Italy Secondaria di secondo grado – classe 3ª Law and political economy

Chapters: 2

1. Political economy

Micro and macroeconomics

Demand and Price Elasticity of Demand – Demand is the quantity of a good buyers are willing and able to buy at each price in a period. Market demand adds up all buyers' demand at each price. Demand depends on own price, income, prices of related goods, tastes, expectations and number of buyers. A change in own price moves us along the curve; a change in any other factor shifts it. Price elasticity of demand (Ed) = % change in quantity ÷ % change in price; it can also be judged from total expenditure.

Civil law · Law and the economy

Civil Law: Rights and Duties Between People – Civil law (private law) is the part of law that governs relations between ordinary persons: people, companies and sometimes the state when it acts like a private party. It covers who can have rights (legal persons and their capacity), things and property, obligations (duties that come from contracts or from causing harm), family and inheritance. When someone breaks a civil duty, the aim is not punishment but repair: the wronged person can ask a court for compensation (damages for real loss and lost profit), for the thing back, or for the wrong to stop. A tort is a civil wrong outside a contract, such as negligence that injures someone or damages their property. Usually the person at fault pays; children may be only partly liable, and parents or guardians may answer for them. Claims must be brought within a limit of time (the limitation period). Many countries collect these rules in a civil code; others build them mostly from court decisions; both protect the same basic ideas.
Business Law: The Rules Every Business Must Follow – Business law is the set of rules made by government and enforced by courts that a business must follow. It decides the legal form of a business and who pays its debts (liability), when a promise becomes a contract, how workers must be treated (wages, equality, safety), what customers can demand (goods that work and are as described), and how disputes are settled.