Intermediate Microeconomics

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Economics is the study of exchange and tradeoffs. Qoestions about what to buy, what to produce and how to allocate time all involve tradeoffs between different alternatives, and economists develop models to better understand the process by which individuals and firms make such decisions. With these models in hand, economists can then develop criteria by which to judge the efficiency and effectiveness of market structures, policies and institutions. This course is a first introduction to microeconomics. It will present an overview of the basic models that constitute the foundations of modern economics. We will build the theory of the consumer and the producer from the bottom up to create models of market behavior. The goal is not to offer a complete description of the world as it exists; rather, we will seek to simplify reality with the goal of providing a concise description of a broad class of real-world circumstances. As we progress we will touch on examples of theory theory in applied settings to highlight and discuss how these models characterize much of the economic behavior we observe in the real world. After developing models of the market as a whole, we’ll explore extensions of the theory to the strategic behavior of firms and individuals. The theory of strategic behavior will then be used to analyze, among other things, competition policy, environmental policy and political competiton between parties.