Wat is ekonomie?

Ons as mense het oneindige behoeftes, begeertes en wense wat vervul moet word, maar daar is altyd ’n tekort aan middele, hulpbronne en tyd. Alle behoeftes kan dus nie bevredig word nie en mense sal keuses moet maak. Sommige behoeftes en begeertes sal bevredig word, terwyl ander nie geniet kan word nie. Hulpbronne moet daarom so aangewend word dat ’n mens die meeste van sy behoeftes wel kan bereik. In Ekonomie gaan dit dus om die hulbronne wat ons het tot die beste van ons vermoe aan te wend sodat die grootste hoeveelheid van ons doelwitte bereik kan word.

Die sentrale probleem in ekonomie kan in een woord opgesom word: skaarsheid.  Skaarsheid beïnvloed almal. Neem byvoorbeeld jou inkomste of sakgeld wat jou pa vir jou gee in ag. Wat is jou maandelikse inkomste of sakgeld? Vergelyk nou hierdie inkomste of sakgeld met die koste om al jou materiële behoeftes te bevredig. Het jy genoeg geld om jou handboeke, kos, en ’n kas bier elke week te koop? Almal sal waarskynlik saamstem dat ons inkomste of sakgeld nie genoeg is om al ons behoeftes te bevredig nie. Ons moet almal keuses maak oor hoe om ons skaars inkomste of sakgeld optimaal te spandeer. Koop ek maandliks slegs een kas bier en al my handboeke? OF Koop ek net kos en bier en hoop ek kom my vakke deur?  

Ekonomie is dus die optimale aanwending van skaars middele of hulpbronne om sodoende meeste behoeftes te bevedig.



Welcome to Introductory Economics a.k.a ECON 111

Welcome to the wonderful world of Economics! Welcome also to this module in Economics (ECON 111), this is going to set you on track to become literate in economics in no time! The aim of the module is to introduce you to Economics and to provide you with an insight into the functioning, composition and interdependence of the distinguishable decision-makers and sectors in the economy. 

The rationale behind the subject:

The first economic assumption is maximum profit. The goal of any company is to maximise profits, which cannot happen in isolation from the rest of the economy. Interaction with other economic participants is essential. For production, production factor owners or other producers supply inputs. For selling, interaction with consumers is necessary. Markets will organise most of these interactions and the market is dynamic. Participants and markets are not constant, stable and non-developing entities. Tastes and preferences, production techniques, inflation, unemployment, interest rates and taxes are variables that change frequently. A business administrator without any knowledge of economics, who ignores these instabilities in the economic sphere, may find that his company is making losses and eventually will be forced to leave the industry.

This module will introduce you to the functioning of the economy. It will deal with the different economic participants, markets and policy makers in the economy. All these participants will influence the performance of any company. This course is an introduction to economics. In later modules, more in-depth discussion on each of these economic participants and topics will follow.

 

 To get you started:  Look at the slideshow - make sure you know when you can pop in, have the right textbook and are connected on all the social platforms.

ECON 111 Introduction from aliciafourie3108