ECON 300 Ch. 1

how are consumption and production connected?

consumers are buyers. producers are the firms they buy from.

theories and models: freakonomics

essays that reveal the ways in which economic analysis provides a unique perspective for exploring a huge variety of phenomena in the world around us

theories and models

explanations of how things work that help us understand and predict how and why economic entities behave as they do

theories and models: theory and data

looking at current microeconomic research to see how the data gathered by micro economists inform and test the predictions of theories across a wide range of topics

what differentiates microeconomics from macro?

micro studies choices specifically about consumers and producers. macro is a wide range of study on how consumers and firms operate.

why has microeconomics evolved into an empirical discipline?

much more of the economists data in modern day centers on data and measurement. --> when the price of a good(like computing) decreases, the quantity consumed of that good increases.

theories and models: application

sections that help understand theory at work by showing how microeconomics can be used to inform economic decision making in a variety of interesting real situations

microeconomics

the branch of economics that studies the specific choices made by consumers and producers

what tools do we use to study microeconomics?

theories and models (application, theory and data, freakonomics)

empirical

using data analysis and experiments to explore phenomena