Economics 11 Chapter 3 Productive Resources February 2012

our ability to produce goods and services depends on the quality and quantity of productive resources

productive resources include: -capital resources (tools, factories, machines) -natural resources (forests, soil, minerals) -human resources labour (workers of all kinds) - the entrepreneur (the self-employed business owner)

Natural Resources natural resources are all the resources that occur in nature that have value and may be used in production  includes minerals, forests, water, fish include all the “free gifts of nature”

Natural Resources Canada’s principal field crops are wheat, barley, vegetables, corn, and tobacco  livestock and livestock products are also very important forestry is a major industry, especially in British Colombia, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces

Natural Resources Canada is one of the world’s leading producers of newsprint, paper, and lumber commercial fishing is another major industry, however problems plague the seafood industry (over fishing, cod moratorium) Canada also has reserves of coal, oil and natural gas

Human Resources natural resources are useless without human resources human resources (labour) are the services provided by workers examining human resources involves considering not only the number of workers but also their skills, knowledge, initiative, and effort

Human Resources human resources includes the services of labourers, doctors, dentists, prime ministers, computer technicians and crane operators

Human Resources production depends on four major characteristics of human resources: health - workers who are continually sick are less productive than healthy workers education - the better educated a population is, the more productive a country tends to be work attitudes - Canadians have values and attitudes that make them highly productive workers population size - Canada’s average population density is 3 persons per square kilometre (one of the lowest in the world)

Capital Resources capital resources are goods that are used in production of other goods and services capital resources today are obviously much better than 50 years ago (farm equipment, dentist) a capital good is a good purchased in order that something else can be produced or provided (a means to an end)

Production production includes any activity that serves to satisfy human wants production involves the combining of economic resources (land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurial ability) to produce goods and services to meet our needs generally, all productive activity can be divided into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary

Production - people who work in primary industries work close to the land  farmers, miners, lumberjacks, oil riggers and fishers (all contribute staple products)

Production -secondary industries are involved in manufacturing the staple products into finished goods  a finished good can be a capital good or a consumer good

Production tertiary industries are responsible for everything that goes on with the finished good (from transporting to selling)  tertiary industries are the vital link between the producer and the consumer - service workers comprise about 75% of Canadian workforce

Circular Flow we can view our entire economy as a flow of goods and services and money between and among the four main actors in our economy: governments, businesses, households, and other countries first we will look at the circular flow between households and businesses -households include all families and unattached individuals living on their own - businesses include all kinds of organizations engaged in economic activity