Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 147 views

    Unit 1 The Basic Economic Problem: Activities: Guidance and Answers

    Uploaded by

    Jada Cameron

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Unit 1 The Basic Economic Problem: Activities: Guidance and Answers

    Uploaded by

    Jada Cameron
    147 views4 pages

    Original Title

    book-answers1

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    147 views4 pages

    Unit 1 The Basic Economic Problem: Activities: Guidance and Answers

    Uploaded by

    Jada Cameron

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Unit 1 The basic economic problem

    Unit 1 The basic economic problem


    Activities: Guidance and answers
    Activity 1.1 Classifying resources
    1

    Land Labour Capital


    Oil Advertising people Telephones
    Cotton Ship’s crew Shops
    Fertile soil Bank clerks Lorries
    Orange trees Orange pickers Printing machines
    Oranges Packaging designers Factory buildings
    Coal Accountants Insecticide sprays
    Water Warehouse workers Squeezing machines
    Wood Shop assistants Power stations
    Lorry drivers Roads
    Calculators

    2 Some of the resources used in the production of cars might include


    the following.

    Land Labour Capital


    Oil (for plastics, paints and lubricants) Designers Factories
    Sand (for glass) Production line workers Offices
    Rubber (for tiles, tubes and seals) Mechanics Computers
    Metal ores Engineers Industrial robots
    Leather Car sales personnel Paint-spraying equipment
    Cotton Accountants Trucks
    Marketing personnel Spanners
    Drills

    Activity 1.2 Needs and wants


    1 The needs they have in common are food, clean water, shelter, security.
    2 The household in B will not be able to satisfy all its needs.
    3 Wants of family A would include a nice home and garden, many different
    household goods, a car, holidays, good education and health care, a good
    choice of restaurants, sports and leisure activities, etc.
    4 Wants of family B would included a better home, more food, household
    goods, good education and health care.
    5 There are not enough resources to produce all the goods and services
    everyone needs and wants.
    6 Our needs have to be satisfied in order to survive. Our wants are good to have
    but are not necessary to preserve life.

    1
    © Brian Titley 2012: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute
    Unit 1 The basic economic problem

    Activity 1.3 What do we need and what do we want?


    Your completed table may look like the following.

    Need Want Reason


    Eggs Eggs are food

    LCD-TVs Televisions give pleasure but are not essential for survival

    Bread Bread is a good source of food and fibre

    Water Water is essential for human survival

    Shelter Modern house Some form of shelter is essential for survival, but many people aspire to live in
    large, modern family homes

    Clothing/shoes Clothing/shoes Basic forms of clothing provide the human body with warmth and protection
    from the sun and extreme weather. However, many people want many different
    fashionable clothes

    Car Cars are a luxury. Some people in developed countries, however, view cars as
    essential for travel to and from work, and for other activities

    Jewellery Jewellery is a luxury

    Video and audio discs These satisfy wants for entertainment

    Newspapers Non-essential

    Computer Non-essential

    Books Non-essential

    Matches While the ability to light and start fires is essential for many people – for cooking
    and warmth – matches are not essential to create fire although extremely helpful

    Meeting our needs for food, clean water and shelter is essential to our survival.
    Satisfying our wants gives pleasure but is not essential to human survival.

    2
    © Brian Titley 2012: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute
    Unit 1 The basic economic problem

    Activity 1.4 Alternatives


    Some alternative uses for the following resources are shown below.

    Farmland Mathematician A spade An egg


    •  To grow crops •  Teacher •  Digging your garden •  Boiled or fried egg
    •  To graze animals •  Engineer •  Digging foundations for a •  To make an omelet or
    •  Housing •  Banker new building tortilla
    •  Industrial park •  Accountant •  Digging up a road to lay •  To makes cakes
    new cables and pipes •  For powdered egg
    •  Retail park
    •  A new hospital •  To make fresh pasta
    •  Parkland

    Activity 1.5 The next best thing


    You many have many different next best alternatives. Here are ours.
    What I have just bought What I could have bought instead
    Large flat-screen television A video projector
    Four-bedroomed house Four-bedroomed apartment
    Cakes and sweets Ice cream
    A ticket to the World Cup Final A ticket to the Cricket World Cup Final

    Activity 1.6 The cost of making choices


    1 The opportunity cost to the factory owners is 400 glass jars foregone.
    2 The opportunity cost to the factory workers is the benefit associated with
    working on the farm instead.
    3 The opportunity cost to society is the farmland, the peace and quiet, and clean
    air foregone.

    Activity 1.7 Free to choose?


    1 Although not all children in Bangladesh are poor and clearly some European
    children also live in poverty and lack basic goods and amenities, the most
    likely answers are as follows.

    Free to choose? Children in Bangladesh European children


    Can go to a soccer match ✘ /
    Can eat in a restaurant ✘ /
    Can catch their own food / ✘
    Can drive a car ✘ /
    Can visit foreign countries ✘ /
    Can own their own house ✘ /
    Can obtain medical help when needed ✘ /
    Can receive an Economics education ✘ /
    Can receive a daily paper ✘ /
    Can be independent ✘ /
    Can receive radio and television ✘ /

    3
    © Brian Titley 2012: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute
    Unit 1 The basic economic problem

    2 Most people in European countries enjoy much higher standards of living


    than many people in Bangladesh. European economies are larger and income
    per head much higher. In Bangladesh many people have to survive on less
    than $2 per day and what they can produce for themselves. Bangladesh is one
    of the world’s most densely populated countries: resources are very scarce but
    they are also not used as productively as they could be. About a third of the
    country also floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering
    economic development.

    Activity 1.8 Anytown conflict: a case study


    Role-play exercise
    1 The government lacks the financial resources to build both a new housing
    development and a new hospital, i.e. it must choose which group of people is
    in most need.
    2 Unlimited resources would be needed to avoid all conflict in Anytown.
    3 If resources were without limit all needs and wants could be satisfied without
    the need to make choices. Therefore, there would be no opportunity costs.
    However, because resources are scarce compared to our wants, choices and
    trade-offs will always be necessary.

    4
    © Brian Titley 2012: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute

    You might also like