Technological Change

 

Investment in human capital and research and development will brought about innovation that introduces new products and new ways of producing existing products, and new forms of business organisation. Technology change is intrinsically linked to the investment in human capital and research and development, of which would give a country the comparative edge in manufacturing a product, and the technological know-how of new technologies.

 

 

(b) The Pursuit of economic growth is not a people’s long-term interest

 

 

The idea that the pursuit of economic growth is not in peoples’ long-term interest, is a concept being advocated by economist and academics. In examining the merit of this arguments, first let look at the impact of economic growth on people in general.

 

First, the benefit of economic growth on the ordinary people is that, economic growth is an effective means to fight against poverty. This has contributed to the increase of family earnings that helps to transform the living standards or ordinary individuals, it has been argued that the advancement of the industrial nations over the last centuries shows the massive improvements in living standards and quality of life that economic growth make possible. Family life-style often experience growth and change, as increase in their household income leads to significant change in the pattern of their consumptions, for examples they have more extra cash to buy luxury items that they would not normally afford. In a broader context, the increase income has fuelled the demand for luxury goods such as motor cars. This in turn caused the government to build more roads to meet the demand for cars, this resulted in traffic congestion, and environmental pollution cause by Co2 emission by the motor cars, of which is not good for environment and endanger the health and safety of people.

 

Second, Technological changes in how goods are produce, available and consumed, has change the entire way of life of people compared to the Victoria era, whilst one peoples income and standard of living changes can be considered as much better than the Victorian, the technological changes brought about by economic growth impact on family life that affects the social fabrics of society.

 

Third, economic growth has help to re-distribute wealth, to those that are less well off in society through the welfare systems. Rapidly growing economy fines it easier to this because of revenue income generated from employment and profits of the economy. However, some people standard of living has to be lower to fund the less fortunate citizens of the country because of the rate of tax implement on their high earnings.

 

There are cost, that economic growth has a negative impact on peoples lives, which adversely affect individuals and family life of the masses. The opportunity cost of the growth, which promises more good tomorrow, if people consume less goods today, and for the economy as a whole this is a sacrifice of current consumptions. There are social and personal cost of economic growth, stem from the changes in the economy from manual labour to automated due to technological development. People fines themselves unemployed for because technologies has replaced their job, of which have an impact of these individuals ability to maintain their families. Moreover, growth rate creates fewer manually new jobs compared to old jobs destroyed because of technologies. The costs of technological changes are borne immediately compared to the benefits to be derived that are takes much longer to be realised. These cost includes, job lost, cost for training people in the old technologies that lost their jobs and the cost of old skill that has become outdated. It would be better for people to achieve the economic benefits of the old technologies now, instead of waiting for the benefits of the new technologies in the future. Economic growth has contributes to external externalities such as continuous environment damages, that will affect the livelihood of people in the present and future. These includes global warming and over mining of natural resources,

 

4.

 

 

Price elasticity of demand can be defined as a measurement of the responsiveness in the quantity demanded to change in price, with the assumptions that all other factors remains constant. The measurement assesses the percentage change in quantity demand divided by the percentages change in price that brought it about.

 

The elasticity of demand Ed = Q2-Q1 x 100

(Q1+Q2)/2

P2-P1 x 100

(P1+P2)/2

 

(a) Elastic

 

Price is elastic, when the quantity demanded and supplied changes by a larger percentage than price. This numerical measurement of price elasticity of demand is greater than one, but less than infinity,

-¥ > h > 1.

 

(b) Unit elastic

 

Price is unit elastic, when quantity demanded and supplied changes by the exact same percentage as the price. The numerical measurement of price elasticity of demand is one, h = -1.

 

(c) Perfect inelastic

 

Price is perfectly or completely inelastic, when the quantity demanded and supplied does not change as price changes. The numerical measurement of price elasticity of demand is zero, h = 0.

 

(d) Inelastic

 

Price is inelastic, when the quantity demanded and supplied changes by a smaller percentage than of price. The numerical measurement of price elasticity of demand is grater than zero, less than one, -1> h > 0.

 

 

(e) Perfectly elastic

 

Price is perfectly, completely, or infinitely elastic, when purchasers and sellers are prepared to buy and sell all they can at some price, and none at all at a higher or lower price. The numerical measurement of price elasticity of demand is infinity, h = -¥.

 

 

5.