeofeconomicsystemoperatesinChina?II.BuildUpYourVocabulary经济体系经济机构经济目标经济布局经济活动经济命脉经济增长经济结构经济萧条经济合同经济理论经济危机经济收益经济业绩经济效益经济效益III.TranslatethefollowingphrasesfromEnglishintoChinese.1.valuejudgment2.livingstandard3.naturalscience4.constructsocialismwithChinesecharacteristics5.The“