X Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2018

Microeconomics is a field of economic study that focuses on how an individual's behavior and decisions affect the supply and demand for goods and services. For the purpose of microeconomics the actions of individuals, households and businesses is crucial, unlike the study of macroeconomics, which focuses on national and international economic trends. Despite the differences between the two fields, however, micro-level trends and the study of microeconomics are considered the basis of modern macroeconomics.

Microeconomics includes a number of specialized areas of study. Key applied microeconomics fields are price theory and labor economics. While each of these subfields relies on various theories and tools, all of them fall back to the theory of supply and demand. Theoretically, all markets are perfectly competitive, with supply and demand driving prices. However, in practice, individuals and groups can directly affect the supply and demand of products and services.

Another key area of microeconomics is the study of market failure. Market failure is not the assumption that a market has ceased functioning; instead it is a situation in which a market is inefficient, whether in organizing production or allocating goods and services, usually to an extreme point. These market failures can occur because of monopolies, a lack of information for either buyers or sellers and other issues.

Opportunity cost is also a main concern in microeconomics. While difficult to measure in macroeconomics, opportunity cost can be clearly demonstrated in microeconomics: an individual can point to specific opportunities that become unavailable as they use their resources for other purposes. For instance, an employee may need to decide to take a class that improves her chances for promotion over taking a vacation.

Microeconomics also deals with the effects of economic policies (such as changing taxation levels).

The microeconomics plays a large role in everyday life of people. Most people have a limited amount of time and money. They cannot buy or do everything they want, so they make calculated decisions on how to use limited resources to maximize personal satisfaction. Similarly, a business also has limited time and money. Businesses also make decisions that result in the best outcome for the business which may be to maximize profit.

Microeconomics stands in contrast to macroeconomics, which involves "the sum total of economic activity, dealing with the issues of growth, inflation, and unemployment and with national policies relating to these issues". on the aforementioned aspects of the economy.

Macroeconomics is a part of the economics field that studies how the aggregate economy behaves. In macroeconomics, a variety of economy-wide phenomena is thoroughly examined such as, inflation, price levels, rate of growth, national income, gross domestic product and changes in unemployment.

Those working in the field of macroeconomics study aggregated indicators such as unemployment rates, GDP and price indices, and then analyze how different sectors of the economy relate to one another to understand how the economy functions. Macroeconomists develop models explaining relationships between a variety of factors such as consumption, inflation, savings, investments, international trade and finance, national income and output. Contrarily, microeconomics analyzes how individual agents act, namely consumers and corporations, and studies how these agents' behavior affects quantities and prices in certain markets. Such macroeconomic models, and what the models forecast, are used by government entities to aid in the construction and evaluation of economic policy.

Macroeconomic policy instruments refer to macroeconomic quantities that can be directly controlled by an economic policy maker.

Monetary policy

A simple example of monetary policy is the central bank's open market operations. When there is a need to increase cash in the economy, the central bank will buy government bonds (monetary expansion). These securities allow the central bank to inject the economy with an immediate supply of cash. In turn, interest rates—the cost to borrow money—will be reduced because the demand for the bonds will increase their price and push the interest rate down. In theory, more people and businesses will then buy and invest. Demand for goods and services will rise and, as a result, output will increase. To cope with increased levels of production, unemployment levels should fall and wages should rise.

On the other hand, when the central bank needs to absorb extra money in the economy and push inflation levels down, it will sell its T-bills. This will result in higher interest rates (less borrowing, less spending and investment) and less demand, which will ultimately push down the price level (inflation) and result in less real output.

Fiscal policy

The government can also increase taxes or lower government spending in order to conduct a fiscal contraction. What this will do is lower real output because less government spending means less disposable income for consumers. And, because more of consumers' wages will go to taxes, demand will also decrease.

There are a number of differences between microeconomics and macroeconomics, though in general these differences come down to the scope involved with each aspect of economics. Microeconomics is concerned with individual businesses and consumers, including considerations for consumer buying habits with relation to a particular individual or one business. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, looks at the economy on a larger scale and considers the financial activities of an entire country, or numerous countries that affect each other financially. While both micro and macroeconomics often involve understanding concepts such as supply and demand, these concepts are considered at vastly different scales.

Both microeconomics and macroeconomics are aspects of economics in general, and they are typically discussed together by financial analysts and financial forecasters. The most basic difference between these two aspects of economics is their scale. Microeconomics deals with individual consumers or businesses and the supply and demand involved with each party; macroeconomics involves an understanding of larger economic systems and how national economies change and develop over time.

One of the biggest differences between microeconomics and macroeconomics is how equilibrium is determined and evaluated for the economy. Equilibrium in microeconomics typically comes about when supply and demand for one particular company are even. In macroeconomics, on the other hand, this equilibrium can only be achieved if the aggregate supply and demand among all businesses and consumer households is even. Microeconomics and macroeconomics are also quite different in how supply and demand are viewed and considered. The focus in microeconomics is on supply and demand for a single product or at most the products offered by one company, while macroeconomics deals with aggregate supply and demand for an entire country or worldwide economy.

Most economists recognize the importance of analyzing and understanding both of these aspects of the economy. While they can be considered as different and separate components of the economy, they are also interconnected. Changes to the national economy in a country often impact individual businesses and households, such as increased interest rates that change consumer spending habits and alter resource costs for companies. It is often easiest to consider microeconomics and macroeconomics together as the way in which changes in one system affect the other: in microeconomics these changes come from the bottom up, while in macroeconomics the changes occur from the top down.

References:

wiseGEEK[электронный ресурс] .- Режим доступа:http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-microeconomics.htm.- загл.с экрана.

instovedia [электронный ресурс] .- Режим доступа https://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/120402.asp .- загл.с экрана.

wiseGEEK[электронный ресурс] .- Режим доступа:http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-microeconomics-and-macroeconomics.htm .- загл.с экрана.

 

4

 

Код для цитирования: Скопировать