Positive
and Normative Statements
A Normative statement is a valued judgement. It is an opinion
which usually contains the words “ought”, or “should”. An example is ‘The
government should reduce taxes to encourage growth’. This is because this is
someone’s opinion and it can’t be backed up, it also contains the word
“should”.
A Positive statement is one which can be tested, a number or
fact is usually present which can be supported or refuted. An example of this
is ‘By reducing taxes we would see an increase in GDP of the country’. This can
be tested by seeing the effects of taxes on GDP, and could be considered a
fact. It doesn’t matter whether or not it is correct or incorrect as long as it
can be supported or refuted it is a positive statement.
Examples
1. Football is boring!
2. If the minimum wage were raised then we would see a greater increase in the number of jobs.
3. The government ought to be focusing on growing the economy, and not be undertaking recessionary policies.
4. The Bank of England should remain an independent body and be free of political meddling.
5. The European Union will see very low growth in the short term along with high unemployment.
Answers
Page last updated on 20/10/13
1. Normative - this is obviously someone's opinion.
2. Positive - This could be tested by viewing data on the minimum wage and the number of employed people in an economy.
3. Normative - This an value judgement and contains the word "ought".
4. Normative - Another value judgement which contains the word "should".
5. Positive - This statement can be proven with an economic forecast. | 
