What is the Keynesian Perspective of Aggregate Demand?  The Keynesian perspective focuses on aggregate demand. The idea is simple: firms produce output only if they expect it to sell. Thus, while the availability of the factors of production determines a nation’s potential GDP, the amount of goods and services that actually sell, known as real   GDP...

What is the Keynesian Perspective on Market Forces? Ever since the birth of Keynesian economics in the 1930s, controversy has simmered over the extent to which government should play an active role in managing the economy. In the aftermath of the human devastation and misery of the Great Depression, many people—including many economists—became more ...

What is a Blockage Discount? A blockage discount is a term that refers to the distinction between the current price (market value) of a stock quoted on exchange and price the stock is sold at the occurrence of block trade. Block trade occurs when there is an exchange of large number of securities. Blockage discount usually occurs when large block tr...

What is Protectionism? Protectionism concerns governmental policies that restrict international trade in favor of promoting domestic businesses or industries. How Protectionism Affects Supply and Demand? To the non-economist, restricting imports may appear to be nothing more than taking sales from foreign producers and giving them to domestic produc...

What is Biflation? Biflation is an unusual situation in an economy where inflation and deflation exist simultaneously. When both inflation and deflation exist at the same time in an economy, Biflation has occurred. Osborne Brown, a Senior Financial Analyst coined the term "Biflation" in 2003. It is a situation whereby some prices are rising while so...

What is the Marginal Revenue Curve? The marginal revenue curve shows the additional revenue gained from selling one more unit. As mentioned before, a firm in perfect competition faces a perfectly elastic demand curve for its product—that is, the firm’s demand curve is a horizontal line drawn at the market price level. This also means that the firm’s...

Understanding Your Business Position in the Industry The previous discussion analyzes the business and the overarching environment affecting the business. Now we turn our sights to understanding our business place in the industry. The most common and well-known tool for examining the business situation is Porters Five Forces (PFF), again introduced ...

What is a Medium of Exchange?  First, money serves as a medium of exchange, which means that money acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the seller. Instead of exchanging accounting services for shoes, the accountant now exchanges accounting services for money. The accountant then uses this money to buy shoes. To serve as a medium of exchang...

What is a Hell or High Water Contract? A hell or high water contract is a non-cancelable agreement by which the lessee is legally obliged until the expiration of the contract, to continue making stipulated installment payments to the lessor, irrespective of any complications they may run into during usage of the leased property or equipment. How is ...

How does the National Savings Identity relate to Trade Deficits? The national saving and investment identity also provides a framework for thinking about what will cause trade deficits to rise or fall. Begin with the version of the identity that has domestic savings and investment on the left and the trade deficit on the right: Domestic investment –...