University economics;: Elements of inquiry

by Armen A. Alchian

Man wants more than there is any prospect of obtaining. As soon as we have more of this, we want still more of it and more of that… and that. To say that we always want more is to say that man lives, even in the most affluent societies, in a state of scarcity. The response to scarcity – What determines how much each person produces and gets of the total? And what determines the particular mix of goods and services s/he consumes? -- constitutes the area of economic study. Economics studies the competitive and cooperative behavior of people in resolving conflicts of interest that arise because wants exceed what is available. To address these questions, this book discusses the following topics, each in its own -> Scarcity, Competitive Behavior, and Economics; -> Competition; -> Some Behavior Postulates; -> Basis of Exchange; -> Market Restrictions, Pollution, Property Enforcement Costs, and Public Goods; -> Costs and Production; -> The Business Firm and Profits; -> Production by Firms in Price-Takers’ Open Markets; -> Production and Pricing in Price-Searchers’ Open Markets; -> Sellers’ Tactics for Changing Market Conditions; -> Derived Demand for Productive Resources; -> Wages and Employment in Open Markets; -> Restrictions on Open Markets for Labor; -> Interest, Saving, and Investing; -> Growth and Distribution of Wealth; -> Unemployment and Economic Fluctuations; -> National Measurement and Meaning; -> National-Income The Basic Model; -> Money and Income; -> Money Supply and Commercial Banks; -> Money Determinants and Techniques of Control; -> Government Finances; -> Fiscal Policy Impacts on Income; -> Inflation; -> Stabilization orDestabilization Policy?; -> Imports and the “Gain from Trade”; -> International Trade Theory; -> Resource Alocation, Terms of Trade, and Tariffs; -> The Balance of Payments and Its Interpretation; -> Balance-of-Payments Adjustment

Genres: Economics

856 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Armen Albert Alchian (/ˈɑːltʃiən/; April 12, 1914 – February 19, 2013) was an Armenian-American economist and professor of economics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Craig Bolton]

University economics;: Elements of inquiry by Alchian Armen Albert (1972)