Utility

Scarcity is the basic fact of economic life. Human needs and wants are always greater than the resources available to satisfy them. Thus, choices must ben made concerning how to best use the limited resources available. To make these choices, an economic system or society must answer three basic economic questions. Once an economic system has answered these questions, production must be carried out as effectively as possible. To reach the highest possible levels of productivity, producers may rely on division of labor and specialization. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Determine why scarcity exists - Identify the issues that producers must address to distribute resources - Explain why producers study productivity

In the United States, the government has established economic goals which are shared by the federal, state, and local levels. Government involvement in the U.S. economy has increased dramatically since the 1930s to reach the economic goals it has set through fiscal policy. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain why the government regulates business - Describe how the government works to provide public goods - Explain how the government promotes individuals' well-being - Describe how the government works to stabilize the economy

In the free-enterprise economy of the United States, individuals and groups can influence government economic policies. At times, the government's attempts to introduce programs that aim to serve the public interest may conflict with the desires of individual citizens. Economic policy and regulations can influence all aspects of production and consumption, so citizens and interest groups try to influence these policies through various means. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Explain how the government determines the public interest - Identify the consequences that may result from government promotion of the public interest - Describe how individuals and interest groups can affect government policies

Scarcity requires choice. Economists call the sacrifices of one choice for a trade-off and the next best choice an opportunity cost. The production possibilities curve can be used to analyze the trade-offs and opportunity costs involved in producing specific combinations of goods and services. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Understand why sacrifice is an important element of economic choice - Identify the assumptions involved in creating a production possibilities curve - Determine why future production possibilities might differ from current production possibilities

Like money, banking has evolved to meet the needs of a changing U.S. society. Through various periods of American history, the government's regulation of financial institutions has fluctuated to reflect the economic conditions of the times. VIDEO OBJECTIVES - Describe the views of Federalists and Anti-Federalists about U.S. banking - Explain how the development in the 1860s of nationally-chartered banks affected the power of state-chartered banks - Describe how the government reformed and regulated the banking system after World War I