Monday, September 14, 2015

Journal 1

    Chapter 3 wasn't really difficult to understand. I liked it since the next few chapters will probably be harder. The chapter focused on the different aspects of a trade and what both sides can bring to the table. The main analogy used was that of a farmer and a rancher. Both of these people produced meat and corn but at different rates. By having each of them produce only one of these and not both and trade with each other, everyone was able to have more than what they were originally supposed to have. The chapter explains that this is because of their comparative advantage, or who essentially has less opportunity cost, or all of the other possible options when making a choice, when producing one product or making a choice, and much less their absolute advantage, or who was able to produce more of both every product. By specializing, the farmer and the rancher were able to consume more than what they would have if they tried to manage both farming and herding on their own. This analogy was meant to represent any market in Capitalism. By having everyone within a market or even an economy specialize and do what they are best at and then trade with each other, everyone is able to receive a bigger portion of the bigger overall pie, all thanks to the different opportunity costs of people. This chapter illustrates this point very well and in an easy to understand way. 

No comments:

Post a Comment