Microeconomics

Supply, demand, and market equilibrium

The core ideas in microeconomics. Supply, demand and equilibrium.

• Introduction to economics
• The demand curve
• The supply curve
• Market equilibrium
• What drives oil prices

Elasticity

Price elasticity of demand and supply. How sensitive are things to change in price.

• Price elasticity

Consumer and producer surplus

• Consumer and producer surplus
• Deadweight loss
• Public goods and externalities

Scarcity, possibilities, preferences and opportunity cost

How do you decide what to produce or trade? How can you maximize happiness in a world of scarcity. What are you giving up when you choose something (i.e., opportunity cost)?

• Production possibilities frontier
• Comparative advantage and gains from trade
• Marginal utility and budget lines

Production decisions and economic profit

Economic profit vs. accounting profit. Average total cost (ATC) and marginal cost (MC). Marginal product of labor (MPL). Price discrimination.

• Economic profit and opportunity cost
• Average costs (ATC, MC) and marginal revenue (MR)
• Average fixed, variable and marginal costs
• Labor and marginal product revenue
• Price discrimination

Forms of competition

• Perfect competition
• Monopoly
• Between perfect competition and monopoly

Game theory and Nash equilibrium

• Nash equilibrium
• Why parties in a cartel will cheat