Opportunity Cost and the Production Possibilities Curve · 机会成本与生产可能性曲线
| English | 中文 | Pinyin · 拼音 |
|---|---|---|
| opportunity cost/ɒpəˈtjuːnɪti kɒst/ | 机会成本 | jī huì chéng běn |
| production possibilities curve/prəˈdʌkʃn ˌpɒsəˈbɪlɪtiz kɜːv/ | 生产可能性曲线 | shēng chǎn kě néng xìng qū xiàn |
| efficient/ɪˈfɪʃənt/ | 有效率 | yǒu xiào lǜ |
| increasing opportunity cost/ɪnˈkriːsɪŋ ɒpəˈtjuːnɪti kɒst/ | 机会成本递增 | jī huì chéng běn dì zēng |
| economic growth/ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk ɡrəʊθ/ | 经济增长 | jīng jì zēng zhǎng |
The road you build is the school you don't
- A government has a fixed pool of workers, steel, and money.
- Spend it on a new motorway, and those same resources can't build a hospital.
- The real cost of the road isn't just dollars — it's the hospital forgone.
- Economists capture this with opportunity cost 机会成本.
你修的路,就是你没建的学校
- 政府拥有一批固定的工人、钢材和资金。
- 把它们花在一条新高速上,同样这些资源就无法建一所医院。
- 修这条路的真实成本不只是钱——而是被放弃的那所医院。
- 经济学家用机会成本(opportunity cost)来刻画它。
Opportunity cost
- The opportunity cost of a choice is the value of the single best alternative you give up.
- It is measured in what you sacrifice, not only in money.
- The opportunity cost of a new road is the schools or hospitals those resources could have built instead.
机会成本
- 一个选择的机会成本,是你放弃的那个最好的替代选项的价值。
- 它用你牺牲掉的东西来衡量,而不只是用钱。
- 一条新路的机会成本,是这些资源本可以建的学校或医院。
The opportunity cost of a choice is: · 一个选择的机会成本是:
It is the next-best alternative sacrificed — measured in what you give up, not just money. · 它是放弃的次优选项——用你牺牲的东西衡量,而不只是钱。
The production possibilities curve
- The production possibilities curve 生产可能性曲线 (PPC) shows the most an economy can make of two goods.
- Points on it are efficient 有效率; points inside are wasteful (a recession looks like this); points outside are unattainable.
- It usually bows outward — increasing opportunity cost 机会成本递增, since resources aren't equally suited to both goods.
生产可能性曲线
- 生产可能性曲线(production possibilities curve,PPC)显示一个经济体最多能生产多少两种商品。
- 曲线上的点有效率(efficient);内的点浪费(经济衰退就像这样);外的点无法实现。
- 它通常向外凸——机会成本递增(increasing opportunity cost),因为资源并非同样适合两种商品。
Explore the production possibilities curve · 探索生产可能性曲线
Making more of one good means giving up some of the other — the opportunity cost. Drag along the curve, then grow the economy to push the whole frontier outward. · 多生产一种商品意味着放弃一些另一种——机会成本。沿曲线拖动,再让经济增长,把整条边界向外推。
An economy producing at a point inside its PPC is: · 在 PPC 内部生产的经济体处于:
Inside the curve, some resources are unused — a recession looks like this. · 曲线内部有资源没被使用——衰退就像这样。
A PPC that bows outward reflects increasing opportunity cost. · 向外凸的 PPC 反映机会成本递增。
Resources are not equally suited to both goods, so each extra unit costs more of the other. · 资源并非同样适合两种商品,所以每多一单位要付出更多的另一种。
Economic growth shifts it out
- Worked idea. At point A an economy makes 60 consumer and 10 capital goods; at B, 50 consumer and 25 capital.
- Moving A → B it gains 15 capital goods by giving up 10 consumer, so each capital good costs $10/15 \approx 0.67$ consumer goods.
- Choosing more capital goods today sacrifices consumer goods now, but shifts the whole curve outward later.
- That outward shift — from more resources, better skills, or new technology — is economic growth 经济增长.
经济增长把它推向外
- 例题。 在 A 点经济体生产 60 消费品、10 资本品;在 B 点,50 消费品、25 资本品。
- 从 A 移到 B,放弃 10 消费品换来 15 资本品,所以每件资本品的成本是 $10/15 \approx 0.67$ 件消费品。
- 今天选择更多资本品,牺牲现在的消费品,但让整条曲线在以后向外移动。
- 这种向外的移动——来自更多资源、更好技能或新技术——就是经济增长(economic growth)。
Moving from A (60 consumer, 10 capital) to B (50 consumer, 25 capital), what is the opportunity cost of ONE capital good, in consumer goods? · 从 A(60 消费品、10 资本品)移到 B(50 消费品、25 资本品),一件资本品的机会成本(以消费品计)是多少?
Give up 10 consumer to gain 15 capital, so each capital good costs $10/15 \approx 0.67$ consumer goods. · 放弃 10 消费品换来 15 资本品,所以每件资本品的成本是 $10/15 \approx 0.67$ 件消费品。
When the whole PPC shifts outward from more or better resources, we call it economic . · 当整条 PPC 因更多或更好的资源而向外移动时,我们称之为经济。
Economic growth is the outward shift of the production possibilities curve. · 经济增长是生产可能性曲线的向外移动。
Select all · 所有 that shift an economy's PPC outward. · 选出所有能让经济体 PPC 向外移动的因素。
Capital, technology and skills grow the economy; a recession just moves production inside the curve. · 资本、技术和技能使经济增长;衰退只是把生产移到曲线内部。
Opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative given up. The PPC shows it: on = efficient, inside = wasteful, outside = unattainable, with an outward bow for increasing opportunity cost. Investing in capital goods today drives economic growth — the curve shifting outward.
机会成本是放弃的最好替代选项的价值。PPC 展示它:上=有效率,内=浪费,外=无法实现,向外的凸形表示机会成本递增。今天投资资本品推动经济增长——曲线向外移动。