Preface
Summary
Welcome to this intermediate microeconomics course. At this point, you should already have taken an introductory economics class that exposed you to the method and main ideas of the two parts of economic theory, microeconomics and macroeconomics. In addition, you should have taken a calculus course. The reason is simple: calculus is basic to microeconomics, much of which is about maximizing something (for instance, utility, or profit), or about minimizing something else (for instance, costs). Calculus is the area of mathematics most suited to maximization and minimization problems; using it makes microeconomic theory straightforward, transparent, and precise.
Microeconomics begins with the study of how economic agents in the private sector (consumers and firms) make their decisions. We start this course with a brief introduction, in Chapter 1. Then we turn to the main events: Part I of our course (Chapters 2 through 7) is about the theory of the consumer, and Part II (Chapters 8 through 10) is about the theory of the producer – that is, the firm. Part I provides a foundation for the demand curves that you saw in your principles course, and Part II provides a foundation for the supply curves that you saw.
Most economic decisions are made in the private sector, but governments also make many important economic decisions. We touch on these throughout the course, particularly when we discuss taxes, monopolies, externalities, and public goods.
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- A Short Course in Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus , pp. xi - xivPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012