00:01
Hey everyone, today we're solving problem number 16 from chapter two, the textbook, which asks us to differentiate a normative statement from a positive statement.
00:10
So this is from our reading in chapter two right here, this little section, and it directly explains the difference.
00:17
So we'll read through it, and then i'll give my take on it.
00:22
So it says first, economics is not a form of moral construction.
00:25
Rather, it seeks to describe economic behavior as it actually exists.
00:31
Philosophers draw a distinction between positive statements, statements which describe the world as it is, normative statements, which describe how the world should be.
00:43
So i'm just going to abbreviate positive with the p and normative with an n.
00:47
Save some time.
00:50
So the first distinction drawn is that positive statements describe the world as it is.
01:01
So it's basically reality.
01:13
Sorry about that.
01:14
I actually should read you that too.
01:20
That's one of the big differences.
01:22
And then the other thing is normative statements, in contrast to how positive statements describe the world as it is, normative statements describe the world how it should be.
01:47
So that's the main difference.
01:50
Just to get a little bit more into what this really means, perhaps to simplify it, positive statements as a read on are factual nature...