Also Versailles Treaty Quiz and answers to Exam 2 and Homework 2 . In fact, most of us use the terms 'economic well-being,' 'standard of living,' and 'gdp per capita' almost synonymously. It's like saying that scoring runs in the game of life isn't really how you win. This in spite of the fact that most of us devote a good portion of our lives to the pursuit of these runs. In the first section of the first chapter of the text, I said a little about why I think this description of economics is misleading.
Scarcity is indeed a bitter pill to swallow.
But having done so, the study of economics can then be seen as inherently optimistic, as a search for ways to raise our standard of living through specialization, innovation, and exchange. Though we tend to emphasize the competitive aspects of economic systems, mutual gain is an equally important characteristic of an efficient economic organization. One of my current NC State students alerted me to a recent short essay on the surprising and disgusting context in which Thomas Carlyle coined the term. Carlyle's objection to the market orientation of political economists was that it did not support the hierarchical obedience of a system of slavery. But since we haven't, let me propose a substitute question that should also give you some useful practice with the full model.