How Positive and Normative Economics Relates to the US Government
The objective to the success of a specific science is the capability to identify and delineate opinions on 'what is' from 'what ought to happen'. This includes providing a demarcation between positive statements and normative statements. Positive statements deal with 'what is, was or what will be' but the normative statements deals with 'what ought to be' and are based on value judgments regarding what is good or what is bad. The positive conclusions could be considered as those which are extensively applicable throughout the whole world and they are testable whereas the normative instructions are not testable but constitute the basis for formulation of positive statements. Positive statements are for example, when we ask economists to inform us regarding how the price system operates, we are asking them to travel us along the road of positive economics. The following statement "if the price of petrol increases the demand for petrol falls" is a positive statement that could be either agreed or refuted. The normative economics on the other hand deals with the prescriptive statements, to illustrate, how the price system would function. Normative statements could generate positive hypothesis regarding the basis on which 'ought'-t
Since the positive economic approach concentrates basically, on the effect of the goals of producers in restructuring policy priorities and electoral politics there exists some sort of specific objectives that does not sufficiently take into account. These incorporate differing public interests and advocacy organizations particularly those that are concerned with the trade polices and the circumstances, human rights and other non-economic, trade-related goals like improving of democratic political and social institutions. However, the main disadvantage of this approach is that it is not concerned with the merits and demerits of the substitute trade policies and it extends no guidance to the policy makers in selecting among the available policy substitutes. The Transaction Cost Approach signifies that society is consisted of innumerable agents reinforcing on behalf of innumerable principals and execution of numerous policies in real time basis. Unless a broad view is undertaken it is quite problematic to understand the alternative and consequences of trade policies. A combination of the normative and political economy approaches is therefore quite necessary. Fredric L. Pryor in his book 'The future of US Capitalism' predicted the future trend of several economic, social and political features of US Capitalism. Pryor emphasized on the key indicators of the US economic system in the later part of the twentieth century and the factors underlying them. He afforded to predict the consequence of the present system with continuance of the present trend. Basing on the present trend Pryor predicts the nature of US capitalism in 2050 as a sort of semi-fascist dystopia, or capitalism having an inhuman face. His analysis is regarded as an attempt on positive and not normative economics. He could visualize along the political facets, the all round development of governmental intervention will be above all the same but with a varied composition. Public spending will be higher, regulation of industry will be to the minimum, governmental interference to the economy will be less effective, will be less competitive. And along the social dimension the solidarity will probably be less and irrespective of enhanced affluence the quality of the life will degrade and the economic life will be increasingly inhuman. (Book Review: The Future of U.S. Capitalism) However adoption of such principles the general direction of US domestic and trade policies with regard to market oriented consequences and the reduction of US and foreign trade impediments dominated the market. This has been strengthened by the prevalence of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade that produced the necessary relevance and power for trade liberalization and non-discrimination with regard to the members of GATT and the regular multilateral trade negotiations. The US dominance became the impetus for assisting in reducing tariff barriers for dealing with difficulties generated by the NTBs. This process has of course been far from perfect; however, t
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Approximate Word count = 2036
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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