Economics Interview Preparation Guide

Economics is usually defined as the problem of how best to distribute limited resources, limited because wants are characterized as unlimited, but common sense tells us that rather than limited resources, there is an abundance of resources. The difference is one of perspective and this is core to any alternative understanding of economics. If wants are the focus, then of course resources are limited by definition, but if minimum needs or essentials are used as the foundation, then resources are seen to be abundant. The difference is between a description and an explanation. A focus on wants or desires describes a market situation, while a focus on essentials or needs allows an explanation of choices to begin.

1- Europe (remember Italy, French, UK and Germany are 4 world's power) 2- USA 3- China.

2006 GDP Figures from the CIA World Fact book, in Trillions of dollars, purchasing power parity:

European Union: 13.080

United State: 13.060

China: 10.210

Prior to 2005, and probably back to 1942, the United State surpassed the EU.

This depends on the country. Most currencies, however, were based on gold and silver.

In America, in the 13 colonies, tobacco was mostly used as a type of currency.

It is because both the private sector and public sector have a say in answering the basic economic questions, thus, there will be a degree of high efficiency (due to the private sector involvement) and social welfare too (due to the public sector involvement).

It allows the Government to intervene when the economy faces market failure. The mixed economic system allows markets to operate freely until it fails to allocate resources efficiently, after this, the government agencies, such as the EU Competition Commission, are able to correct for these failures. If this had been a completely free economic system, Government agencies would not have the means of power to be able to intervene.

NO! Only a fraction of the world’s people has access to computers or the energy needed to operate them. How would a deaf-mute access literary works?

The main conditions required are:

1. Either a finite number of agents or goods.

2. No externalities - That is, the consumption of one person should not harm or benefit anyone else.

3. No matter how much a person is consuming, they must be able to be made slightly happier by consuming a bit more of something.

There are many ways to describe the market structure of the automotive industry. Here are two:

One of heterogeneous buyers makes up the population and nearly homogeneous sellers. This means that everyone (the population) needs a car (because a car is not a luxury item), but everyone has different needs (i.e.: compare a mother of 4 to a construction worker). Thus, buyers are everyone in the population, and they are heterogeneous (different). However, sellers are practically the same. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, etc all offer the same products. Thus, they are homogeneous (similar).

Buyers with high brand-preference and highly marketed sellers this means that many automobile buyers have a brand loyalty, and sellers market to cultivate that loyalty. A great example of this is Jeep and Harley Davidson. Both companies have created a kind of community amongst their owners (I am sure we have all seen two Jeeps passing and the driver’s wave at each other).

There are many advantages to a free market economy. They range from the moral issues to the practical issues. We will deal mainly with the practical ones.

Unprecedented innovation - Free markets are wrought with inventions and the capital to research them. Countries classified as having a free market have been responsible for the vast majority of inventions since the 19th century.

Very high-income mobility - This means that under a free market system it is easier to move around income brackets. It is just easier to become rich or poor when you are left to your own devices as opposed to a controlled economy where resources are allocated by the government.

The disadvantages of a mixed economy really depend on how "mixed" it is. For instance, if it is mixed more towards a free-market, there is little regulation (some may see this as a good, though), but if it is mixed more towards a command economy, the control may stifle growth.

Mixed economies can also have different characteristics. Each of these will share a different set of disadvantages. A will stifle profits due to it's high tax structure, but will encourage new ideas due to its low regulation (this could result in many weird effects such as an economy comprised almost solely of small, well-niche businesses). B will encourage profits, but due to its regulation, some new ideas (and some growth) will be stifled. For instance, if environmental regulations are strict, the building of new plants or refineries might be lowered. This could result in a small number of very large and profitable businesses.

Mercantilism was the economic philosophy underlying English colonial policy. The object of mercantilism was to increase the wealth of the Mother County (Great Britain) in gold and silver. To accomplish that goal, a favorable balance of trade was desired. That means that a nation would sell more than it would purchase, thus creating a surplus in the treasury. The name of the philosophy points out the importance is of merchants in this policy. Merchants would sell products to foreign nations and purchased items to be sold within the nation. Colonies played a vital role in mercantilism. A colony would supply the necessary raw materials to the industries of England and the colonists would be a source of income to the nation because they would buy the finished products and supplies they needed to grow, from the Mother Country. The ideal was to become self-sufficient. The nation would produce everything its people needed and buy nothing from foreign nations. Since the ideal could not be accomplished in the real world of economics, the object of mercantilism was to minimize imports that cost money and maximize exports and the trade that brought money in to the nation.