Red Army Reflection

After viewing the film, answer the following reflection questions and hand in.  You may do this using paper, email, or ugcloud.
1.  The early days of this film recollect the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s.  Name 3 differences in lifestyle experienced by regular people in the USSR as compared to what we experienced in North America.
2.  Describe the differences in philosophy behind the hockey training in the USSR compared to North America.
3.  Give your impressions of the movie in general.  Was there anything that really stood out to you?  Give your evaluation of the movie.

What are the 4 types of economic systems?

We have studied the traditional economic system, of which there are very few today.

The command economic system is an extreme form where the government owns all the factors of production and makes all the decisions for the economy (i.e. the 3 basic questions).

In the pure market system there is no government involvement or regulation and market forces (i.e. prices and supply and demand) determine how the 3 basic questions are answered.

In reality all countries have a mixed form of economic system where there are elements of both market and command systems in varying degrees. In our mixed market system we find the private sector, public sector, volunteer sector, and an active underground economy.

How are goods and services allocated in society?

This goes back to the 3rd basic question - for whom are goods/services produced in our economy?
Different methods include appearance and personality, by force, by the government, by first-come-first-served, and by market forces of price, supply, and demand.

What are the 3 basic questions that every society must answer?

• What to produce
• How to produce it
• For whom are goods and services produced.

Seems simple but the answering of these questions is the basis of many of our human conflicts.

What are the 4 economic resources?

Also known as "factors of production".
Land - all natural resources
Labour - includes education and health levels of the people as well as total working population
Capital - all tools, equipment, and machinery used in producing goods and services
Entrepreneurship - a willingness to take risks and create.

Chapter 1 Quiz

This will occur on Wednesday September 21.



If you want some textbook review, read Chapter 1 and do p. 14 #1,2,3, 5, and p. 24 #5, 10, 11.


Help is available at noon in Room 2033 on Monday and Wednesday this week.

What is the Law of Diminishing Returns? What are Economies of Scale?

Law of Diminishing Returns - We will get less and less extra output when we add additional doses of an input while holding other inputs fixed.


Economies of Scale - Bigger is better when we can divide tasks and specialize.

What is the Production Possibility Curve?

The PPC is a model of an economy that only produces 2 goods. It is used to illustrate scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost.

What are positive and normative statements?

Positive statements deal with facts (i.e. The unemployment rate in Canada now stands at 8.7%).Normative statements deal with opinions and values (i.e. Canadians should save a higher percentage of their income).We also learned about 4 types of graphs - descriptive, historical series, graphs that depict a direct relationship, and graphs that depict an inverse relationship.

Why do economists use models?

Answer: To simplify a complicated reality. Models contain hypotheses and assumptions.They may be expressed as graphs or equations.

What is opportunity cost?

When a choice is made, there is always a cost or sacrifice to this choice. You can't have everything.
Opportunity cost is what is sacrificed/given up when choosing one option over another.

Video to explain opportunity cost

Ben and Jerry's Flavour Graveyard - the opportunity cost of new flavours

What is the basic economic problem?

The basic economic problem is SCARCITY.
Our needs and wants are unlimited while our resources are limited.
This forces people and societies to make choices.
Today we studied some of the ways that people make choices, such as listing the costs and benefits or using a decision making grid.

Decision-making takes energy - having too many choices is tiring and may lead to poorer decision-making after a while.

Game theory illustrates that your decision-making often must take into account what you think others are choosing as well!

Here are some videos to illustrate:
Should Jerry steal cable or not? Cost benefit analysis.
Scarcity example

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to CW this fall!

Here are some inspirational videos for the first day of economics:

Appolos Hester motivation

Guy living with no money