JONATHAN GRUBER: What do you think
of when you hear the word economics?
Maybe you're thinking about banks and
businesses, or Wall Street and stocks,
or budgets and deficits.
And sure, the field of economics has
something to say about all of these.
But economics is so much more than that.
Economics gives us a
powerful set of tools
to explain why the world
around us is the way it is.
For instance, why does 7-Eleven
charge $0.99 for a small soda,
and only $0.10 more for a Big
Gulp that's double the size?
Why do most airlines today charge
for checked luggage when none of them
did so 30 years ago?
Why does the ride-sharing company,
Uber, charge more for a ride
when it's raining?
And the lessons of economics can help
inform our own personal decisions.
For instance, should you
resell your concert tickets
for less than you
originally bought them for?
Should you spend tonight studying for an
exam or catching up on other homework?
Should you go to college, even with
tuition prices as high as they are?
At its core, economics is the study
of human behavior and interactions.
It explores how each
of us makes decisions,
from the trivial everyday ones, to the
once-in-a-lifetime monumental ones.
It can shed light on some of the
most important issues of our day--
Unemployment and poverty, health
care and life saving medication,
climate change, and
environmental regulation.
In this course, we'll analyze
individuals' decisions
about what to buy and how much to work.
We'll also look at firms' decisions
about how many workers to hire
and what prices to charge.
Then we'll explore ways to evaluate
economic outcomes and perspectives
of both efficiency and fairness.
Each unit of this course
will begin with a short video
that introduces a new topic and uses the
tools of micro-economics to explore it.
Most units will also feature application
videos that take economics out
of the textbook and
apply to the real world.
For instance, we'll consider why
LeBron James didn't go to college,
why IBM once invested money
to make its printers slower,
and why a copy of the
Great Gatsby costs so much
more than a copy of Huckleberry Finn.
Many units will also contain
videos that dig deeper
into the graphical and
mathematical explanations
of the economics behind these examples.
And throughout the course, you'll
find interactive practice problems
to help you check your
grasp of the material.
This course has been
approved by the College Board
as covering all the material that's
required for the Advanced Placement
exam in micro-economics and will
help you study for that test.
But it's also open to anyone looking for
an introduction to the way economists
think about the world.
Together we'll uncover
how economics can be
used to better understand
the choices we make
and how these choices
shape the world around us.
See you in class.
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