Introductory Economics, Series (17 Parts)

Synopsis

Series introducing the tools economists use to understand how the economy functions and providing insight into the policy decisions governments make. Presenters are Ellen Roseman and Professor John Palmer of the University of Western Ontario.
1: Describes economics as the study of choices; the concept of opportunity cost illustrates the study of choices. Also examines the trade-off between efficiency and equity objectives; positive and normative statements; supply and demand.
2: How economists use elasticity to measure how demand responds to price; factors that cause shifts in supply and demand; how ‘the invisible hand’ works in free markets; what happens when price controls are imposed.
3: The theory of household behaviour; the law of diminishing marginal utility; the household’s optimal purchase rule; how diminishing marginal utility contributes to consumer surplus; how this concept can be applied to evaluate user fees for public services.
4: The theory of the firm, which is based on the assumption of profit maximisation; the optimal hiring rule and the optimal output decision; how to illustrate a firm’s revenue and cost data.
5: The short-run supply curve for a competitive industry; what determines long-run equilibrium in a competitive economy; ‘the invisible hand’; some of the desirable features of this competitive outcome.
6: The inefficiencies of monopoly and how a government-created monopoly can be eliminated; three methods of removing an inefficient natural monopoly, which is more difficult.
7: The problem of public good associated wity a dramatic spillover and examine the beneficial and detrimental externalities associated with a less extensive spillover. Also looks at how pollution, a classic example of a detrimental externality, can be limited.
8: Why a decentralised market economy produces a wide range of income levels; ways in which incomes can be redistributed; the effects of welfare and income tax programmes.
9: The benefits of free trade; the concept of specialisation, distinguishing between absolute advantage and comparative advantage; the need for adjustment assistance for displaced workers.
10: How cycles in the economy develop - measuring unemployment, inflation, and gross domestic product; aggreate supply and demand, and why business cycles occur.
11: Fiscal policy: the aggregate demand curve; how the equilibrium level of GDP is determined and how the multiplier process works.
12: Effectiveness of fiscal policy: channels through which fiscal policy can work, how government policy can alter net exports and how a well-designed fiscal policy operates.
13: Government attempts to stabilise the economy, focusing on monetary policy; fractional reserve banking with the deposits in chartered banks as a major component of a country’s money supply; how chartered bank reserves can be increased.
14: How interest rates are determined, by combining the supply and demand of money; flexible and fixed exchange rates; how monetary policy works in large and small economies.
15: Monetary and fiscal policy for a large economy - the crowding-out effect, the short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment, and how stabilisation policies with long lags can affect business cycles.
16: Analsyses a small, open economy, such as Canada’s, where financial markets are integrated with world financial markets. Shows that the interest rate of a small, open economy is determined by the rest of the world, and looks at the implications of this.
17: How the growth in the standard of living occurs and what government policy can do to affect this process; how growth policy differs from stabilisation policy.

Language

English

Country

Canada

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 17 x 30 min.

Year of production

1993

Availability

Sale; 1997 sale: £29.50 (+VAT +p&p) each

Uses

'A’-level and 1st-year undergraduate economics.

Subjects

Economics

Keywords

economics theory; monetary systems; monopolies; policy studies; unemployment

Credits

Cast

Ellen Roseman
John Palmer

Sections

Title

Issues and methods of economics, The

Synopsis

1: Describes economics as the study of choices; the concept of opportunity cost illustrates the study of choices. Also examines the trade-off between efficiency and equity objectives; positive and normative statements; supply and demand.

Title

Supply and demand

Synopsis

2: How economists use elasticity to measure how demand responds to price; factors that cause shifts in supply and demand; how 'the invisible hand' works in free markets; what happens when price controls are imposed.

Title

Demand theory: household behaviour

Synopsis

3: The theory of household behaviour; the law of diminishing marginal utility; the household's optimal purchase rule; how diminishing marginal utility contributes to consumer surplus; how this concept can be applied to evaluate user fees for public servic

Title

Supply theory: the behaviour of profit-maximising firms

Synopsis

4: The theory of the firm, which is based on the assumption of profit maximisation; the optimal hiring rule and the optimal output decision; how to illustrate a firm's revenue and cost data.

Title

Competition versus central planning

Synopsis

5: The short-run supply curve for a competitive industry; what determines long-run equilibrium in a competitive economy; 'the invisible hand'; some of the desirable features of this competitive outcome.

Title

Market failure: monopoly

Synopsis

6: The inefficiencies of monopoly and how a government-created monopoly can be eliminated; three methods of removing an inefficient natural monopoly, which is more difficult.

Title

Market failure: externalities

Synopsis

7: The problem of public good associated wity a dramatic spillover and examine the beneficial and detrimental externalities associated with a less extensive spillover. Also looks at how pollution, a classic example of a detrimental externality, can be lim

Title

Income distribution and the tax system

Synopsis

8: Why a decentralised market economy produces a wide range of income levels; ways in which incomes can be redistributed; the effects of welfare and income tax programmes.

Title

Free trade

Synopsis

9: The benefits of free trade; the concept of specialisation, distinguishing between absolute advantage and comparative advantage; the need for adjustment assistance for displaced workers.

Title

Unemployment, inflation and national output

Synopsis

10: How cycles in the economy develop - measuring unemployment, inflation, and gross domestic product; aggreate supply and demand, and why business cycles occur.

Title

GDP and the multiplier process

Synopsis

11: Fiscal policy: the aggregate demand curve; how the equilibrium level of GDP is determined and how the multiplier process works.

Title

Fiscal policy and the deficit

Synopsis

12: Effectiveness of fiscal policy: channels through which fiscal policy can work, how government policy can alter net exports and how a well-designed fiscal policy operates.

Title

Money and banking

Synopsis

13: Government attempts to stabilise the economy, focusing on monetary policy; fractional reserve banking with the deposits in chartered banks as a major component of a country's money supply; how chartered bank reserves can be increased.

Title

Interest rates and exchange rates

Synopsis

14: How interest rates are determined, by combining the supply and demand of money; flexible and fixed exchange rates; how monetary policy works in large and small economies.

Title

Pitfalls in stabilization policy

Synopsis

15: Monetary and fiscal policy for a large economy - the crowding-out effect, the short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment, and how stabilisation policies with long lags can affect business cycles.

Title

Stabilization policy for a small open economy

Synopsis

16: Analsyses a small, open economy, such as Canada's, where financial markets are integrated with world financial markets. Shows that the interest rate of a small, open economy is determined by the rest of the world, and looks at the implications of this

Title

Growth and development

Synopsis

17: How the growth in the standard of living occurs and what government policy can do to affect this process; how growth policy differs from stabilisation policy.

Production Company

Name

TV Ontario

Web

http://www.tvo.org External site opens in new window

Phone

+1 416 484 2886

Fax

+1 416 484 2896

Address

Box 200
Station Q
Toronto
Ontario
M4T 2T1
Canada

Distributor

Name

Viewtech Educational Media

Notes

NB. Viewtech ceased trading in 2014 and the company’s products are no longer in distribution