Main issues of economics. Basic questions of economics Market what to produce

Humanity has to make choices in the world of economics at every turn. People are forced to constantly seek answers to several main economic questions:
1. What should be produced and in what quantity, i.e. what goods and services should be offered to consumers?
2. How to produce, i.e. which method of producing goods using the limited available resources should be used?
3. How to distribute produced goods and services, i.e. who can claim to receive them as their property?

To answer the first question, people ultimately allocate scarce resources among producers of different goods. Let's say, if we decide to make refrigerators from the metal we have, then the metal will go to enterprises that produce refrigerators, not stoves. And the slabs will not be produced.

When deciding “how to produce,” people choose their preferred methods (technologies) for producing the set of goods that was the answer to the question “what to produce?” For example, Russia's favorite food product, potatoes, can be grown in private plots using mostly manual labor and natural fertilizers. But the same amount of potatoes can be obtained in large agricultural enterprises using powerful agricultural machinery and mineral fertilizers produced by the chemical industry.

Each of the possible technological solutions involves its own combination and scale of use of limited resources (one is more labor-intensive, another is more energy-intensive, the third requires more capital, etc.).

The limitations of economic resources, as well as the variety of options for their use, determine, on the one hand, the range in which a person, a company or a country as a whole can make decisions, and economic consequences implementation of the chosen solution - on the other.

To present the problem of choice more clearly, economics uses a special graph called the production possibilities curve. It consists of many points, each of which corresponds to one of the combinations of output volumes of various goods, subject to the full use of the resources available to the country. The more resources a country has, the more each of the goods competing for resources can be produced and the further this curve goes from the origin.

The problem that every company and any country has to solve every day is: what set of goods to produce from the countless possible options available with the available resources and production technology.

For simplicity, let's assume that the country's economy can produce only two types of goods: tanks needed to protect the country from enemies, and trucks for transporting civilian goods. Both types of goods are produced from metal, the resources of which are always, at any given time, limited and known.

We can use all the available metal to produce tanks and then we won’t make a single truck. This option on the graph is indicated by point B. Or, on the contrary, spend all the metal on trucks, stopping all tank factories (point C).

Finally, what is more realistic, we can send part of the metal to tank factories, and part to factories for the production of trucks. Then we will get some combination of the scale of production of both types of products. For example, if most of the metal is used to produce tanks, then we will get a combination that corresponds to point D. By directing most of the metal to the production of trucks, we will get, say, a combination of outputs that corresponds to point H.

In reality, there can be many such combinations of production of alternative types of goods, competitively produced from the same types of resources.

And therefore, choosing the best option is always a difficult task, requiring comparison and weighing of the value of various resources. To solve this problem, economists have developed special, sometimes very sophisticated methods, which are taught in universities and business schools.

Answering the question: “How to distribute the goods produced?” - people, in fact, decide who should get how much benefits in the end. Should everyone get the same amount or not? And if not equally, then to whom how much? And if someone can and should be given more benefits than others, then how much more? And how to carry out such a distribution without causing anger in people due to the injustice of differences in the comfort of life?

Throughout its history, humanity has tried to answer this economic question based on the following principles:
the right of the strong - the best and in greater volume is received by the one who can take away the benefits from the weaker by force of fist or weapon;
the principle of equalization - everyone receives approximately equally, so that “no one is offended”;
the principle of queue - the benefit goes to the one who took a place earlier in the queue of those wishing to receive this benefit.

Life has proven the harmfulness of using these principles, since they undermine people's interest in more productive work. After all, even if you work better than others and get paid more for it, the acquisition of the desired good is not at all guaranteed. Therefore, in the vast majority of countries in the world (and in all the richest countries), a complex mechanism of market distribution prevails today, which is based on the monetary principle of distribution - the good goes to those who are able to pay for it a price that suits the seller.

The main task of the economy is to use economic resources in order to obtain an economic product (material goods, works, services). An economic product serves the purpose of satisfying the needs of all economic entities.

Few goods are available in such large quantities that they do not require choice on the part of subjects.

Such characteristic properties of needs as unlimitedness, insatiability, continuous growth in quantitative and qualitative terms indicate the impossibility of establishing a reasonable limit for their satisfaction.

Of course, some needs of an individual may well be fully satisfied. Even if we imagine that this specific need in a given period is completely satisfied, then in this case it is obvious that all other simultaneously existing needs of the subject remain unsatisfied. This is especially true for collective, social, and state needs, the specific limits and levels of full satisfaction of which are unattainable.

Choice is necessary because we live in a world of scarcity. Scarcity means that human needs are unlimited and the resources available to satisfy them are limited. But is it correct to talk about unlimited human needs? A person may think that at the moment he only wants to have a few things: a car, a new CD player and a comfortable apartment. However, let’s imagine that next week he wins 100 million rubles. As an individual with selfish interests, the lucky one will rush to buy a car, a CD player, etc. But now he can afford a vacation at an expensive resort, give gifts to family and friends, set aside savings in order to live on annual interest for many years. He can spend some amount of money on charity.

So, although most people have an unlimited list of needs, they could come up with a reasonably long list of desirable goods and services of all kinds. best quality, and also include some needs that are not personal or selfish.

Subjects would like to consume an almost unlimited amount of the final economic product in the form of consumer goods and services. Their production requires an even greater quantity and structural diversity of intermediate products (factors of production), the production of which requires the use of economic resources.

The means that a person has to satisfy his needs are either insufficient at the moment or irrationally distributed in the economic space. Even if a person had excess material resources, even then he would be limited in the consumption of such an important resource as time. In addition, the subject cannot take advantage of all the benefits at the same time, since many of them are mutually exclusive. People must distribute the funds they have due to the finiteness and limitations of the latter. Money can be spent in many ways.

On the one hand, the volume and degree of replenishment of stocks of various goods characterizes their relativity in relation to each other and is expressed in the concept of rarity. On the other hand, the limitation of goods relative to the needs for them is expressed by the concept of insufficiency. We are talking about two sides of limited goods. And the limited nature of consumer goods, resources and technologies is a universal property of economic goods.

To achieve any goal, a subject (individual or collective) is forced to sacrifice his other goals or use limited funds and time scarcity. Therefore, every economic choice is accompanied by a sacrifice, the price of which the French economist R. Barr called the price of adaptation. It is the real cost of the sacrifice made by an economic actor choosing between several possible actions.

Firms face problems of profit distribution, hiring workers, purchasing equipment, purchasing raw materials, etc. On the scale of the national economy, society faces the need to distribute national income for different purposes (investments, social Security etc.) -

Thus, any economic entity invariably makes a choice of one of mutually exclusive solutions. The need for this is due to the limited nature of goods and the impossibility of their simultaneous consumption and use. All of the above forms of limited goods presuppose the emergence of a choice problem

The problem of choice is universal; it does not depend on the type of economic system. Economics, or economic theory, in its very general view there's a science to how people make choices in a world of scarcity. Everything that has value is rare - money, goods, time, human abilities.

At the same time, human desires are almost unlimited. Since the resources needed to satisfy the endless demands for goods and services are limited, choice is not a theoretical assumption, but a reality of life.

At the level of the economy as a whole, society must decide what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom (we already discussed this in Chapter 1). Each society answers these questions differently. The difference in the approach to the allocation of resources in different economic systems, however, demonstrates a common mechanism for solving the problem of choice and overcoming the scarcity of resources. In economic theory, resource allocation is understood as their placement based on finding the optimal way to distribute limited goods.

In the conditions of primitive communal production, the individual produced the products necessary for consumption with his own labor, independently deciding on the issue of distribution natural resources, tools and time that were required for hunting, fishing, etc. Within the framework of subsistence farming, the peasant produced as much as was necessary to satisfy his own needs and the demands of his family.

In modern conditions, isolated activity in the “man-nature” plane is impossible. Even in the simplest production there is a separation of functions. The emergence of the division of labor (specialization of individuals in performing certain operations) led to the separation of producers and consumers. An objective need for economic coordination has emerged, i.e. coordination of the activities of economic entities, plans and actions of various individuals. Moreover, a change in the economic behavior of one individual may require a change in the behavior of others. The economy is social, and its functioning is determined by the needs, plans and actions of many subjects, each of which depends on the needs, plans and actions of others.

Deciding what to produce depends indirectly on the desires of the end consumer. Individuals, specializing in the production of one good, obtain other necessary goods through exchange.

Modern society consists of households, i.e. subjects who, on the one hand, consume goods and services, and on the other, offer resources and factors for the production of economic goods. In addition to them, society is represented by firms - organizations that decide what goods and services to produce. Based on the decisions they make, they use the resources offered by households.

Resources are limited, but society wants to use them to achieve the maximum possible satisfaction of needs. The presence of a choice problem means that certain relationships must exist between households and firms. The social connection through which the needs of households and firms are coordinated reveals the content of the mechanism for coordinating economic behavior, or the coordination mechanism.

One of the ways that determines economic behavior is through price changes. An increase or decrease in the price of a particular product can occur under the influence of supply and demand or be the result of directive planning.

The mechanism for coordinating economic behavior includes solving previously formulated problems: what, how and for whom to produce?

“What to produce” is the problem of determining the range and volume of products produced by firms in a certain period of time.

“How to produce” is a problem of methods of organizing production and choosing technology.

“For whom to produce” is the problem of determining the subjects who will buy the selected goods and services and will become consumers of the products.

Coordination mechanisms in any economic system must resolve these issues so that the system avoids internal contradictions and instability in its development.

In modern economics, two coordination mechanisms can be distinguished: hierarchy and spontaneous order.

Management within a company, any economic organization, the state apparatus and the entire national economy (administrative command system) is based on hierarchical subordination.

Spontaneous order corresponds to the market organization of economic activity. When making decisions, economic entities are guided by market signals. Focusing on price movements, consumers and producers strive for personal gain. In this case, complete coordination of actions and an increase in social welfare are achieved. The above corresponds to A. Smith’s idea of ​​​​the “invisible hand of the market”: the actions of a person striving for personal gain, as if by an invisible hand, are directed in such a way that they serve the interests of society more fully than if the person consciously sought to serve them.

What is an economic system?
Economic system - 1) a way of organizing the economic activities of a society, in accordance with which the problem of distributing limited resources is solved;

2) an established and operating set of principles, rules, laws that determine the form and content of basic economic relations that arise in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of an economic product;

3) organization of economic life.

Types of economic systems.
The type of economic system is characterized by: 1) forms of ownership; 2) ways of distributing limited resources; 3) ways of regulating the economy.

Classification No. 1: 1) traditional; 2) command (centralized); 3) market; 4) mixed.

1) Traditional economic system- a way of organizing economic life in which land and capital are in the common possession of the tribe, and limited resources are distributed in accordance with long-standing traditions.
Questions about what goods and services to produce for whom and how are decided on the basis of traditions passed down from generation to generation.
Advantages: 1) stability of society; 2) sufficiently high quality of the goods produced.
Disadvantages: 1) lack technical progress; 2) poor adaptability to changes in external conditions; 3) limited number of goods produced.

2) Command (centralized, directive, planned) economic system- a way of organizing economic life in which capital and land are owned by the state, and the distribution of limited resources is carried out according to the instructions of the central government and in accordance with plans.
Advantages: 1) the ability to concentrate all the forces and means of society to solve any problem (mobilization capabilities); 2) guarantees people the necessary minimum of life’s goods, providing confidence in the future; 3) avoids unemployment, although universal employment is achieved, as a rule, by artificially restraining the growth of labor productivity.
Disadvantages: 1) the inability to accurately plan all the needs of society and distribute resources accordingly, which leads to overproduction of some goods and shortages of others; 2) lack of incentive to produce quality goods; 3) lack of economic freedom among citizens.

3) Market economic system- a way of organizing economic life in which capital and land are owned by individuals and scarce resources are distributed through markets.
A market economy is an economy in which private ownership predominates, economic activity is carried out by economic entities at their own expense, and all major decisions are made by them at their own peril and risk.
Fundamentals of a market system: 1) private property rights; 2) economic freedom; 3) competition.
Private property is the right of individual citizens and their associations recognized by society to own, use and dispose of a certain volume (part) of any type of economic resources.
Advantages: 1) flexibility, ability to adapt to changing conditions; 2) the presence of incentives for technical progress; 3) rational (???) use of resources.
Disadvantages: 1) inability to ensure income equality and a consistently high standard of living; 2) weak interest in fundamentals scientific research; 3) instability of development (crises, inflation); 4) ineffective use of irreplaceable resources; 5) lack of full employment and price stability.

Each economic system answers three questions differently: 1) what to produce?; 2) how to produce?; 3) for whom to produce?

What to produce? 1) traditional: products of agriculture, hunting, fishing, few products and services are produced, and what to produce is determined by customs and traditions; 2) centralized: determined by groups of professionals: engineers, economists, representatives of industry - “planners”; 3) market: determined by consumers themselves, producers produce what can be purchased.

How to produce? 1) traditional: they produce in the same way and with what their ancestors produced; 2) centralized: determined by the plan; 3) market: determined by the producers themselves.

For whom to produce? 1) traditional: most people exist on the brink of survival, the additional product goes to the leaders or land owners, the rest is distributed according to customs; 2) centralized: “planners,” directed by political leaders, determine who and how much will receive goods and services; 3) market: consumers get as much as they want, producers make a profit.

4) In many countries there is mixed economy, which combines the features of market and command economic systems, economic freedom of producers and the regulatory role of the state.
A mixed economy is a way of organizing economic life in which land and capital are privately owned, and the distribution of limited resources is carried out both by markets and with significant government participation.

Classification No. 2: 1) market; 2) non-market (traditional and centralized); 3) mixed.

Classification No. 3: 1) commercial farming ( centralized system, market system, mixed system); 2) subsistence farming.

Subsistence farming– 1) an economy in which people produce products only to satisfy their own needs, without resorting to exchange, to the market; 2) a farm that satisfies its needs through its own production.
Commodity farming– 1) an economy in which products are produced for sale, and the connection between producers and consumers is carried out through the market; 2) an economy in which production is market-oriented.

The term "property" used in three meanings:
1. As a synonym for the word “thing” (ordinary, everyday meaning).
2. Legal ownership includes three powers (powers) that only the owner can have: 1) possession (actual possession of this property, legally secured); 2) use (the process of extracting useful properties from a given property); 3) disposal (determining the future fate of this property = sale, donation, exchange, inheritance, rental or pledge, etc.).

Rent (from Latin arrendare - to give for rent) - 1) provision of property (land) by its owner for temporary use to other persons on contractual terms, for a fee; 2) the right to use without having the right to dispose.

Trust (from the English trust - trust) - 1) the right of the owner to transfer the right to manage his property to another person, without the right to interfere in his actions; 2) the institution of trust property, associated with the transfer of property and their property rights by the trust founder (beneficiary) for a certain period of time to the trustee.

Property as an economic category – 1) relations between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption regarding the appropriation of production resources, factors of production of material goods; 2) the ownership of things, material and spiritual values ​​by certain persons, the legal right to such ownership and economic relations between people regarding the ownership, division, redistribution of property objects.

Subjects of ownership: 1) person; 2) family; 3) labor collective; 4) social group; 5) population of the territory; 6) governing bodies of all levels; 7) the people of the country.

Properties: factors of production and finished products: 1) land, land plots, land; 2) money, currency, securities; 3) material and property values; 4) natural resources; 5) jewelry; 6) buildings for social and cultural purposes; 7) fixed production assets; 8) labor force; 9) spiritual, intellectual and information resources.

Functional characteristics of the property: 1) ownership, 2) management, 3) control.

Which of these characteristics is the most important?
1. Karl Marx put ownership first.
2. In the 20th century. All higher value begins to acquire property management.

Technocracy (Greek ?????, “skill” + Greek ??????, “power”) is a socio-political system in which society is regulated by competent scientists and engineers based on the principles of scientific and technical rationality.
Technocratic ideas were expressed by A. A. Bogdanov, who coined the term “technical intelligentsia” (in 1909 in the article “Philosophy of the Modern Scientist”), while the term “technocracy” itself is an Americanism that appeared in the 1920s. Initially, the idea of ​​technocracy as the power of engineers was described by Thorstein Veblen, in the social utopia “Engineers and the Price System” (1921). Veblen's ideas were developed by James Burnham in The Managerial Revolution (1941) and John Kenneth Galbraith in The New Industrial Society (1967).
Thanks to scientific and technological revolution knowledge becomes the basis of power, subordinating both strength and wealth. The very face of power is also changing - abandoning direct and brutal domination, it takes on softer forms of influence and domination. Now the level of knowledge, and not the presence or absence of private property, becomes the main source of social differences. Power in the information age passes from those who give orders to those who shape the consciousness of people, laying into it certain stereotypes, images, and patterns of behavior.
Meaning creators are the creative layer of the information society, the “creative class”, which forms behavioral stereotypes, patterns of perception and action of means mass media and through them influencing the worldview and behavior of broad layers of citizens. Real power is increasingly moving into the shadows, to various non-governmental influence groups, often international or simply foreign. The official government only formalizes and implements the policies developed in these circles. Hard power, based on violence, has given way to “soft power”, based on persuasion of people, ideological work, and subtle manipulation of public consciousness.
“Soft power” is a new historical type of power, based not on direct violence or economic enslavement, but on persuasion and information manipulation. “Soft power” is turning into the main instrument of power in the information age, when previous methods of domination lose their effectiveness and the need arises for the hidden and unobtrusive subordination of people to the interests of others.
The material basis of “soft power” is formed by the triumvirate “1) meaning creators – 2) non-governmental organizations – 3) the media.”

How are they different? various types property?
Those who own the means of production, how and by whom the income from the use of property is distributed, who is a participant in economic activity.
Classification No. 1: 1) general (primitive communal, family, state, collective); 2) private (labor = family, farm, individual labor activity; non-labor = slave-owning, feudal, bourgeois-individual); 3) mixed (joint-stock, cooperative, joint).
1) Historically, the first type of property was common property, in which all people were united into groups and all means of production and produced goods belonged to all members of society.
2) The second in time of origin was private property, in which individual people treated the means of production as belonging personally only to them. Private property is a form of legal assignment to a person of the rights to own, use and dispose of any property, which he can use not only to satisfy personal needs, but also to conduct commercial activities. Private property was dominant in the economy until the 20th century. Opponents of private property pointed out that it is a source of exploitation of man by man, contributes to the separation of people, develops in them such qualities as selfishness, individualism and greed, and creates inequality between people. Proponents of private property argued that the feeling of private property is a natural feeling of a person that expresses his nature. In their opinion, it is private property that gives an individual the opportunity not to depend on the state, being a guarantee of human rights.
3) In the 19th century. The main figure of the owner was the capitalist - the entrepreneur. In the 20th century Various types of mixed (collective-private, group, corporate) property, which combines the characteristics of the first two types, have developed. A typical form of such ownership is a joint stock company (corporation).
A corporation (Latin corporatio - association, community) is a form of organization of an enterprise where the right to property is divided into parts by shares, and therefore the owners of corporations are called shareholders.
Unlike a sole proprietor and partnership members, the most a shareholder can lose is the amount they paid for the shares. Shareholders can move in and out of the corporation simply by purchasing shares. The capital of such a company is formed as a result of the sale of securities - shares, which are evidence that their owner has made a contribution - a share - to the capital of the corporation and has the right to receive a dividend. Dividend is part of the profit that is paid to the owner of shares (usually in proportion to the size of the share contributed by him).

Classification No. 2: 1) private (personal, individual); 2) state; 3) collective, joint.
Individual private property is widespread ( agriculture, craft, trade, service sector).
Signs of an individual private enterprise: 1) ownership of the means of production used; 2) the use of personal labor of the manufacturer, his family, and hired workers; 3) the right to individually dispose of income from economic activities; 4) the right to economic independence in resolving economic issues.
In the economy of the late 20th century. the importance of state ownership is high (from 15 to 20%). Typically, the state concentrates in its hands enterprises and industries of strategic importance ( railways, communications enterprises, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants).
Such forms of ownership as cooperative and collective ownership have also been preserved. With cooperative ownership, a group of people who have come together to jointly use some property (own or rented) manages this property. In a collective enterprise, the owner is the team of this enterprise, which takes part in managing the production process.
Municipal form of ownership is a form of ownership in which property is at the disposal and control of local authorities.

Forms of ownership in Russia.
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in Russia 1) private, 2) state, 3) municipal and other forms of property are recognized and protected equally. The list of forms of ownership specified in the Constitution and the Civil Code (Civil Code) of the Russian Federation is not exhaustive, since it is accompanied by a reservation, by virtue of which other forms of ownership are recognized in the Russian Federation.

Privatization(Latin privatus – private) – 1) transfer of state property to individual citizens or legal entities created by them; 2) the process of denationalization of ownership of the means of production, property, housing, land, and natural resources. It is carried out through the sale or gratuitous transfer of state and municipal property into the hands of collectives and individuals with the formation on this basis of corporate, joint-stock, and private property.
Nationalization(Latin natio – people) – transfer of private property into the hands of the state.

Market and capitalism.
Version No. 1. Capitalism = market system.
Capitalism is a type of society based on private property and a market economy.
In various currents of social thought it is defined as a system of free enterprise, a stage of development of industrial society, and the modern stage of capitalism is defined as a “mixed economy”, “ post-industrial society", "information society", etc.; in Marxism, capitalism is a socio-economic formation based on private ownership of the means of production and exploitation of wage labor by capital.

Version No. 2. Capitalism? market system.
Capitalism is not just a method of efficient economic activity that naturally arises in the womb market economy. Capitalism is an intellectual, psychological and social breakthrough that is inaccessible to a pagan, a person of traditional culture.
What distinguishes capitalism from the market is not so much the subject of activity as its method, scale, and goals. Fernand Braudel, describing this complex phenomenon, called it “anti-market”, since clearly different activities are carried out here, unequal exchanges, in which competition, which is the basic law of the so-called market economy, does not occupy its due place.
Fernand Braudel (1902 - 1985) - an outstanding French historian. Laid the foundations of the world-systems approach.
Braudel's most famous work is considered to be his three-volume work “Material Civilization, Economics and Capitalism, XV-XVIII Centuries.” (1979). This book shows how the economies of European (and other) countries functioned in the pre-industrial period. The development of trade and money circulation is characterized in particular detail; much attention is also paid to the influence of the geographical environment on social processes.
Arnold Toynbee:
“I believe that in all countries where maximum private profit acts as the motive of production, the private enterprise (market) system ceases to function.”

What is capitalism?
Capitalism is a holistic ideology, plan and scenario of a specific world order, the essence of which is not production or trade operations itself, but systemic operations aimed at controlling the market and aiming at extracting systemic profit (sustainable super-profit).
A rough, not very accurate and certainly unsightly analogue can be certain features of the activities of the mafia, moreover, in the “classical” sense of the concept, i.e. not as a crime, but as a specific system of governing the world, controlling it, and collecting tribute.
Capitalism acquires universal power not through administrative, national structures, but mainly through international economic mechanisms. Such power by its nature is not limited to state borders and extends far beyond its borders.
George Soros. The crisis of world capitalism. Open Society in Danger:
“The analogy with empire is justified in this case, because the system of global capitalism controls those who belong to it, and it is not easy to escape from it. Moreover, it has a center and a periphery like a real empire, and the center benefits at the expense of the periphery. More importantly, the system of world capitalism exhibits imperialist tendencies... It cannot be at peace as long as there are any markets or resources that are not already drawn into its orbit. In this respect, it is not much different from the empire of Alexander the Great or Attila the Hun, and its expansionist tendencies may be the beginning of its demise.”
The breeding ground of capitalism, its magnetic field, power lines historically take shape in the nervous plexus of financial schemes and trophy economies crusades, mainly in the coastal areas of Europe (with the exception of the “land port” of fairs in Champagne). His ancestral nests are, first of all, the city-states and regions of Italy: Venice, Genoa, Florence, Lombardy, Tuscany, as well as the North Sea coast: cities Hanseatic League, Antwerp, later - Amsterdam.
The spiritual source of capitalism, apparently, became heresies of different confessions, but quite united in their core - and free from the specific restrictions imposed by the Christian worldview and culture. During this period, sects and heresies were actively spreading in Europe: the baton was passed from the Paulicians and Bogomils to the Patarens and Albigensians. These are also Templars who were actively involved in financial activities, the very system of organization of which is an impressive prototype of future TNBs and TNCs.
The Waldenses played a special role in the emergence of capitalism. During the years of persecution that followed the Albigensian wars, the Waldenses were divided, and the radical part, who refused to repent, moved to German-speaking countries, to the Netherlands, Bohemia, Piedmont, to the Western and Southern Alps, where, according to some information, communities that had left state Christianity back in the 4th century. There, in hard-to-reach areas, places of exile, a kind of “European Siberia”, in the harsh conditions of the struggle for survival, the spirit of Protestantism is formed, marked by a special attitude to work, personal asceticism, enthusiasm, self-denial, honesty, scrupulousness, and corporatism.
Former Waldensians are actively introducing themselves into wholesale and retail trade, which allows them to move freely and establish multiple connections. Contact with the Waldensians is attributed to almost all significant figures of pre-Reformation Protestantism: from John Wycliffe to Jan Hus. Expelled from the legal world, forced to live in masks and communicate indirectly, the sectarians discovered that precisely as a result of these circumstances they had serious competitive advantages and were excellently prepared for systemic operations. In other words, they have a mechanism for the successful implementation of collusion and control over the situation, for the development and implementation of complex, highly complex projects, the implementation of large (often collective) investments, the informal conclusion of trust agreements that require long-term circulation of funds and active co-presence in different parts of the world.
On this basis in Western Europe A new type of worldview is spreading, which is characterized by active fatalism, viewing earthly wealth as visible evidence of a calling, and success as a sign of charisma. In medieval Europe, a completely different logic dominated: while labor was compulsory, the opposition of the necessary - necessitas - to the superfluous - superbia - was emphasized with a corresponding moral assessment, that is, the desire for profit was assessed as a shame and even the very activity of a professional trader as hardly pleasing to God.

Any society, no matter how rich or poor it is, grapples with three fundamental questions of economics: what goods and services need to be produced, how and for whom.

These three fundamental questions of economics are decisive (Figure 2.1).

Which of the possible goods and services should be produced in a given area at a given time?

With what combination of production resources, using what technology, should the goods and services selected from the possible options be produced?

Who will buy the selected goods and services, pay for them, and benefit from them? How should society's gross income from the production of these goods and services be distributed?

For whom?

Rice. 2.1. Basic economic issues

What goods and services must be produced and in what quantities? An individual can provide himself with the necessary goods and services in various ways: produce them himself, exchange them for other goods, or receive them as a gift. Society as a whole cannot have everything immediately. Because of this, it must decide what it would like to have immediately, what it could wait to get, and what it could refuse altogether. What needs to be produced at the moment: ice cream or shirts? A small number of expensive quality shirts or a lot of cheap ones? Is it necessary to produce fewer consumer goods or is it necessary to produce more industrial goods (machines, machines, equipment, etc.), which will increase production and consumption in the future?

Sometimes the choice can be quite difficult. There are underdeveloped countries that are so poor that the efforts of most of the workforce are spent just to feed and clothe the population. In such countries, in order to raise the living standards of the population, it is necessary to increase production volumes, but this requires the restructuring of the national economy and the modernization of production.

How should goods and services be produced? There are different options for the production of the entire set of goods, as well as each economic good separately. By whom, from what resources, using what technology should they be produced? Through what organization of production? There is far more than one option for building a specific house, school, college, or car. The building can be multi-story or one-story; the car can be assembled on a conveyor belt or manually. Some buildings are built by private individuals, others by the state. The decision to produce cars in one country is made by a government agency, in another - by private firms.

Who should the product be made for? Who will be able to benefit from goods and services produced in the country? Since the quantity of goods and services produced is limited, the problem of their distribution arises. To satisfy all needs, it is necessary to understand the mechanism of product distribution. Who should use and benefit from these products and services? Should all members of society receive the same share or not? What should be given priority - intelligence or physical strength? Will the sick and old people have enough to eat or will they be abandoned to their fate? Solutions to these problems determine the goals of society and the incentives for its development.

Basic economic problems are solved differently in different socio-economic systems. For example, in a market economy, all answers to basic economic questions (what, how, for whom) are determined by the market: demand, supply, price, profit, competition.

“What” is decided by effective demand, the vote of money. The consumer himself decides what he is willing to pay money for. The manufacturer himself will strive to satisfy the desires of the consumer.

The “how” is decided by the manufacturer, who seeks to make more profit. Since setting prices does not depend solely on him, to achieve his goal in a competitive environment, the manufacturer must produce and sell as many goods as possible and at a lower price than his competitors.

“For whom” is decided in favor various groups consumers based on their income.

1. Read the text and complete the tasks.

The telegraph, as you know, appeared long before the telephone and quickly became a popular means of transmitting information. But few people know that in the 19th century. there was an attempt to make a business in the trade of telegraph devices, promoting them to the market as devices for personal household use. Such a business did not take place, since each buyer of the device had to learn Morse code and acquire communication skills in this “non-human language.” Engineer A. Bell, seeing that society needed a means of communication, soon invented the telephone, providing a simple and natural way for people to communicate. With the use of the telephone, the communications business began to expand rapidly.

(Based on materials from the Encyclopedia for Schoolchildren)

Like in this specific situation The main economic issues were resolved:

1) What to produce and in what quantity?

It is necessary to produce things that make life easier for people.

2) How to produce?

With benefits for yourself and customers.

3) For whom to produce?

For as many people as possible so that many people can afford this product.

2. Explain the meaning of the concepts.

Economic efficiency is the result that can be obtained by comparing production profitability indicators in relation to total costs and resources used. If the first indicator is higher than the second component, it means that the goals have been achieved and all needs have been satisfied. If the situation is the other way around, it means that there is no economic effect and the company incurs losses.

The essence of economic efficiency is to obtain more production results from the resources available to the enterprise, recouping the costs of acquiring resources.

The effectiveness of the economic system depends on the efficiency of production, the social sphere (education systems, health care, culture), and the effectiveness of public administration. The effectiveness of each of these areas is determined by the ratio of the results obtained to the costs and is measured by a set of quantitative indicators.

An economic system is a set of interconnected economic elements that form a certain integrity, the economic structure of society; the unity of relations arising regarding the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of economic goods.

To distinguish these systems, two main criteria are used: the form of ownership of the means of production (Means and objects of labor); a way of coordinating and managing economic activities.

With a large degree of convention, we can distinguish a model of traditional, command-administrative (centralized) and market economies.

3. Name several ways to improve production efficiency.

Ways to increase production efficiency - a set of specific measures to increase production efficiency in given directions. The main ways to increase production efficiency: reducing labor intensity and increasing labor productivity, reducing the material intensity of products and rational use of natural resources, reducing the capital intensity of products and intensifying the investment activities of enterprises.

An important factor in increasing the efficiency of an enterprise is scientific and technological progress. In modern conditions, revolutionary, qualitative changes are needed, a transition to fundamentally new technologies, to technology of subsequent generations, a radical re-equipment of all sectors of the national economy based on the latest achievements of science and technology.

Radical transformations in engineering and technology, the mobilization of all, not only technical, but also organizational, economic and social factors, will create the prerequisites for a significant increase in labor productivity. It is necessary to ensure the introduction of the latest equipment and technology, to widely use progressive forms in production scientific organization labor, improve its standardization, achieve growth in production culture, strengthening order and discipline.

One of important factors intensification and improvement of production efficiency of enterprises is a mode of economy. Resource conservation must become a decisive source of meeting the growing demand for fuel, energy, raw materials and materials.

Increasing production efficiency depends on better use of fixed assets. It is necessary to more intensively use the created production potential, achieve rhythmic production, maximum equipment utilization, significantly increase the shift of its work and, on this basis, increase the volume of production from each piece of equipment, from each square meter of production area. The result of organizing the intensive use of production capacity is the acceleration of the rate of production growth without additional capital investments.

Organizational and economic factors occupy an important place in increasing production efficiency. Their role especially increases with the growth of the scale of social production and the complication of economic relations. The production social infrastructure, which has a significant impact on the level of production efficiency, requires further development and improvement. In management, this means improving the very forms and methods of management, planning, and economic stimulation of the entire economic mechanism. In this same group of factors, various levers of economic accounting and material incentives, financial responsibility and other self-supporting economic incentives are widely used.

A special place in intensifying the economy of an enterprise and reducing specific resource consumption belongs to improving product quality. This task should become the subject of constant attention and control, the main factor in assessing the activities of each work team.

4. Fill out the table using the textbook text.

A traditional economy is based on traditions passed down from generation to generation. These traditions determine what goods and services are produced, for whom, and how. The list of goods, production technology and distribution are based on the customs of a given country. The economic roles of members of society are determined by heredity and caste.

This type of economy has survived today in some underdeveloped countries, where technological progress penetrates with great difficulty, since it, as a rule, undermines the established customs and traditions in these countries.

Characteristic features of traditional economies:

Poor development of technology and production technologies;

Large share of manual labor in all sectors of the economy;

An insignificant role in the traditional economy of entrepreneurship, including small ones, with a constant increase in the scale of activity of large divisions;

The predominance of traditions and customs in all aspects of society.

Main features of a capitalist economy: Private property; Freedom of entrepreneurial choice; Competition; Reliance on the market system; Limited role of the state.

A market economy is characterized by private ownership of resources and the use of a system of markets and prices to coordinate and manage economic activity. What, how and for whom to produce is determined by the market through the mechanism of supply and demand.

In a capitalist system, material resources belong to private individuals. The right to enter into binding legal contracts allows individuals to manage their material resources as they wish.

The manufacturer strives to produce (WHAT?) those products that satisfy the needs of the buyer and bring him the greatest profit. The consumer himself decides which product to buy and how much money to pay for it.

Since in conditions of free competition the setting of prices does not depend on the manufacturer, then the question “HOW?” produce, an economic entity responds with the desire to produce products at lower costs than its competitor in order to sell more due to more low prices. Solving this problem is facilitated by the use of technological progress and various methods management.

The question "FOR WHOM?" decided in favor of consumers with the highest income.

A command or centralized economy is the opposite of a market economy. It is based on state ownership of all material resources. From here all economic decisions are made government agencies through centralized (directive planning).

The production plan stipulates for each enterprise what and in what volume to produce, certain resources are allocated, thereby the state decides the question of how to produce, not only suppliers are indicated, but also buyers, that is, the question of for whom to produce is resolved.

The means of production are distributed among industries on the basis of long-term priorities determined by the planning authority.

In such an economic system, the government does not interfere in the economy. Its role is reduced to protecting private property and establishing laws that facilitate the functioning of free markets.

5. Analyze the situations and determine the type of economic system.

Traditional economics

1) In country W, the main wealth is land, which is owned by the community. The production process is carried out in accordance with the customs of our ancestors. Families produce everything they need for life on their own farms. Commodity-money relations are not developed.

Command economy

2) In country N everything is natural and economic resources are owned by the state. Planning and pricing issues are resolved centrally.

6. Compare market and command economies. Select and write down in the first column of the table the ordinal numbers of their similarities, and in the second column the ordinal numbers of the differences between a market economy and a command economy.

1) dominance state form property

2) solving the problem of limited resources

3) production of goods and services

4) competition between producers

7. In the section “The Wise Speak” there is a statement by the American economist V. Leontiev (see p. 160 of the textbook). Analyze the author's words.

1) How do you understand the meaning of this statement?

The desire of people to create new things and to work gives society the strength to develop, and planning uses these forces so that they are not wasted, but serve the achievement of national goals.

2) Write down two or three social science terms that can be used to explain the meaning of this statement.

The meaning of the statement can be called such terms as:

1) innovation

2) economic perspective,

3) efficiency

4) management

3) Give some examples to illustrate this statement.

The creation of the Windows system, the creation of computers and their distribution as personal home devices, the creation of air conditioning and similar new products that make our lives better, easier and more comfortable.