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DIAMOND-WATER PARADOX: The perplexing observation that water, which is more useful than diamonds, has a lower price. If price is related to utility, how can this occur? This paradox was first proposed by classical economists in the 19th century and was subsequently used as a stepping stone for developing the notion of marginal utility and the role it plays in the demand price of a good. The paradox is magically cleared up with an understanding of marginal utility and total utility. People are willing to pay a higher price for goods with greater marginal utility. As such, water which is plentiful has enormous total utility, but a low price because of a low marginal utility. Diamonds, however, have less total utility because they are less plentiful, but a high price because of a high marginal utility.
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POSITIVE ECONOMICS The branch of economics that seeks to explain the way the economy actually operates. It is the application of the scientific method and the process of testing hypothesis to economic phenomena. A positive economic statement is one that can be refuted by looking at the real world--that is, by testing a hypothesis.
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BEIGE MUNDORTLE
[What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time looking for a downtown retail store hoping to buy either a T-shirt commemorating the 2000 Olympics or a genuine fake plastic Tiffany lamp. Be on the lookout for deranged pelicans.
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This isn't me! What am I?
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A thousand years before metal coins were developed, clay tablet "checks" were used as money by the Babylonians.
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"Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it. " -- Hank Aaron, baseball player
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BOJ
Bank of Japan
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