microeconomic theory economic models

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1、CHAPTERONEEconomicModelsThemaingoalofthisbookistointroduceyoutothemostimportantmodelsthatecono-mistsusetoexplainthebehaviorofconsumers,firms,andmarkets.Thesemodelsarecentraltothestudyofallareasofeconomics.Therefore,itisessentialtounderstandboththeneedforsuchmodelsandthebasicframeworkusedtodevelopt

2、hem.Thegoalofthischapteristobeginthisprocessbyoutliningsomeoftheconceptualissuesthatdeterminethewaysinwhicheconomistsstudypracticallyeveryquestionthatintereststhem.TheoreticalModelsAmoderneconomyisacomplicatedentity.Thousandsoffirmsengageinproducingmil-lionsofdifferentgoods.Manymillionsofpeoplewor

3、kinallsortsofoccupationsandmakedecisionsaboutwhichofthesegoodstobuy.Let’susepeanutsasanexample.Pea-nutsmustbeharvestedattherighttimeandshippedtoprocessorswhoturnthemintopeanutbutter,peanutoil,peanutbrittle,andnumerousotherpeanutdelicacies.Theseprocessors,inturn,mustmakecertainthattheirproductsarr

4、iveatthousandsofretailoutletsintheproperquantitiestomeetdemand.Becauseitwouldbeimpossibletodescribethefeaturesofeventhesepeanutmarketsincompletedetail,economistshavechosentoabstractfromthecomplexitiesoftherealworldanddeveloprathersimplemodelsthatcapturethe‘‘essentials.’’Justasaroadmapishelpfuleve

5、nthoughitdoesnotrecordeveryhouseoreverystore,economicmodelsof,say,themarketforpeanutsarealsousefuleventhoughtheydonotrecordeveryminutefeatureofthepeanuteconomy.Inthisbookwewillstudythemostwidelyusedeconomicmodels.Wewillseethat,eventhoughthesemodelsoftenmakeheroicabstractionsfromthecomplexitiesoft

6、herealworld,theynonethelesscaptureessentialfeaturesthatarecommontoalleconomicactivities.Theuseofmodelsiswidespreadinthephysicalandsocialsciences.Inphysics,thenotionofa‘‘perfect’’vacuumoran‘‘ideal’’gasisanabstractionthatpermitsscientiststostudyreal-worldphenomenainsimplifiedsettings.Inchemistry,the

7、ideaofanatomoramoleculeisactuallyasimplifiedmodelofthestructureofmatter.Architectsusemock-upmodelstoplanbuildings.Televisionrepairersrefertowiringdiagramstolocateprob-lems.Economists’modelsperformsimilarfunctions.Theypr