Course Learning Outcomes
Lesson 1: What is Economics
Why It Matters: Economic Thinking
Outcome: What Is Economics?
Video: Scarcity and Choice
Reading: Understanding Economics and Scarcity
Video: Resources
Reading: The Concept of Opportunity Cost
Reading: Labor, Markets, and Trade
Reading: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
Outcome: Economic Models
Reading: Using Economic Models
Why It Matters: Choice in a World of Scarcity
Putting It Together: Economic Thinking
Glossary: Economic Thinking
Outcome: The Cost of Choices
Reading: Budget Constraints and Choices
Reading: Calculating Opportunity Cost
Outcome: The Production Possibilities Frontier
Video: Society’s Production Possibilities Curve
Reading: The Production Possibilities Frontier
Reading: Productive Efficiency and Allocative Efficiency
Outcome: Economic Rationality
Reading: Rationality and Self-Interest
Reading: Rationality in Action
Outcome: Marginal Analysis
Reading: Marginal Analysis
Outcome: Positive and Normative Statements
Video: Positive and Normative Analysis
Reading: Positive and Normative Statements
Problem Set: Budget Constraints and Opportunity Cost
Problem Set: Marginal Analysis
Putting It Together: Choice in a World of Scarcity
Glossary: Choice in a World of Scarcity
Discussion: Is Economics a Science?
Appendix Lesson 1: Math for Economics
Outcome: Math in Economics
Reading: Purpose of Functions
Reading: Solving Simple Equations
Outcome: Graphs in Economics
Video: Graph Review
Reading: Creating and Interpreting Graphs
Reading: Interpreting Slope
Reading: Types of Graphs
Outcome: Dividing Fractions
Read: Dividing Fractions
Read: Convert Fraction to Decimal
Read: Convert decimal to percentage
Problem Set: Math in Economics
Problem Set: Graphs in Economics
Problem Set: Fractions
Lesson 2: Supply and Demand
Why It Matters: Supply and Demand
Outcome: Economic Systems
Reading: Economic Systems
Outcome: Demand
Reading: What Is Demand?
Video: Change in Demand vs. Change in Quantity Demanded
Reading: Factors Affecting Demand
Worked Example: Shift in Demand
Reading: Summary of Factors That Change Demand
Simulation: Demand for Food Trucks
Self Check: Demand
Outcome: Supply
Reading: What Is Supply?
Reading: Factors Affecting Supply
Worked Example: Shift in Supply
Reading: Summary of Factors That Change Supply
Simulation: Supply of Food Trucks
Self Check: Supply
Outcome: Equilibrium
Reading: Equilibrium, Surplus, and Shortage
Video: Market Equilibrium
Reading: Changes in Equilibrium
Worked Example: Supply and Demand
Simulation: Food Trucks and Changes in Equilibrium
Self Check: Equilibrium
Problem Set: Supply and Demand 1
Problem Set: Supply and Demand 2
Problem Set: Supply and Demand 3
Putting It Together: Supply and Demand
Cheat Sheet
Glossary: Supply and Demand
Discussion: Supply and Demand
Lesson 3: Changes in Supply and Demand, Government Intervention and Surplus
Why It Matters: Surplus
Outcome: Consumer, Producer, and Total Surplus
Reading: Surplus
Outcome: Surplus and Inefficiency
Reading: Inefficiency of Price Floors and Price Ceilings
Putting It Together: Surplus
Glossary: Surplus
Discussion: Efficiency of Free Markets
Why It Matters: Government Action
Outcome: Price Ceilings
Reading: Price Ceilings
Outcome: Price Floors
Reading: Price Floors
Self Check: Impact of Binding Price Ceilings or Price Floors
Case in Point: Organic Foods
Worked Example: Price Controls
Lesson 4: The Public Sector
Outcome: Tax Incidence
Reading: Tax Incidence
Outcome: Taxation
Reading: Financing Government
Reading: Types of Taxes
Reading: Taxation
Putting It Together: Government Action
Glossary: Government Action
Discussion: Junk Food and Government Action
Why It Matters: Public Goods
Outcome: Defining Public Goods
Reading: Positive Externalities and Public Goods
Reading: Public Goods
Outcome: Free Riders
Reading: Free Riders
Outcome: Positive and Negative Externalities
Reading: Positive Externalities and Technology
Video: Externalities
Reading: Market Failure
Outcome: Government Involvement and Externalities
Reading: Command-and-Control Regulation
Reading: How Governments Can Encourage Innovation
Outcome: Market-Based Solutions
Putting It Together: Public Goods
Glossary: Public Goods
Discussion: Externalities and Public Goods
Lesson 5: Consumer Choice
Why It Matters: Utility
Outcome: Defining Utility
Reading: Consumer Choices
Reading: Consumption Choices
Reading: Choosing with Marginal Utility
Video: What is Marginal Utility?
Outcome: Marginal Utility
Reading: Marginal Utility
Outcome: The Utility Maximizing Rule
Reading: A Tool for Maximizing Utility
Video: The Optimal Purchase Rule
Simulation: Maximizing Utility
Self Check: The Utility Maximizing Rule
Outcome: How Utility Changes
Reading: The Foundations of Demand Curve
Reading: Income Changes and Consumption Choices
Outcome: Behavioral Economics
Reading: Behavioral Economics: An Alternative Viewpoint
Putting It Together: Utility
Glossary: Utility
Discussion: Consumer Equilibrium
Lesson 6: Elasticity
Why It Matters: Elasticity
Outcome: Explaining Elasticity
Reading: Introduction to Elasticity
Video: Price Elasticity of Demand
Reading: Examples of Elastic and Inelastic Demand
Outcome: Calculating Price Elasticity
Reading: Calculating Percentage Changes and Growth Rates
Reading: Calculating Price Elasticities
Reading: Three Categories of Elasticity
Reading: Polar Cases of Elasticity
Outcome: Other Elasticities
Reading: Other Types of Elasticity
Worked Example: Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand
Self Check: Other Elasticities
Outcome: Price Elasticity and Total Revenue
Reading: Elasticity and Total Revenue
Reading: Elasticity, Costs, and Customers
Problem Set: Elasticity
Glossary: Elasticity
Putting It Together: Elasticity
Discussion: Price Elasticity of Demand
Lesson 7: Resource Markets
Why It Matters: Resource Markets
Outcome: Resource Markets
Video: Economic Rent
Reading: Natural Resources and Conservation
Reading Economic Rent
Discussion: Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Video: Financial Markets
Reading: Financial Markets
Video: Stocks
Reading: Stocks
Reading: Time and Interest Rates
Video: Bonds
Reading: Interest Rates and Capital
Reading: Loanable Funds
Reading: Bonds
Video: Time Value of Money
Reading: Time Value of Money
Videos: Labor Market
Reading: The Labor Market
Reading: The Demand for Labor
Case in Point: An Airline Pilot’s Lament
Case in Point: Computer Technology Increases the Demand for Some Workers and Reduces the Demand for Others
Reading: The Supply of Labor
Reading: Labor Markets at Work
Cheat Sheet: How Many Workers Should Be Hired?
Simulation: Income Distribution
Self Check: Competition and Wages
Web Assignment: The Census Bureau
Lesson 8: Production
Why It Matters: Production
Outcome: Defining Production
Cost Functions
Reading: Cost and Industry Structure
Reading: Factors of Production
Outcome: Marginal, Average, and Total Product
Reading: Production Choices and Costs
Outcome: Explicit and Implicit Costs
Reading: Explicit and Implicit Costs
Outcome: Marginal, Average, and Total Cost
Reading: Fixed and Variable Costs
Reading: The Structure of Costs in the Short Run
Outcome: Sunk Costs
Reading: Sunk Costs and Alternative Measures of Cost
Outcome: The Short Run vs. The Long Run
Reading: Short Run vs. Long Run Costs
Reading: Short Run and Long Run Average Total Costs
Outcome: Long Run Costs and Economies of Scale
Reading: Long Run Costs
Reading: Economies of Scale
Putting It Together: Production
Glossary: Production
Discussion: Diminishing Returns
Lesson 9: Perfect Competition
Why It Matters: Perfect Competition
Outcome: Defining Perfect Competition
Reading: Perfect Competition
Outcome: Perfectly Competitive Firms and Industries
Reading: Perfect Competition: A Model
The Shut Down Decision
Reading: Price and Revenue in a Perfectly Competitive Industry and Firm
Outcome: Costs and Revenue in a Perfectly Competitive Market
Reading: How Perfectly Competitive Firms Make Output Decisions
Outcome: Profit and Losses in a Perfectly Competitive Market
Reading: Profits and Losses with the Average Cost Curve
Simulation: Maximizing Profit
Outcome: The Shutdown Point
Reading: The Shutdown Point
Outcome: Entry and Exit Decisions
Reading: Entry and Exit Decisions in the Long Run
Outcome: Efficiency in Perfectly Competitive Markets
Reading: Efficiency in Perfectly Competitive Markets
Discussion: Independent Trucking Analysis
Putting It Together: Perfect Competition
Glossary: Perfect Competition
Lesson 10: Monopoly
Why It Matters: Monopoly
Outcome: Introduction to Monopolies
Reading: Introduction to Monopolies
Outcome: Barriers to Entry
Reading: How Monopolies Form: Barriers to Entry
Outcome: Revenue, Costs, Profit and Losses in Monopolies
Reading: Choosing Output and Price
Reading: Illustrating Monopoly Profits
Outcome: Inefficiencies in Monopolies
Reading: The Inefficiency of Monopoly
Reading: Monopolies and Deadweight Loss
Reading: Price Discrimination
Outcome: Controlling Monopolies
Reading: Monopoly and Antitrust Policy
Reading: Corporate Mergers
Reading: Regulating Anticompetitive Behavior
Reading: Regulating Natural Monopolies
Reading: The Great Deregulation Experiment
Putting It Together: Monopoly
Glossary: Monopoly
Discussion: Price Discrimination
Lesson 11: Monopolistically Competitive Industry and Oligopoly
Why It Matters: Monopolistically Competitive Industries
Why It Matters: Oligopoly
Outcome: Monopolistically Competitive Industries
Outcome: Introduction to Oligopolies
Reading: Introducing Monopolistic Competition
Reading: Monopolistic Competition
Outcome: Calculating Cost and Revenue
Reading: Choosing Price and Quantity
Outcome: Short Run and Long Run Equilibrium
Reading: Monopolistic Competitors and Entry
Outcome: Advertising
Reading: Advertising and Monopolistic Competition
Outcome: Inefficiency of Monopolistic Competition
Reading: Monopolistic Competition and Efficiency
Putting It Together: Monopolistically Competitive Industries
Reading: Introducing Oligopolies
Reading: Competition Among the Few
Reading: Oligopoly Models
Reading: Why do Oligopolies Exist?
Outcome: Collusion
Reading: Collusion or Competition?
Reading: The Collusion Model
Outcome: Game Theory
Reading: Prisoner’s Dilemma
Reading: Game Theory
Outcome: Inefficiency in Oligopolies
Reading: Tradeoffs of Imperfect Competition
Putting It Together: Oligopoly
Glossary: Monopolistic Competition
Glossary: Oligopolies
Discussion: Monopolistic Competition
Discussion: Oligopoly
Lesson 12: Environment, Unions and Healthcare
Video: Pollution in China
Reading: Introduction to Externalities and Pollution
Reading: The Benefits and Costs of U.S. Environmental Laws
Reading: Market-Oriented Environmental Tools
Reading: Market-Oriented Environmental Tools: Effectiveness and Application
Video: Unions
Outcome: Competition and Wages
Reading: Unions and Price Setters on the Supply Side
Reading: Monopsony
Reading: Monopoly and Monopsony: A Comparison
Reading: Monopsony and the Minimum Wage
Outcome: Healthcare
Video HealthCare System Overview
Reading: HealthCare System in the US
Video Disparities in the US Healthcare system
Reading: Regulation and Policy Making
Video HealthCare Costs in the US
Reading: HealthCare Costs in the US
Lesson 13: Income and Poverty
Why It Matters: Income Distribution
Outcome: Measuring and Understanding the Distribution of Income
Case in Point: Technology and the Wage Gap
Reading: Poverty and Economic Inequality
Reading: The Poverty Trap
Reading: The Safety Net
Reading: Explaining Inequality
Reading: Measuring Income Inequality
Reading: Government Policies to Reduce Income Inequality
Glossary: Income Distribution
Putting It Together: Income Distribution
Discussion: Income Distribution
Lesson 14: Globalization, Trade and Finance
Why It Matters: Globalization, Trade and Finance
Khan Academy: Foreign Exchange and Trade Explained
Outcome: Comparative and Absolute Advantage
Web Assignment: The Dollar (Mighty)
Reading: Introduction to International Trade
Comparative Advantage In Trade Explained
Reading: Absolute and Comparative Advantage
Reading: Absolute Advantage
Reading: Intra-Industry Trade
Reading: Reducing Barriers to Trade
Outcome: Impact of International Trade
Reading: Demand and Supply Analysis of International Trade
Outcome: Impact of Government Regulations
Reading: Restrictions on International Trade
Reading: Justifications for Trade Restriction
Case in Point: Outsourcing, Insourcing, and Employment
Reading: The Tradeoffs of Trade Policy
Outcome: Trade Policy and Agreements
Reading: How Trade Policy Is Enacted
Videos: Trade Agreements
Self Check: Trade Policy and Agreements
Outcome: Exchange Rates and International Finance
Reading: Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows
Reading: The Foreign Exchange Market
Reading: Strengthening and Weakening Currency
Reading: Demand and Supply Shifts in Foreign Exchange Markets
Outcome: The Balance of Trade
Reading: Macroeconomic Effects of Exchange Rates
Reading: Exchange-Rate Policies
Outcome: Globalization
Reading: Introduction to Globalization
Reading: Trade Winds
Simulation: International Trade
Self Check: Globalization
Putting It Together: Globalization, Trade and Finance
Glossary: International Trade
Discussion: Absolute and Comparative Advantage
Faculty Resources
Overview of Faculty Resources
PowerPoints
PDF
Course Information
Welcome
Textbook: Important
Course Schedule and Reading List
About the Discussions
Answers to FAQs
Khan Academy and External Links
Textbook Tips
Grade Determination
Final Exam
Appendix: Math for Economics
Attributions
References
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ACC Principles of Microeconomics by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.