Part A | The Landscape of Economics
Part A begins with a big question. What should we choose when we can't have everything? Even the richest people in the world can't have everything they might want. Our wants exceed our resources. So how should we as individuals and groups go about making choices?
When we view the cost of a choice as the value of our next best option, we can make everyone better off simultaneously. To show this, we'll build a model of opportunity cost, the production possibility frontier (PPF), and comparative advantage, asking: "Where on the PPF should we live?"
This question is where economic thinking began and makes up many of the puzzles at the heart of how we organize society. And it's exactly where we're headed in this course.
Episodes
Episode A0:
What is microeconomics?
Episode A1:
The landscape of what's possible
Episode A2:
Specialization
Episode A3:
Trade
Reading
Start Part A by skimming the reading to understand the main ideas. Then do the practice material, using the text for help when needed to stay focused and get unstuck quickly.
Chapter 1 ( File | AI Podcast Summary )
The principles of microeconomics
Chapter 2 ( File | AI Podcast Summary )
Thinking like an economist
Chapter 3 ( File | AI Podcast Summary )
Interdependence and gains from trade
Vignettes
Homework
MiniExam and Demo
MiniExam A will be held on Wednesday September 11th and covers everything in Part A. You will begin to learn that if you understand the concepts and do the work in the Vignettes, Homework, and Demo, you're going to be in good shape on the MiniExam.
Demos are a resource for you to use as you'd like. But my advice is to start by trying to solve it on your own and only then use the video and solutions to check your work. You're more than welcome to watch this video first, but you're not going to catch your weak points as easily, which is the main point.