Economics Most of the Very Basics

Instructor Matthew Voz

Week 1 -History and General Concepts of Economics

Day 1 What is Economics and Where Does It Come From

Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Political Economy
o Laissez-faire
o Government Intervention
o Keynesians
Mercantilists & Physiocrats
Classical School
Socialists
Marginalists

Day 2 Price, Value, and Scarcity

Cost Theory
o Types of Production Costs
Land Rent
Labor Wages
Capital Interest
o Says Law
Labor Theory
o Ricardo vs. Marx
Marginal Theory of Value
o Marginal Utility and Marginal Product
How is Price related to value?
Opportunity Cost
Comparative Advantage

Week 2 Firms and Consumers

Day 3 Basic Supply and Demand

Movements Along Curves
Shifts in Curves
The Effect of Complements and Substitutes

Day 4 Demand Elasticity & Marginal Utility

Elastic and Inelastic Demand
Consumer Surplus & Optimization
 The Concept of Indifference

Day 5 Input Optimization & Profit Optimization

Total Cost, Production, Revenue, and Profit
Average Cost, Production, Revenue, and Profit
Marginal Cost, Production, Revenue, and Profit

Week 3 Markets

Day 6 Perfect Competition

The Metaphysical Dream of Economics

Day 7 Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition

Reality Check

Final Project

Color Graphs with accompanying tables of:

1. Ricardian Rent Theory
2. Production Possibilities Frontier (Opportunity Cost)
3. Hypothetical Comparative Advantage Illustration
4. Basic Supply and Demand with Equilibrium Price
5. Annotated Supply and Demand with Two (Shifted) Demand Curves
6. Annotated Supply and Demand with Two (Shifted) Supply Curves
7. Marginal Utility Demand Curve Illustrating Consumer Surplus and Optimal Purchase Point
8. Perfectly Inelastic, Perfectly Elastic, Straight Line, and Unit-Elastic Demand Curves with
Elasticity Equations
9. Variable Input Graphs
a. Total Physical Product
b. Marginal Physical Product
c. Average Physical Product
d. Marginal Revenue Product with Given input and output prices with Optimal
Production Point
10. Profit Maximization as a function of Total Revenue (P x Q) and Total Cost (TFC + TVC)
a. Marginal Revenue vs. Marginal Cost
b. Total Revenue and Total Cost
c. Total Profit
11. Firms Demand Curve vs. Industry Supply and Demand Curve in Perfect Competition
12. Supply and Demand Equilibrium in Perfect Competition with entry and exit of firms
13. Equilibrium in Monopoly
14. Price and Output Determination in Monopolistic Competition