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WELFARE ECONOMICS: A branch of economics that studies efficiency and the overall well-being of society based on alternative allocations of scarce resources. Welfare economics extends the microeconomic analysis of indifference curves to society as a whole. It is concerned with broad efficiency questions and criteria (Pareto efficiency and Kaldor-Hicks efficiency) as well as more specific efficiency issues (market failures, externalities, public goods).
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                           PHENOMENON: An event or action that is subject to investigation, analysis, and explanation using the scientific method. Phenomena are the sorts of things that science seeks to explain. They can be common events, like the blowing wind, or unusual, like the extinction of the dinosaurs. While the term phenomenon might entice thoughts of UFOs, ghosts, and mutant three-headed turtles, it really applies to any type of event or action. These events can be extraordinary or mundane. They can be unusual or common place.The types of events falling under the heading of phenomena and subject to scientific study include the sun rising, the stock market falling, a person talking, a volcano erupting, a basketball bouncing, a star exploding, and a bird flying. Some of these events might not seem appropriately suited to be called phenomena because they are quite ordinary. The ExtraordinaryScience is definitely interested in explaining unusual and extraordinary events. If a glowing, three-dimensional, translucent image of Abraham Lincoln playing badminton with Issac Newton suddenly appears on the front lawn of the White House, then science would certainly seek an explanation. Scientists salivate profusely at the prospect of explaining the occurrence of exceptional events. Doing so pushes forth the frontiers of science. It reveals possible deficiencies in existing theories and avenues for improvement.The Great Depression of the 1930s, for example, revealed flaws in the existing classical economic explanation of the macroeconomy and induced economists to push forth the theoretical boundaries of economic science. The OrdinaryScience, however, seeks to explain ordinary and mundane events, as well. It is also interested in explaining the glow of fireflies, the flight of a badminton shuttlecock, and the growth of grass on the front lawn of the White House. Explaining common events means that a theory works, that it has captured the essential laws of nature.The same theory that might explain the catastrophic downturn of the Great Depression also needs to explain an increase in the unemployment rate from 5.1 percent to 5.2 percent. If it fails to explain the ordinary, then a theory has no chance of explaining the extraordinary.
Recommended Citation:PHENOMENON, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2024. [Accessed: April 28, 2024].
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WHITE GULLIBON
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a dollar discount store trying to buy either car battery jumper cables or a dozen high trajectory optic orange golf balls. Be on the lookout for letters from the Internal Revenue Service.
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Francis Bacon (1561-1626), a champion of the scientific method, died when he caught a severe cold while attempting to preserve a chicken by filling it with snow.
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"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." -- Aristotle
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