What is Economics?

Economics are about the choices made in reference to the available resources, according O'Sullivan, Sheffrin & Perez (2 !!", #Economics is the science of choice, e$%loring the choices made b& individuals and organizations' (%( !"( Economics are the choices made b& individuals or organizations using available resources that are not al)a&s in abundance in some countries( (O*Sullivan et al( 2 !!"( +his means there is a scarcit& in some countries that limits the %roduction of services and goods( ,or e$am%le, should &ou s%end ten dollars on lunch or %ut ten dollars of gas in &our car? Will the car have enough gas until %a&da&? Which choice is the best use of the available resources? +he choices made decide ho) resources are use on a dail& basis( Whether individuall& or globall& economics affects our lives and ho) )e res%ond to our environments( +he e$%ectations - e$%ect from this course is to understand ho) macroeconomics sha%es the decisions of organizations and individual in using available resources to %roduce goods and services( .eing a /uman 0esource 1anagement ma2or - am es%eciall& interested in the a%%lication of this theor& in relation to human ca%ital and the develo%ment of resources )hen economic forces have affected an organizations abilit& to em%lo&ed %ersonnel to %rovide labor( +he current state of economics has 3e%t unem%lo&ment at an elevated level( ,or some organizations, it has slo) em%lo&ees rate of retirement due to the loss of funds during the initial recession( (Schramm, 2 !!" +his mean it became unnecessar& to hire ne) em%lo&ees, )hich has become a stalemate for the /0 %rofessional( 4om%anies in a do)nturn econom& %refer lo)5cost hires in order to have a stable cash flo) )hile develo%ing strategies to survive the unstable economic environment( (Schramm, 2 !!" /0 %rofessionals are unable to offer a com%rehensive com%ensation %ac3age that )as available before 2 6 and no) com%anies ma& onl& offer the

ver& basic to incoming em%lo&ees )hereas established em%lo&ees com%ensation %ac3ages remained in a frozen state not increasing or decreasing to benefit a com%an&*s financial status( (Schramm, 2 !!" +his is the use of o%%ortunit& of cost for com%anies )ho are struggling to survive the do)nturn and have to decide base on )hat is beneficial for their organizational outloo3( (O*Sullivan et al( 2 !!" +he trade5off is that )hile some com%anies reduce the em%lo&ment forces the& are retaining the best talent and increasing the res%onsibilities of em%lo&ees )ith onl& a slight increase in com%ensation( (O*Sullivan et al( 2 !!" 4om%anies are ma3ing strategic decisions in s%ending %rofits and 3ee%ing a stable cash flo) )hile %lanning for a future economic gro)th( +he marginal %rinci%le a%%lies in this e$am%le in that com%anies are benefiting from increasing activities resulting use of their services or %roducts( +his is %roducing marginal changes that benefit the com%an&*s abilit& to remain afloat and the cost is marginal( (O*Sullivan et al( 2 !!" -n using the marginal %rinci%le com%anies can decide if the #marginal benefits e$ceeds the marginal cost' (O*Sullivan et al( 2 !!"( -n using this %rinci%le organizational leaders econom& decisions )ill be strategic and sound(

0eferences Schramm, 7( (2 !!"( 7obs and 7oblessness( HRMagazine, 89(8", 66( 0etrieved Se%tember : 2 !! from .usiness 4om%lete O'Sullivan, ;(, Sheffrin, S(, & Perez, S( (2 !!"( Survey of economics, principles, applications and tools( .oston< Prentice /all(