What role does a person play in the country's economy? Interesting facts and useful tips

Economy is the totality of scientific research, financial structure and human activity that ensures the production, rational distribution and consumption of goods and services in human society.

The concept of economics, its role in human life

Economics consists of microeconomics and macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is the level of creation of factors and conditions that favorably affect the performance of economic activity.

Microeconomics is the process of ongoing interaction between producer and consumer. Economics undoubtedly plays an important role in the life of a modern person.

First of all, thanks to the economy, we are provided with the material goods necessary for full-fledged life - housing, clothing, food. The economic life of a society sets the general pace of its development and determines the course of processes occurring in it.

Social needs

Social needs are a type of those needs that are of a mass nature and inherent in every person due to his social nature. Social needs include two subtypes that are interconnected: the needs of the state and the needs of society.

Social needs include the needs for communications, education, labor, healthcare, and safety. The degree of realization of social needs is influenced by the level of the economy in the state. It is the factor of economic development that becomes decisive in people’s satisfaction of their social needs.

In states with unstable economies, only primary needs - the need for food and clothing - can be easily satisfied.

Limited resources

Limited resources is a term that has recently been used quite often in economics. This is a concept that expresses the finiteness and scarcity of those production resources that people are accustomed to using in economic production.

Human needs have no boundaries and tend to increase, while the level of resources to satisfy them falls continuously. In a broad sense, resource limitation is the use by a person of free material and intangible resources.

In this interpretation, intangible resources such as time and human power are added to the free material resources of production.

Factors of production

Those resources through which the process of economic production occurs are called factors of production. Types of production factors:

1. Information - in the modern world, instead of information in economics, the term “technology” is increasingly used. Information is the basis of economic activity, as it opens up new ways to improve production and increase its effectiveness.

2. Labor is the expedient activity of an individual aimed at achieving results.

3. Capital - a set of material goods: machines, machines, money, buildings, structures.

4. Land is a natural resource necessary for the production of material goods and services.

In the course of his life, a person has to constantly solve pressing problems related to meeting needs - food, housing, gaining knowledge, self-realization and many others. For this purpose, an economic system has been created within which people interact and realize their needs. Let's learn briefly about the role of economics in the life of society.

Needs

Man and society are constantly evolving. They constantly need different things to satisfy their needs. All needs are usually divided into several groups:

• natural (in food, sleep, housing and others);
• social (in communication, friendship, love);
• spiritual (in acquiring new knowledge, mastering cultural values).

The peculiarity of human needs is that they have no limit. When some are satisfied, new ones will certainly arise.

An example of the unlimited nature of needs is the plot of A. S. Pushkin’s fairy tale “The Golden Fish,” in which the old woman, having received a new trough to replace the broken one, wanted a new hut, tower, and so on.

We must not forget that the Earth's resources, unlike its needs, are limited. These include minerals, forests, and fresh water. Therefore, it is important to organize people’s activities so that the use of resources simultaneously satisfies people’s needs and is carried out within reasonable limits. Economics serves to regulate this process.

Participants in economic relations:

• consumers (individuals, family and other groups);
• manufacturers (enterprises, government)

All participants have to choose which needs are more important and which can be reduced or abandoned.

That is, when entering into economic relations, the consumer evaluates what benefits he will receive and what funds he will have to spend. It is important for a manufacturer to create what society needs - economic benefits.

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The concept of good

Benefits are understood as those means that help a person satisfy his needs. They can be free and economic.

Free goods, as a rule, are available in nature in ready-made form. This is air, water, light and so on. And economic ones are created in the process of transformation of resources. For example, food, equipment, buildings, clothing.

The role of economics

Let's figure out what the role of economics is in the life of society.

Awareness of limited resources and the importance of unification into a single economic system led to the fact that society, having begun its journey with stone processing, has now achieved a high development of science and technology, creating a well-coordinated, extensive trading network.

But with the rapid development of the production of consumer goods, the problem of rational use of resources is becoming increasingly acute. Fresh water, gas, oil, clean air - the destruction of all these benefits is irreversible, since man cannot restore them.

What have we learned?

Having studied the topic for grade 10 about economics and its role in the life of society, we discovered that in his life a person is forced to constantly take care of satisfying various needs. The relations that arise in this case are called economic. In conditions of limited natural and other resources, participants in economic relations have to choose for themselves the most important needs and the most significant benefits for production. In general, the role of the economy is great, since the existence of such a system is designed to achieve a fair distribution of resources between people.

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Economics plays a huge role in the life of society. Firstly, it provides people with the material conditions of existence - food, clothing, housing and other consumer goods. Secondly, the economic sphere of society is a system-forming component of society, a decisive sphere of its life, determining the course of all processes occurring in society. It is studied by many sciences, among which the most important are economic theory and social philosophy. It should also be noted that such a relatively new science as ergonomics (it studies a person and his production activities, with the goal of optimizing tools, conditions and the labor process).

Economics in a broad sense is usually understood as a system of social production, i.e., the process of creating material goods necessary for human society for its normal existence and development.

Economy - it is an area of ​​human activity in which wealth is created to satisfy their various needs. A need is a person’s objective need for something. Human needs are very diverse. Based on the subjects (carriers of needs), needs are distinguished between individual, group, collective and public. By object (subject to which they are directed) - material, spiritual, ethical (relating to morality) and aesthetic (relating to art).

By area of ​​activity, the needs of labor, communication, and recreation (rest, recovery) are distinguished.

When organizing their economic activities, people pursue certain goals related to obtaining the goods and services they need. To achieve these goals, first of all, a workforce is needed, that is, people with abilities and work skills. These people use the means of production in the course of their work.

The means of production are a combination of objects of labor, i.e., that from which material goods are produced, and means of labor, i.e., that with which or with the help of which they are produced.

The totality of the means of production and labor power is usually called the productive forces of society.

Productive forces - these are people (human factor) who have production skills and produce material goods, means of production created by society (material factor), as well as technology and organization of the production process.

The entire set of goods and services necessary for a person is created in two complementary spheres of the economy.

In the non-productive sphere, spiritual, cultural and other values ​​are created and similar services are provided (educational, medical, etc.).

Services are understood as expedient types of labor with the help of which certain needs of people are satisfied.

In material production, material goods are produced (industry, agriculture, etc.) and material services are provided (trade, utilities, transport, etc.).

History knows two main forms of material social production: natural and commodity. Natural production is a production in which the products produced are not intended for sale, but to satisfy the manufacturer’s own needs. The main features of such an economy are isolation, conservatism, manual labor, slow pace of development, direct connections between production and consumption. Unlike natural commodity production, commodity production is initially market-oriented; products are produced not for one’s own consumption, but for sale. Commodity production more dynamically, since the manufacturer constantly monitors processes occurring in the market, fluctuations in demand for a particular type of product and makes appropriate changes to the production process.

The most important role in material production belongs to the equipment and technology used by the manufacturer.

The original ancient Greek word techne meant art, skill, craft. Over time, the meaning of this concept has narrowed, and today technology refers to the means created by people with the help of which the process of material production is carried out, as well as serving the spiritual, everyday and other unproductive needs of society. Like other subsystems of the economy, technology went through a number of different stages in its development: periods of its evolutionary development were replaced by “leaps”, due to which its level and character changed. Such leaps are called technical revolutions.

Throughout economic history, three technical revolutions in production have occurred.

During the first - Neolithic - revolution, the emergence of a productive economy and the transition to a sedentary lifestyle became possible. This contributed to a sharp increase in population: the so-called first demographic explosion occurred - the growth rate of the Earth's population almost doubled. Production at this pre-industrial stage was characterized by the predominance of agriculture, the dominance of manual labor and primitive forms of organization of the latter. Such production still remains typical for some African countries (Guiana, Guinea, Senegal, etc.).

The second - industrial - revolution occurred in the second half of the 18th - 50-60s. XIX century It is called industrial because the main content of this revolution was the industrial revolution - the transition from manual labor to machine labor. From now on, mechanical engineering becomes the main sphere of production, and the bulk of the population now works in industry and lives in cities. Associated with this stage of economic development, called industrial, is the second demographic explosion, during which the planet's population increases almost sevenfold. However, the achievements of the industrial economy are not enough to meet the needs of all residents of industrialized countries. From a certain point on, the contradiction between relatively limited production capabilities and a completely new - both quantitative and qualitative - level of people's needs is increasingly felt. This contradiction is resolved during the course that began in the 40s and 50s. XX century scientific and technological revolution.

The scientific and technological revolution represented a qualitative leap in the development of the productive forces of society, its transition to a new state based on fundamental changes in the system of scientific knowledge.

The main directions of the scientific and technological revolution:

1) automation and computerization of production;

2) introduction of the latest information technologies;

3) development of biotechnologies;

4) creation of new structural materials;

5) development of new energy sources;

6) revolutionary changes in the means of communication and communication.

The result of this revolution was the transition to the post-industrial stage of production and the information society. The service sector is now experiencing the greatest development, in which 50 to 70% of the working-age population works. The social structure of society is changing, the number of people with higher education is growing significantly.

Each of the technical revolutions listed above entailed the replacement of the dominant technological method of production with a new one that better met the increased needs of society. History knows four successive technological methods of production:

1) appropriating;

2) agricultural-craft;

3) industrial;

4) information and computer.

Each technological method of production was characterized by specific, unique tools and a system of labor organization.

In the course of practical activities, people producing material goods are faced not only with a certain level of development of technology and technology, but also with the relationships that have developed in this regard, which are usually called technological.

Technological relations - These are the relations of the producer of material goods that develop on a certain technical basis to the object and means of his labor, as well as to the people with whom he interacts in the technological process.

Another system of relations is economic or production. The main one is the relationship of ownership of the means of production.

Today, the economic sphere occupies a leading place in the system of social relations and determines the content of the political, legal, spiritual and other spheres of society. Modern economy is a product of long-term historical development and improvement of various forms of organization of economic life. In most countries, it is market-based, but at the same time it is regulated by the state, which seeks to give it the necessary social orientation. The economy of modern countries is characterized by the process of internationalization of economic life, the result of which is the international division of labor and the formation of a single world economy.

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One of the main and oldest types of human activity is agriculture. It is difficult to imagine our life without raising animals, birds, plants, thanks to which we exist. This industry occupies the most advanced place in the production of food for the population. Great efforts and labor are put in by workers in the agricultural industry to ensure that our store shelves always have essential goods: baked goods, cereals, flour, meat and dairy products.

In the modern world it has become much easier to develop production in the agricultural sector. New technologies are being developed and implemented to help replace manual labor. Large, medium and small businesses came to the rescue, offering new jobs. New fields are being plowed for growing various crops, both cereals and fruits. There is particular interest in growing in greenhouses, which makes it possible to obtain an earlier product of high quality. It is impossible not to note the important role of gardening. It will take several years and even decades to grow trees in the garden. Tireless care, pruning, feeding the seedlings will eventually bring results, and we will have the opportunity to buy beautiful juicy fruits. The livestock sector of agriculture also requires very painstaking work and care. A centuries-old tradition is the raising of poultry and animals: chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, horses, cows, sheep, etc.

Despite the difficulties in the economy, new amateurs are still appearing who are ready to try themselves as an agrarian or farmer. Some city residents, tired of the noisy bustle, preferred to go to the countryside to engage in their agriculture. After all, working in the fresh air is more pleasant and useful than in a stuffy office. As a result, you get your job, which no one can take away from you, and you are your own boss. Agriculture, unlike many other industries, will never end, because it is a way of life that brings the joy of communicating with nature. A person living in a rural area rather than in a city gets a great advantage in the quality of food. Homegrown products contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Work can create miracles for a person and bring a sense of self-worth in our world.

The article was prepared on the text exchange. LYNIX-TEXT.RU

Section 3. Economics.

3.1. Economics, its role in the life of society.

The word “economics” appeared in ancient times. It belongs to Aristotle and comes from two Greek words “oikos” - economy, house and “nomos” - law. In other words, the concept of “economics” can be defined as the laws of housekeeping and housekeeping. The basis of such an economy is the production and consumption of vital goods necessary for the life of people, members of this house.

In the 17th century, the term “political economy” was introduced into circulation, in which the word “polity,” meaning social structure, led to a new understanding of economics at the level not of an individual economy, but at the level of the entire society. Thus, economics began to be interpreted as the laws of running a social economy. This meant that each farm was in close connection with other farms and depended on their activities. Together they make up the national economy (the economy of a particular state), which are part of the global (world) economy of planet Earth.

The economy is based on people's needs and economic interests that force them to act in one way or another. As a result, relations arise between people regarding production, exchange, consumption and appropriation of life's goods, which are commonly called economic relations.

Economy in the modern sense is an economic system that ensures the satisfaction of the needs of people and society by creating the necessary goods of life. In modern conditions, this system includes production and infrastructure. Production covers: the material sphere, where material goods are created, the intangible sphere, where spiritual, scientific, cultural and moral values ​​are created, the service sector, in which any needs are satisfied. For example, trade or notary services, transport or telephone communications, etc.

It is customary to interpret economics in three concepts:

economy as a system of relations between people, determined by the production, exchange and consumption of vital goods,

economy as the economy of an individual (family, enterprise, region, state, group of countries and the whole world),

economics as a discipline that studies the manifestations of the economic life of a person, company, society.

Economics has practical implications for business. Understanding the general nature of the functioning of the economic system helps the head of an enterprise to better determine his economic policy and make reasonable business decisions. Knowledge of the course of economics gives the individual, as a consumer and as an employee, some idea of ​​what the best decisions will be when purchasing goods and hiring, what job to choose, what to invest in.

Economics, for all its practical usefulness, is a primarily academic subject.

Thus, economics is a science that studies the activities of an individual, a group of people, or society as a whole to ensure certain material conditions for the organization of life.

Economic theory consists of two sections: ^ Microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics examines the behavior and economic life of households and individual firms. Its features are:

Study of the behavior of a firm, household as economic agents in a market system and, therefore, taking into account the constant choice of decisions, price fluctuations in the process of interaction of supply and demand and determination of costs;

Study of the impact of the state on firms and households;

Study of the environment and the factors determining it in private markets;

Study of such phenomena as the interests of individuals, the utility of goods and services, supply and demand.

Macroeconomics examines the behavior or functioning of the national (world) economic system as a whole. Its features are:

Study of industries and spheres of the economy, economic relations between them, development of the national and world economy,

Study of such phenomena and processes as employment and unemployment, general dynamics of prices, national income, expenses, etc.

The main difference between micro- and macroeconomics lies not in the scale of the objects they study, but in the economic processes taking place in national economies that make up these objects. P. Samuelson says that microeconomics is a separate tree in the forest, and macroeconomics is the forest.

3.2. Goods and services, resources and needs, limited resources.

All economic relations are based on the production and sale of goods or services.

^ Material production (production of goods)

The key to studying the economic life of society is the analysis of material production, since society cannot exist without the production of material goods necessary for people’s lives. The production of means of subsistence forms the starting point of the history of mankind, its first historical act.

This sphere is not only historically the first, it is also the “progenitor” of all other spheres of society’s life - social, political, spiritual. It is the economic sphere that, as a basis, integrates the remaining subsystems of society into integrity.

In the process of material production, people interact with each other in order to effectively influence nature. In this area, the satisfaction of man and society with material goods occurs: food, clothing, housing, etc.

The method of production of material goods (economic mode of production) includes productive forces and production relations.

Productive forces are a system of subjective (human) and material (technology, objects of labor) elements necessary for the process of material production.

The decisive element of the productive forces is man.

^ Means of labor are a set of things that a person places between himself and nature to influence it. Among the means of labor, the tools with which man directly influences nature stand out.

^ Objects of labor are everything towards which human labor is directed. Production relations that develop between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods are called production relations.

Production relations represent a complex system imbued with a single principle. This means that in this system there are some fundamental relationships that cement it and act as system-forming ones. This relation is, first of all, the basic production relation - the relation of ownership of the means of production. There are various forms of property - personal, private, public.

Currently, most experts believe that private property is most closely related to human nature and its basic needs. It is this that gives people property independence, develops personal initiative, stimulates and improves entrepreneurial skills, and fosters a sense of responsibility in their business. Private property strengthens legal consciousness and a culture of law-abidingness. A person's life is manifested in his property.

In our country, the importance of private property was denied, but time has proven the unreasonableness of this.

Resources and needs: Production resources are an economic category that denotes the resources actually involved in the production process.

In economic theory, there are four main production resources:

"Earth" meaning:

A) all natural resources used in the production process;

B) a business entity in a number of industries (agricultural, mining);

B) property.

“Capital” - material and financial resources (all types of buildings, structures, machinery and equipment for production purposes, equipment and tools; land; raw materials and materials; energy and ideas; computer software, various economic information, money).

“Labor” is the part of society that is directly involved in the production process.

“Entrepreneurship” - combines all the above-mentioned resources in one enterprise.

Markets of production resources are the sphere of commodity circulation of the most important groups of resources of economic activity: land, natural resources and artificial raw materials, labor resources of various specialties and qualifications, capital and technical resources, information, knowledge, intelligence, methods of their transfer.

The movement of production resources is mediated by money and securities markets and is regulated by the economic policy of the state.

The demand for production resources has its own specifics:

The demand for resources is derivative, secondary in nature compared to the demand for final consumer goods, because the need for them arises only if consumer goods and services can be produced with their help.

The demand for any resource can rise or fall depending on whether the demand for consumer goods produced by that factor rises or falls.

Only entrepreneurs make a demand for resources.

Demand for resources is an interdependent process, where the volume of each resource involved in production depends on the price level not only for each of them, but also for all other resources and factors associated with them.

Price is one of the most important conditions for changing the elasticity of demand for each production resource. Demand is more elastic, other things being equal, for those resources that have a lower price, because Replacing more expensive production resources with cheaper ones reduces production costs.
The supply of productive resources is the quantity that can be presented on markets at currently existing prices. In markets for productive resources, demand creates supply. But the offer depends on the specifics of each specific resource. In general, the supply of production resources is subject to the law of scarcity and limited resources.
Needs: -biological (food, clothing, safety)

Spiritual (all others)

3.3. Economic systems and property.

Own.

Property is a system of economic and legal relations between people regarding the ownership, disposal, management, use and appropriation of life benefits, conditioned by any property (land, real estate, money, capital) or information.
Property relations are constantly (systematically) repeated, reproduced relations between people, inextricably linked with the property rights of ownership, disposal, management, use and appropriation of the means of production and the results of their use.
Consequently, property relations are the rights to own and dispose of property (donation, sale, inheritance).

Appropriation is an economic connection between people that establishes their relationship to things as their own. Appropriation can be combined with the exact opposite attitude – alienation. It arises, for example, if some part of society seizes all the means of production, and when the products created by some people are appropriated by others without any compensation. Such were, say, the relationships between feudal lords and serfs engaged in corvee labor.

An example of a relationship of economic use of someone else's property is a lease - an agreement on providing the property of a person for temporary use to another person for a certain fee. The picture is similar with a concession - an agreement under which the state leases industrial enterprises or plots of land to private individuals or foreign firms for certain production activities.
After the state legislatively regulates property relations between persons, they are vested with the right of ownership. This right includes the owner's authority to own, use and dispose of property.
Possession is physical possession of a thing. This right of the owner is protected by law. Legal ownership of property always has a legal basis (law, agreement, administrative act).

Use - consists of the right to productively or personally consume to satisfy one’s own needs and interests, depending on its purpose (for example, to use a car to transport people and goods).

The owner can transfer his property for use to other persons for some time and under certain conditions.

The boundaries of the right of use are determined by law, contract or other legal basis (for example, a will).

Disposition – the right to change the assignment (ownership) of property. It is carried out most often through various transactions (purchase and sale, exchange of one thing for another, donation).

The powers of the owner specified here may be temporarily limited at his initiative. Thus, a person who leases a thing to another person deprives himself of the right to own and use the thing for the duration of the property lease agreement.

^ Types and forms of assignment

General indivisible appropriation means that all people united in a collective treat the decisive means of production or other means of life as jointly and inseparably belonging to them; the inextricable unity and equality of joint owners is established in relation to the main economic conditions of their life support. This suggests the following consequences:

A) alienation of workers from the means of production is not allowed;

B) it generates collective appropriation of the products of common labor;

C) a tendency towards an equal distribution of consumer goods is developing.

General indivisible appropriation appears in the following specific forms:

A) primitive;

B) family (in terms of jointly acquired property);

B) collective (collective enterprise with indivisible property);

D) state property.

^Private appropriation means that individuals treat property as a personal source of enrichment. Private appropriation has two types, which differ significantly from each other: ownership of the means of production of a person who works himself, and ownership of the means of production of a person who uses someone else’s labor (slavery, feudalism and individual capitalism).

Two socio-economic methods of connecting production factors are used: a) non-economic (violent) coercion and b) economic attraction of workers to work.

In a slave-owning society, as is known, private property extended not only to the material conditions of production, but also to people.

In feudal society, the position of workers changed significantly. Along with the property of feudal lords, there was individual property of peasants and artisans.

A profound qualitative change in the socio-economic methods of combining factors of production occurred already at the initial stage of development of capitalist society, when the sole ownership of the means of production by the bourgeoisie was established. Employees, being legally free, can choose the place and type of work at their own discretion. They receive wages for their work and are to a certain extent interested in the results of production. Therefore, as a rule, methods of non-economic coercion are not applied to them.

^ In jointly shared (or mixed) ownership, the basic principles of general and private appropriation are organically combined. This is achieved as follows.

Firstly, mixed ownership is formed by combining the contributions made by all participants in the enterprise to the common property.

Secondly, jointly-shared property is used for common purposes and under unified management.

Thirdly, the final results of the enterprise’s economic activities are distributed according to the share of ownership of each person.

Joint shared ownership appears in specific forms:

Joint-Stock Company;

Cooperative based on shares of participants;

Partnership;

Large business associations of enterprises (associations, unions, etc.)

Joint ventures (with the participation of national and foreign capital);

Jointly shared property of spouses who have entered into a corresponding marriage contract.

^ Economic systems and their main types

An economic system is a specially ordered relationship between producers and consumers of material and intangible goods and services.

Economic science identifies the following types of economic systems:

Traditional (pre-capitalist);

Market (capitalist);

Planned (socialist);

Mixed.

These types differ in the type of ownership of economic resources, as well as in the method of solving the main economic issues (what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce), the method of coordinating the economic activities of people, firms, and states. It is characteristic of the traditional economic system that land (the main means of production) and capital are in communal or state ownership. Resources are distributed in accordance with existing traditions. In this economic system, questions such as: what to produce, is it profitable, for whom to produce and how to produce are not worthwhile. Factors of production are used inefficiently here.

In a market economic system, land and capital, as a rule, are privately owned, and limited resources are distributed by market mechanisms; the main issues of the economy are decided by the producer himself according to the laws of the market. The market system has a cyclical, spontaneous nature and is subject to crisis phenomena. Therefore, it is no coincidence that a planned economy arises as the antithesis of this economy, in which land, capital, and means of production are owned by the state, and limited resources are distributed by the state in accordance with plans. The main issues of the economy are also decided by the state.

The introduction of a planned economy into economic life was not successful. Currently, most countries have a mixed economic system, in which both the market mechanism and government regulation operate.

Traditional system
The traditional system exists in underdeveloped countries. This system is based on a mixed economy, widespread manual labor and backward technology.
The diversity of the economy means the existence of different forms of economic management. In a number of countries, natural communal forms are preserved, based on extensive collective farming and natural forms of product distribution. In countries with a traditional system, small-scale production plays an important role, based on private ownership of production resources and the personal labor of their owner, this includes peasant and handicraft farms.

The life activity of the traditional system is based on traditions and customs passed on from generation to generation, religious and cultural values, caste and class divisions, which act as a brake on socio-economic progress.

Existing regulations in a traditional society hinder technological progress, which negatively affects labor productivity. The high birth rate at a given level of economic development condemns a huge number of the population to a miserable existence. In the traditional system, the state plays an active role. It is forced to allocate the vast majority of national income to providing social support to segments of the population and to developing infrastructure.

In these countries, in conditions of relatively weak development of national entrepreneurship, foreign capital plays a large role.
^ Market economy. Pure capitalism
This system developed in the 18th century and existed, depending on the dynamics of development of countries, until the beginning of the 20th century.

Many elements of this system operate in a modern market economy.

Pure capitalism is characterized by private ownership of resources, both productive and labor. The market system itself acts as a coordinator of economic activity. The state does not interfere in its functioning, since it does not play any role in the distribution of resources; all decisions are made by market entities at their own peril and risk in the name of obtaining maximum profits with minimal use of labor and investment resources.
Characteristics of a market economy Main features Main “advantages” ^ Main “cons”
Private ownership of the means of production.

Stimulates high entrepreneurship and efficiency.

Increases inequality in society.

Freedom of enterprise.

Rejects ineffective and unnecessary production.

Instability in the economy.

Freedom to choose economic partners.

Basically a fair distribution of income according to work.

Does not care about creating benefits necessary for society, but not profitable.

Personal benefit of participants in economic relations.

More rights and opportunities for consumers.

Indifferent to the damage that business can cause to people and nature.

Self-regulation of the economy by market factors.

Does not require a large staff of managers.

Minimum government intervention in the economy.

^ Command system
A command (totalitarian) system is the exact opposite of a market economy. The command system dominated in the USSR, Eastern European countries and a number of Asian states from 1917 to 1992. The characteristic features of a command system are public (state) ownership of almost all economic resources and collective economic decision-making. The country's economy was managed centrally through state planning. The economic mechanism of a command economy through totalitarian control practically deprived economic entities of their independence. The lack of basic market relations has completely undermined the material interest of individuals and legal entities in the results of labor. Centralization in management led to the monopolization of production and sales of products.

State regulation of prices against the backdrop of monopolization of the economy and inhibition of scientific and technical progress naturally gave rise to an economy of scarcity. The paradox was that the deficit arose in conditions of general employment and almost full production capacity. The reason for this is simple - the economy did not work for demand, since the structure of social needs and their changes was practically impossible to foresee and detail from the center.
Characteristics of a command economy Main features Main “advantages” ^ Main “cons”
State ownership of the means of production

A more sustainable economy.

Creates uninitiated workers who are not interested in the results of their work.

State planning of the entire economy.

More confidence in the future.

Economic inefficiency.

Administrative methods of economic management.

Less inequality in society.

Diktat of producers over consumers.

There are no economic incentives to work efficiently.

A minimum of life support is guaranteed to everyone.

Low standard of living of the people.

There is no problem of employment.

^ Mixed economic system
The state plays a significant role in modern society without crossing boundaries that would violate the economic laws of the market. The state determines customs and tax policies and regulates the actions of monopolies in the market. The state produces, and in some cases distributes, goods and services, and controls some prices (for example, for energy).

Today it is clear to everyone that the economy cannot be separated from the state, just as the state cannot function without relying on the economy. However, many countries decide the degree of government intervention in the economy differently.

3.4. Production, labor productivity. Division of labor and specialization.

Production is one of the possible activities of an organization or individual aimed at creating a final product or service.

In the economic sense, the process of creating different types of economic product. The concept of production characterizes a specifically human type of exchange of substances with nature, or more precisely, the process of active transformation of nature by people in order to create the necessary material conditions for their existence.

A manufacturing plant is also called manufacturing.

Modern social production includes not only material production, but also the intangible sphere - the production of intangible goods and services (new scientific discoveries, technical inventions, public education, culture, art, healthcare, consumer services, management, financing and lending, sports and etc.). The development of intangible production and the service sector depends to a decisive extent on the production of material goods - its technical equipment and the amount of output.

Breeding of animal and plant products using the natural forces of nature (agricultural production and its branches: forestry, cattle breeding, fish farming, etc.);

Processing of raw materials into a form suitable for human consumption (manufacturing industry);

Transfer of economic goods from producers to consumers (trade (retail), organization of warehouses and transport (logistics)).

Financial activities: banking and insurance activities

Spiritual production: new scientific discoveries, technical inventions, programming, public education, culture, art, healthcare, consumer services, management, sports, etc.

Labor productivity - labor efficiency. Labor productivity can be measured by the amount of time spent on a unit of output or the amount of output produced by a worker over a period of time. Typically, labor productivity in economic statistics refers to actual labor productivity, but in economic cybernetics, in particular, in Stafford Beer’s model of viable systems, the concepts of actual and potential labor productivity are introduced.

An increase in labor productivity means savings in labor costs (working time) for the production of a unit of product or an additional amount of production per unit of time, which directly affects the increase in production efficiency, since in one case the current costs of producing a unit of product under the item “Wages” are reduced main production workers,” and in the other, more products are produced per unit of time.

^ Actual labor productivity is determined by dividing the actual output in units of measurement of a given type of product (output) by the actual costs of living labor in units of time (labor intensity).

^ Available labor productivity is a calculated value that shows how much product can be produced under current conditions (for example, on existing equipment from available materials) if all downtime and delays are reduced to zero.

^ Potential labor productivity is a calculated value that shows how much product can be produced under theoretically achievable conditions in given natural conditions at a given level of development of civilization (for example, from the best materials available on the market using advanced technologies and installing the most modern equipment available on the market ) if all downtime and delays are reduced to zero.

^ Division of labor and specialization.

The division of labor is a historically established process of separation, modification, and consolidation of certain types of labor activity, which occurs in social forms of differentiation and implementation of various types of labor activity.

For example, the main method of work in accounting is the division of labor of specialists. We distribute the work of employees across accounting areas under the guidance of leading specialists and auditors, which allows us to achieve maximum efficiency of their work. Thus, we dynamically combine developments in the field of accounting automation and experience in the field of administration of accounting services.

There are: - general division of labor by branches of social production; - private division of labor within industries; - single division of labor within organizations according to technological, qualification and functional characteristics.

It is the reason for increasing the overall labor productivity of an organized group of specialists (synergetic effect) due to:

Developing skills and automaticity in performing simple repetitive operations

Reducing the time spent moving between different operations

The concept of the division of labor is described quite fully by Adam Smith in the first three chapters of his five-volume treatise, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

There is a social division of labor - the distribution of social functions among people in society - and an international division of labor.

The division of labor has led in the modern world to the presence of a huge variety of different professions and industries. Previously (in ancient times), people were forced to almost completely provide themselves with everything they needed; this was extremely inefficient, which led to a primitive life and comfort. Almost all achievements of evolution and scientific and technological progress can be explained by the continuous introduction of the division of labor. Thanks to the exchange of the results of labor, that is, trade, the division of labor becomes possible in society.

A special product is sold and bought on the market - labor.

Labor force is the physical and mental capabilities, abilities, skills that allow a person to perform certain types of work, while ensuring the required level of labor productivity and quality of manufactured products.

An integral element of the labor market is unemployment - this is a situation in the economy in which some people cannot find work. The state is working to reduce it. At the same time, modern economics has come to the conclusion that the complete eradication of unemployment is impossible and there is no need for it. Experts believe that it is necessary to have a natural level of unemployment; this helps maintain the necessary competition in the labor market. But a high level of unemployment can lead to many negative phenomena in society and to social conflicts.

From a social and economic point of view, long-term unemployment is dangerous. Sociologists say that if a person does not work for 2 to 3 months, then he loses the desire to work, after 9 months he loses his skill in work, i.e. a certain disqualification occurs.

Unemployment is conventionally divided into natural and forced.

The natural form includes the following types of unemployment:

frictional – the movement of people from one job to another, from one region to another. The move itself requires some time to find a new job. This type of unemployment is short-term;

institutional – provoked by the actions of the state itself, when it becomes unprofitable to work. For example, large payments from the social budget, imperfection of the tax system, with wages that are lower than the unemployment pension, etc.

voluntary form. The name itself speaks for itself. There will always be people among the working-age population who, for certain reasons, simply do not want to work.

More complex is involuntary unemployment, which, as a rule, exceeds the natural norm and is associated with events that do not depend on the will of employees. Involuntary unemployment has the following types:

Structural unemployment is associated with the release of labor under the influence of structural changes in the economy. There are changes in the demand for resources. The demand for certain professions and specialties is changing, one part of the people who do not meet new technological requirements have to be fired, the other part, the most prepared and with sufficient education, are taught new specialties;

regional unemployment is formed under the influence of a combination of historical, demographic and socio-psychological factors. The solution to this problem is carried out on the basis of national target programs;

Cyclical unemployment is associated with a cyclical decline in production and, as a rule, with a corresponding decline in labor demand.

hidden unemployment is most characteristic of modern Russia. Due to the underutilization of production resources in the conditions of the economic crisis, enterprises, fighting for the safety of personnel, do not fire workers, but transfer them to a shortened working week, and in more difficult cases, send workers on unpaid leave.

3.5. Exchange, trade.

The origins of market relations go back to the depths of hoary antiquity, when people entered into purchase and sale relations through a simple (natural) exchange of goods, when they mutually acquired what they did not have, but what was vitally necessary for them.

Exchange in economics is the movement of goods from one owner to another.

Can be violent or non-violent. Trade is a form of non-violent exchange.

Exchange presupposes the existence of a measure of equivalence of goods, which requires the comparison of things that are different in type, quality, form and purpose. This requires a single basis, which is the cost of goods.

Exchange can occur both with and without money (barter)

Trade is the process of exchanging goods, services, valuables and money. In a broad sense, it is a type of activity (including entrepreneurial activity) associated with the purchase and sale of goods. There are wholesale and retail trade.

Trade as a type of activity refers to intermediary services, i.e. it is a third party between producers and buyers of goods.

Trade between countries (international trade) is divided into imports and exports.

Invisible trade - services provided mainly by transport companies when transporting goods and passengers from third world countries; carrying out insurance and credit operations; organization of foreign tourism; rental of equipment and real estate abroad.

Trade is a significant source of tax revenue for the budget of a country or region.

Profit in the most general terms can be defined as