AP Macroeconomics AMSCO Guided Notes

1.1: Scarcity

AP Macroeconomics
AMSCO Guided Notes

AP Macroeconomics Guided Notes

AMSCO 1.1 - Scarcity

Essential Questions

  1. What are scarcity and economic resources?
I. The Fundamentals of Economics

1. What is scarcity and why does it require people to make choices?

2. What are the three fundamental economic questions that every society must answer?

A. What Do Economists Do?

1. What is the primary focus of economists and what methods do they use in their work?

B. Microeconomics vs. Macroeconomics

1. How does microeconomics differ from macroeconomics in terms of what economists study?

2. What are examples of microeconomic and macroeconomic questions?

C. What Is vs. What Ought to Be

1. What is the difference between studying what is and what ought to be in economics?

2. How do economists' personal values influence their views on economic problems?

II. Scarcity and Choice

1. Why must individuals, businesses, and governments make choices about resource allocation?

A. Goods and Services

1. What is the difference between goods and services, and what are examples of each?

2. What are consumers and what is consumption?

III. Economic Resources

1. What are the four factors of production and how do producers use them?

A. Natural Resources

1. What are natural resources and why is no country able to have an unlimited supply of them?

B. Human Resources

1. How do the size and productivity of the workforce affect a country's production of goods and services?

2. What factors influence worker productivity and why is it more important than workforce size?

C. Capital Resources

1. What are capital resources and how do they differ from money?

2. What is depreciation and why must countries produce new capital to maintain production levels?

D. Entrepreneurship

1. What is entrepreneurship and what role do entrepreneurs play in economic growth?

2. What are the risks and rewards associated with entrepreneurship in the United States?

Key Terms

needs

wants

scarcity

choice

economics

economist

microeconomics

macroeconomics

producer

goods

services

consumer

consumption

economic resources

factors of production

natural resources

human resources

capital resources

depreciation

entrepreneurship

entrepreneur