Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards Study Presentation ©2005 Clairmont Press Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards Section Section Section Section 1: 2: 3: 4: Basic Economic Concepts Louisiana’s Economic History Louisiana’s Resources Providing.

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Transcript Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards Study Presentation ©2005 Clairmont Press Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards Section Section Section Section 1: 2: 3: 4: Basic Economic Concepts Louisiana’s Economic History Louisiana’s Resources Providing.

Slide 1

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 2

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 3

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 4

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 5

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 6

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 7

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 8

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 9

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 10

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 11

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 12

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 13

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 14

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 15

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 16

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 17

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 18

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 19

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 20

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 21

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 22

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 23

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 24

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 25

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 26

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 27

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 28

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 29

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 30

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 31

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 32

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 33

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 34

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 35

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 36

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 37

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 38

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 39

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 40

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 41

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 42

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 43

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 44

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 45

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 46

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 47

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 48

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 49

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 50

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 51

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 52

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 53

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 54

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 55

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 56

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 57

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 58

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 59

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 60

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 61

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.


Slide 62

Louisiana:

The History of an American
State
Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and
Rewards
Study Presentation
©2005 Clairmont Press

Chapter 3

Louisiana’s Economy:
Resources and Rewards
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:

Basic Economic Concepts
Louisiana’s Economic History
Louisiana’s Resources
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and
Services

Section 1: Basic
Economic Concepts
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–How do people satisfy their wants
and needs in our economic
system?

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
What words do I need to know?
1. goods
2. services
3. consumer
4. producer
5. natural resources
6. human resources
7. capital resources
8. scarcity

Section 1:
Basic Economic Concepts
9. opportunity cost
10. supply
11. demand
12. profit
13. traditional economy
14. command economy
15. market economy

Wants and Needs
• goods: physical items – food,
clothing, cars, housing, etc.
• services: activities people do for
a fee
• producer: person or business –
makes goods or provides a
service

Resources and Scarcity
• natural resource: gift of nature – part of
the natural environment, - water, trees,
minerals
• human resources: people – those who
produce goods & provide services
• capital resources: money & property –
used to produce goods and services
• scarcity: available resources – demand
greater than supply

Making Choices
• Scarcity vs. producers & consumers
• Unlimited needs vs. wants
• Limited resources vs. limited amounts of
goods & services

• Basis of an economic system
– choosing how to use resources
• Those making choices in United States
– individuals, businesses, & communities

Costs and Benefits
• Opportunity benefit
– Choices (getting a job vs. going to college)
– Immediate salary vs. getting an education

• Opportunity cost – cost of choice not
taken
• Other choices of opportunity benefits
& costs
– Using resources or using time
– Value of non-chosen alternative

Trade-Offs





Either/or choice: not always the
best
May combine parts of choices
as trade-off
Trade-off choices to get wants
& needs

Supply and Demand
• supply: quantity of a good or service
offered for sale
• demand: quantity of a good or service
consumers are willing to buy
– Lower prices: consumers buy more,
producers make less $ per item
– Higher prices: consumers buy less,
producers make more $ per item
• profit: amount left after costs are
subtracted from price (motivator for
producers)

Basic Economic Questions
Four basic economic questions:
1) What do we produce?
2) How can it be produced?
3) How much will it cost to
produce?
4) For whom will we produce?

What to Produce
• Making the necessary decisions
–Meeting needs & wants
–How to make the capital resource
(money)
–Human resources
–Natural resources

• Finally, deciding what to produce

How to Produce


Plan of action:






How to carry out plan
Process of implementation
Supplies needed

Overall production schedules:



When to start production
When to end production

How Much to Produce

• Items to consider for plan
–Time involved
–Resources needed
–Market demand for product (s)
and/or service (s)

• Decisions affected by scarcity

For Whom to Produce







Develop knowledge of consumers
Study needs of consumers
Consider supply & demand
Analyze & plan for competitors
Consider advertising

Economic Systems




economist: one who studies the
economy
Three basic kinds of economies
1.
2.
3.



Traditional Economy
Command Economy
Market Economy

Economy may function as combination
of all three

Traditional Economy
• Customs, habits, & beliefs determine and
answer the four basic economic questions
• Continues in the way it has always been
done

Command Economy
• The government …
 controls the economy






answers the four basic questions
makes the decisions
has power & authority
negotiates input & output
controls competition

Market Economy
• Individuals…
 Answer the four basic economic
questions based on supply &
demand
 Also known as free enterprise
 Based on private ownership
 Freedom of choice
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What were Louisiana’s early
economic systems?

Section 2: Louisiana’s
Economic History
What words do I need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

barter
mercantilism
smuggling
indigo
tobacco
commerce

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• 1st economic system: barter (trading
goods & services without money)
• Then mercantilism: command
economy controlled by the
government
• Next, smuggling: illegal trade with
colonies of other nations

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Louisiana Purchase:
– end of colonial period
– end of earliest crops tobacco & indigo
– beginning of agricultural market
• New market: sugar cane & cotton
• New Orleans:
– became a major port for North America
– 1801 described as “the grand mart of
business, Alexandria of America”

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Early years of statehood: a continuing
agricultural economy
• 20 years before Civil War: a booming
economy
• End of Civil War till after WWII: a
struggling economy
• Growth and survival of war-developed
industries

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• New equipment & machines brought
by technology
• Human labor replaced by machines
• Many farms deserted by workers
• 1880 – 1920: most old growth trees
cut or gone

Louisiana’s Economic
History
• Oil (another resource)
– Became valuable in early 20th century
– Economy base changed by new industry
– Agricultural economy changed due to
WWII & demands for oil
– New economic direction:
interdependent global economy
– 21st century: seeks diversity & less
dependence on oil industry
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What roles do natural resources,
capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy of
Louisiana?

Section 3: Louisiana’s
Resources
What words do I need to know?
1. mineral resources
2. nonrenewable
3. lignite
4. biological resources
5. renewable
6. pulpwood
7. labor union

Natural Resources
• Economy supported by abundant
natural resources
• Examples: air, water, & rich soil
• 21st century: agricultural shift from
small farms/plantations to huge
agribusiness systems
• Fewer people on farms
• Amount of crops not decreased

Natural Resources
• State ranking: 2nd in sugar cane &
sweet potatoes
• Vital crops: rice, cotton, soybeans
• Soil & climate good for raising beef &
dairy cattle (dairy farming diminished)
• Abundant water supply good for
agriculture, industry, human use,
transportation, & recreation

Mineral Resources






Oil
Natural Gas
Salt
Sulfur
Lignite

Mineral Resources





minerals: inorganic substances formed
by Earth’s geological processes
Important to Louisiana’s economy
nonrenewable: not replaced by nature
once extracted (taken) from the
environment
Mineral resources found in Louisiana




oil (“black gold”), natural gas, salt, sulfur, lignite

Construction resources in Louisiana


sand, gravel, limestone

Oil
• Oil for today’s energy created by decayed
plants from millions of years ago
• 10% of US oil reserves in Louisiana
• Louisiana: one of top oil-producing states
in United States
• 1901 – 1st oil well in Louisiana
• 1947 – 1st platform in Gulf of Mexico
• More oil deposits beneath Gulf of Mexico

Natural Gas





Larger deposits than oil
¼ of the nation’s supply
1st burned as waste
1917: “carbon black” developed
–used in making tires, ink, & more
• Important energy for homes &
industry

Salt





Needed for human & animal survival
Used by Native Americans in trade
A form of money, later
Relied on by the Confederacy during
the Civil War
• Used in chemicals & other products
–polyvinyl chloride plastic
–PVC pipe for plumbing

Sulfur
• Major ingredient in:
• matches, gunpowder, medicine,
plastic & paper
• 1869 – “richest 50 acres in the world”
• town of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish
• Decrease in value
• foreign import changed importance
• unprofitable to mine in Louisiana

Lignite






Soft, brownish-black coal
Burns poorly
Mined since 1970s
Found mostly in DeSoto Parish
Used for electric power station
near Mansfield

Biological Resources


Biological resources
– Common term: plants & animals
– Scientific term: flora & fauna




renewable: replenish over time
Main divisions:
– Forests
– Wildlife
– Fish

Forests






50% of Louisiana in forests
2nd largest income producer
90% pine trees
75% trees cut for pulpwood
Large trees cut for sawtimber

Forests

• Hardwood sawtimber used for
furniture & flooring
• Paper mills, lumber mills, &
plywood plants
• Christmas tree farms started by
the Office of Forestry in the LA
Dept. of Agriculture

Wildlife

• Variety of wildlife
–History of trapping & hunting tradition

• Economic resources
Fur pelts:
–Once sold more than a million pelts
annually

• Hunting regulations
–State Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries

Wildlife
• Hunting
• Source of food
• Recreation
• Millions of dollars for state’s economy

• Timber cutting
• Reduced forest land
• Forest animals decreased
• Increase in recent years

Wildlife
• White-tailed dear
–Population has increased

• Black bear
–Largest wild animal in Louisiana
–Endangered: not legal to hunt

• Wild turkey
–Classified as a game bird
–Efforts have been made to increase
its numbers

Wildlife





Dove
Quail
Migratory waterfowl
Alligators
1963: placed on the federal protected
species list
1981: hunting under strict rules
Millions of dollars in hides & meat

Fish (Recreation)
• Freshwater bream, bass, perch,
catfish
• Game fish:
–trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue
marlin, amberjack, grouper, &
tarpon (illegal to sell commercially)

Fish (Commercial)

• Crawfish raised on crawfish farms
• Catfish sold: freshwater & farms
• Commercial fishing: tuna, sea
trout, red snapper

Capital Resources
• Human-made products used to
produce goods or services
• Examples: rice mills, sugar
refineries, oil refineries, cotton
gins, & meat-packing plants
• Others include: transportation
facilities – bridges, highways, &
airports

Human Resources
• People who supply the labor
– Physical or mental
– Paid for goods or services
• Requirements
– new skills & specialization
– education & training
• Labor unions – workers’ organization to protect
workers’ rights
• 1976 – right-to-work law passed – workers could
not be forced to join a union
Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 4: Providing
Louisiana’s Goods and
Services
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
–What is Louisiana’s place in the
global economy?

Section 4: Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
What words do I need to know?

1. private goods & services
2. public goods & services
3. interdependent
4. Superport
5. tariff
6. economic indicators
7. gross domestic product (GNP)
8. consumer price index
9. inflation
10. unemployment rate

Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
• free market: private goods & services
• Limited services & benefits to the
owners
• Provided by the government: public
goods & services
• Usually available to everyone
– highways, police, education, libraries

Manufacturing
Louisiana-made goods include…
• Ships, trucks, electrical equipment, glass
products, automobile batteries, & mobile
homes
• Chemicals industry
– Ranks 2nd in USA
– Petrochemicals (chemicals made from
petroleum)
– More than 100 chemical plants in LA
– Fertilizers & plastics

Manufacturing

• Billions of gallons of gas from
petroleum refineries each year
• Shipbuilding
–transport ships & merchant
vessels
–Coast Guard cutters, barges,
tugs, supply boats, fishing
vessels, & pleasure craft

Aerospace and Aviation
• Louisiana workers part of the
United States space program
• Space shuttles assembled in New
Orleans
• Lake Charles aircraft assembly
for military use

Biotechnology
• Combines biological research
with engineering
• Pennington Biomedical Center
leader in research

Service Industries



Adds billions of dollars to the economy
Tourism








sightseeing
eating
shopping
fishing & hunting
Mardi Gras

Movie-making




1908 – 1st film made in Louisiana
1917 – 1st Tarzan film made
More recent – “Steel Magnolias”

Economic Institutions
• Joint effort to produce & sell goods and
services
• Groups known as economic institutions
• Include
– Businesses large and small
– Corporations: owned by investors, banks, &
labor unions

• Banks important: allow producers &
consumers to trade, save, & invest

Louisiana in the U.S. and
Global Economies
• 1st economic systems: simple barter
economies
• Today’s systems interdependent
– overlap
– producers & consumers rely on each
other

• Louisiana’s offshore port: Superport

Trade Policies
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) changes trade policies &
agreements
• Trade restrictions removed
• Foreign countries offer cheap labor abroad
• Companies moving abroad
• Tariffs lessened
• Imported goods & low prices hurting
Louisiana

Measuring the Economy







Economic indicators
Gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Inflation
Unemployment rates

Click here to return to Main Menu.

Click here to return to Main Menu.