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Why are some countries rich, and some other poor? What causes recessionary crises? What is inflation? Why are some brands more expensive than others? These are some questions that the study of economics could help in answering. Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. It is a social science because it’s focused on human behavior and how people interact with each other. People constantly make decisions, and one’s choice often has an impact on someone else’s. Economics studies how not only individuals, but also businesses and governments choose to allocate resources to satisfy their needs. Two key concepts in economic theory are utility and scarcity. Utility is the satisfaction received from the consumption of a good or service. It is subjective to the consumer, who is expected to maximize it with his consumption choices. Utility has a direct influence on the demand for a good and, consequently, its price. Scarcity refers to the basic assumption that resources are limited in quantity. Think about that: if we were free to have whatever we wanted, there would be no study of economics at all! Instead, the amount of resources we can get is restricted in many ways, and we need to decide how to allocate them in the best way possible. From all of this, we can conclude that economics is a strive for efficiency, which means to make the best possible use of our scarce resources in order to maximize our utility.