Microeconomics

Economics is generally divided into two areas: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Most of you know by now that macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole as well as its international relationships. Microeconomics on the other hand is the study of how individuals, firms, and the government behaves. Within microeconomics some of the more common areas studied are: Labor, Public Finance, Environment and Natural Resources, Industrial Organization, International Trade, Urban and Regional, and Health to name a few. The exciting thing about microeconomics is that you can apply its tools to almost any subject.

In this course we begin to introduce you to some of those tools. There are three main areas that we will cover. The first area is a visit to supply and demand (for some of you a second visit if you had it in macroeconomics) where we will look at price as a market clearing mechanism and the sensitivity of quantity demanded (elasticities) based on other factors. Secondly we will examine consumer or household behavior. Here we ask the basic question: What drives individuals to make the choices that they do? Finally, businesses or firms are put in spotlight. In this section we explore everything from what are the goals of the firm to how well it competes, or not.

            - Professor David Yoskowitz