2016年2月15日 星期一

Goods, Goods, Goods

某人問我:「又free goods,又public goods,其實Goods(商品)有幾多種嫁?Please。」

作為一個負責任ECON Blogger,我一定會招呼粉絲嘅提問。

DSE ECON課程提及Goods(商品)的確好多,但主要考核就有3大類別。

第一種:Economic Goods vs Free Goods

以稀少性為界限,可以將Goods分為Economics Goods同Free Goods。考評局Marking Scheme就曾經咁寫:
  • A good is regarded as economics goods as more of it is preferred (to less of it).
  • A good is regarded as free goods as only some of it is preferred (to none of it).

  • Economic goods is defined when the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied at zero price.
  • Free goods is defined when the quantity demanded is smaller than the quantity supplied at zero price.
有時候我地仲可以話Economic Goods有Scarcity,Free Goods無。
當然仲有好多種論述,我好忙所以廢事寫咁多。另外,有讀過AL或者參考課外書,就會學到Bads(負值品)呢樣野,Bads are something that none of it is preferred. No one wants it.

第二種:Consumer Goods vs Producer Goods

以用途分類,Consumer Goods are goods which are for direct consumption/ satisfying wants. Producer Goods (又稱Capital Goods) are goods for further production.

Goods可以同時serve as Consumer Goods 同埋 Producer Goods。一個風筒可以當Consumer Goods自己吹頭,又可以喺salon當Producer Goods洗剪吹做生意。

第三種:Private Goods vs Public Goods

CE未見過,喺DSE隆重登場嘅分類方法。要參考大會指定答法,必然睇AL點寫。好多教科書都用rival in consumption同excludable嚟定義,但係始終你地得一次機會入大學,我就選擇答最保守嘅答案。
煙花是Public Good,因為可以同時Entertain好多人


參考下AL 2009年題目
AL 2009What is a public good? Give two real world examples of public goods that are produced privately, and explain why these private producers survive in the market. (8 marks)What is a public good?
Ø   A public good is a good subject to concurrent usages.
Ø   The consumption of a public good by one person will not diminish its availability to others.
Ø   It is the good when one individual uses, it will not impose any restriction on other individuals using the same good at the same time.
Ø   It is the good once it has been produced, the marginal cost of serving an extra user is zero.
Ø   The value of a public good to society is the combined value of all users who consume it; or the market demand curve for a public good is the vertical summation of individuals’ demand or MUV curves.
Why public goods successfully produced in the private market?Ø   It is because the transaction cost of excluding free-riders is not as high as economists traditionally thought of.

Give two real world examples of public goods that are produced privately.Ø   TV; radio
Ø   Music of Mozart/composers
Ø   Firework display of Disneyland (privately-produced)
Ø   Service of lighthouse (privately-produced)

Explain why these private producers survive in the market.Ø   TV; radio
n   Cable TV requires payment
n   Free TV like TVB and ATV offer commercial advertisement
Ø   Music
n   Music composed by musician is printed in CDs and sold to the public
n   Musicians who are alive can collect fee from copyright
世界上仲有好多有關Goods嘅分類,例如Merit Goods vs Demerit Goods, Exported Goods vs Imported Goods, Club Goods vs Common Resources. 有時間再寫下,希望幫到你 :)

2016年2月2日 星期二

幸福午睡

在午餐和晚餐中間,你會覺得頭昏腦脹,思路緩慢,好像也不太能集中精神。這時候你也許開始找咖啡或茶葉,也許在懊悔午餐吃錯了。



小睡片刻,或許是你可以考慮的。

正常的生理反應 


不是嬰兒、老年人或病人才需要午睡,愈來愈多的證據顯示,在經過半天的活動之後,有一股力量會驅策我們休息一下。早在遠古時代,祖先為了躲避午後的暑熱,會小憩片刻以保持體力。
睡眠專家狄曼特、布勞頓和丁吉共同發現,人類的身體傾向兩段式睡眠,一次在晚上,中心體溫和清醒程度會同時下降;另一次發生在下午,但程度較輕微。
不管晚上睡眠是否足夠,一天之中會想小睡片刻,是人類正常的生物需要。如果前一晚睡眠不足,那麼睏意恐怕會濃到無法抵抗。
以前人們會自然的在午後假寐打盹,某些拉丁美洲國家和歐洲國家到現在仍然保有此習慣,商家會在午後關門,以便小睡片刻。據估計,全世界有一半的人口,仍然生活在這種午睡的文化(Siestacultures),他們會在下午暫停工作,回家充電。
但是當社會愈來愈工業化時,午睡卻愈來愈不能被人接受,有些人甚至批評睡午覺是「農業社會的人才做的事」。「時間就是金錢」的觀念,讓人不敢在午後打個小盹,以滿足生理的基本需要。承認自己有倦意,似乎在告訴別人「我精力不夠旺盛」,反而用咖啡、可樂不同的刺激品來提神醒腦。
其實,午後小睡片刻,比喝咖啡、可樂有效且健康。研究顯示,居住在熱帶和地中海地區的人,比居住在北美或北歐的人,較不易罹患冠狀動脈心臟病。原因之一可能是前者有午睡的習慣,因為午睡能幫助人放鬆心情、減輕壓力。