College Economics Topics

Overview: Basics and a Taste of What's to Come

• What Is Economics? Definitions of economics, the economy, political economy. Economics is about making choices, not just about making money.
What Is Economics?
Wellbeing and Welfare

• We face tradeoffs every day
Scarcity
Cost-benefit analysis

• The cost of something is what you give up to get it
Opportunity cost
Real, relative, and nominal prices
• People respond to incentives
Incentives
• Think about small changes first
Margins and Thinking at the Margin

• Trade makes everyone better off
Exchange and Trade
Comparative Advantage and the Benefits of Trade
• Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity
Efficiency

• Governments sometimes improve on market outcomes.
Market Failures, Public Goods, and Externalities

• Governments sometimes make conditions worse than market outcomes.
Government Failures, Rent Seeking, and Public Choice

• A country's standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services
Economic Growth
Division of Labor and Specialization

• Prices rise when the government prints too much money
Inflation
• Economists agree about the principles, but differ about government policy recommendations.
Economic Systems

Thinking Like an Economist

• Read and Listen Critically to the News
• Supply and Demand Applies to Surprising Situations
Human Capital
• The Roles of Graphs, Math, Equations, and Science in Economics
• Is Economics a Science?
• Measuring Economic Data
GDP
• The Role of Institutions, Property Rights, Laws, and Customs
Economic Institutions
Property Rights

Supply and Demand: How Markets Work

• Supply and Demand
Demand
Supply
Supply and Demand, Markets and Prices. Putting supply and demand together, markets and prices.
• Elasticity and Its Application
Elasticity of Demand
• Supply, Demand, and Government Policies
Price Controls, Price Ceilings, and Price Floors

Markets and Evaluating How Well-Off We Are: Consumers, Producers, Efficiency, Welfare, Well-being

• Consumers, Producers and the Efficiency of Markets
Consumers
Producers
Entrepreneurs
Profit
Efficiency
Behavioral Economics

• Application: The Costs of Taxation
• Application: International Trade

The Economics of the Public Sector

• Externalities, Public Goods, and Common Resources
Roles of Government
Market Failures, Public Goods, and Externalities
• Rent Seeking and Public Choice
Government Failures, Rent Seeking, and Public Choice
Economic Institutions
Property Rights
• The Tax System
Social Security
Health Care

Firm Behavior and the Organization of Industry

• The Costs of Production
• Firms in Competitive Markets
Competition and Market Structures
• Monopoly, Oligopoly, and Monopolistic Competition

The Economics of Labor Markets

• The Markets for the Factors of Production
Labor Costs, including Labor Unions
Employment and Unemployment
Productivity
• Earnings and Discrimination
• The Distribution of Income
Income Distribution
Income Inequality

Advanced Topics in Microeconomics

• The Theory of Consumer Choice

Measuring Macroeconomic Data

• Measuring a Country's Income and Growth
GDP
• Measuring the Cost of Living (Consumer Price Index, CPI)
Inflation
• Measuring Employment and Unemployment
Employment and Unemployment
• Measuring a Country's Money Supply
Money
• Measuring a Country's Debt
Government Budget Deficits and Government Debt

The Real Economy in the Long Run

• Production and Growth
• Productive Resources
• Environmentalism
• Human Capital
• Technology
• Productivity
• Economic Growth
• Saving, Investment, and Personal Financial Decisions
Credit
Compound Interest
Financial Markets
Saving and Investing
Risk and Return
Insurance
Money Management and Budgeting
• Employment, Unemployment, and the Natural Rate of Unemployment
Employment and Unemployment

Money and Prices in the Long Run

• The Monetary System
Money
Monetary Policy and the Federal Reserve
Banks and Financial Institutions
• Money Growth and Inflation
Inflation

Business Cycles, Financial Crises, and Short-Run Economic Fluctuations

• Business Cycles, Recessions, Financial Crises
Business Cycles

• Financial Crisis of 2008. The Great Recession.
• The Great Depression. (See Business Cycles.)
Employment and Unemployment
• Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
Aggregate Demand
Aggregate Supply
• The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Demand
Fiscal Policy
Government Budget Deficits and Government Debt
The Phillips' Curve: A Short-Run Tradeoff between Inflation and Unemployment

International Economics and the Macroeconomics of Open Economies

• Open-Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts
Balance of Trade and Balance of Payments
Foreign Currency Markets and Exchange Rates
• Open Economy Macroeconomics
Barriers to Trade
Economic Development

Ongoing Debates

• Debates over Macroeconomic Policy
Economic Systems