Positive and normative economics, Macroeconomics

Assignment Help:

POSITIVE AND NORMATIVE ECONOMICS


Economics as a social science adopts an analytical approach to the study of changes in economic variables on the actions of human beings. The scientific approach to the analysis of economic events, commonly referred to as positive economics, concerns itself with statements that are capable of verification by reference to the facts. For instance, "If the price of cloth is higher, people will buy less" or, "As the money in the economy increases, the price level will go up". We can statistically estimate the relationship between cloth prices and sales or between the money supply and general price level. In principle all positive statements should be reducible to some form which is testable by reference to empirical evidence. As a doctrine, the advocates of this part of economic science, would argue that economic science does not and should not encompass statements that involve value judgements, i.e. statements of the form 'x is good or bad'. According to them, such would be the province of normative economics and that economists cannot make any statements involving value judgements.


Normative economics involves prescriptions or statements about "what ought to be", rather than "what is". It involves the advocacy of specific policy prescriptions, because it uses ethical judgements as well as knowledge of positive economics. Contrary to positive economic statements, normative economic statements cannot be tested before they are accepted or rejected. Normative economics gives rise to statements such as "corporate sector should not maximize profits", or "monopolies should be regulated". This type of economics may be contrasted with positive economics which is concerned with describing and analyzing the economic phenomenon as it is.

 


Related Discussions:- Positive and normative economics

Model of labor market in as-ad model, Q. Model of labor market in AS-AD mod...

Q. Model of labor market in AS-AD model? Remember the model of labor market in AS-AD model with constant wages. On the y-axis, we had real wage and on x-axis, we had L. The res

Determination of factor prices by supply and demand, DETERMINATION OF FACTO...

DETERMINATION OF FACTOR PRICES BY SUPPLY AND DEMAND   Let us suppose that perfect competition prevails in the goods and the factor markets. In such a situation let us see how th

Consumer increases her purchases of compact disks, Suppose a consumer's inc...

Suppose a consumer's income increases from $30,000 to $36,000. As a result, the consumer increases her purchases of compact disks (CDs) from 25 CDs to 30 CDs. What is the consumer'

Firm''s total revenues, How much will your firm's total revenues (revenues ...

How much will your firm's total revenues (revenues from both products) change if you increase the price of good X by 2 percent?

Explain the gains from trade of market, Explain the Gains from Trade of mar...

Explain the Gains from Trade of market. Producer Surplus, Consumer Surplus, Gains through Trade and Efficiency of Markets: Consumers and producers both are better off since

Determination of price level, P and Y are both endogenous variables and acc...

P and Y are both endogenous variables and according to the quantity theory of money we need P.Y = constant. If we divide both sides by P we get Y = constant / P. Because Y = Y D i

Describe type of protection, A new industry develops, and our government wa...

A new industry develops, and our government wants to protect it from foreign competition. Which one of the following arguments would appropriately describe this type of protection?

Raising chickens requires several types of feed, Raising chickens requires ...

Raising chickens requires several types of feed, such as corn and soy meal. Consider a farm in the former Soviet Union. Try to describe how decisions on the number of chickens to b

New screening methods adopted price do you exect prevail, You are the manag...

You are the manager of an organization in America that distributes blood to hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A recent report indicates that nearly 50 Americ

Economic concepts models- demand/supply concepts, Questions: ...

Questions: Search through newspapers for ONE article that is relevant to the economics concepts. You are also required to attach the article to your final report

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd