Microeconomics: Course Analysis

Ten Principles of Economics Thinking Like an Economist Interdependence and the Gains from Trade The study of economics is guided by a few big ideas. Economists view the world as both scientists and policymakers. The theory of comparative advantage explains how people benefit from economic interdependence.

When I first looked into finding this book I didn’t think much of it as I just thought it was just another type of text book or some sort. I was thinking that this would be some kind of auto biography or something I would not be interested in. In fact after reading this book I was stunned by the different views and aspects of economics that was explain and I would had never thought about them in that sort of way. This book covers a lot about we discussed in class. This book explains different examples of economic concepts that may be used in our daily lives. They

Many of the concepts that were discussed in Chapter 1 such as opportunity cost as well as some (much) newer ideas such as marginal and total utility. There are many examples of this such as when discussing the affects of Hospitality hours (happy hour) on the amount of drinks and the rate at which people consume their drinks (lower prices and quantity demanded) or the price at which people are willing to buy a cookbook relative to the profit the writer makes and how the current price was beneficial to both parties (equilibrium price). Ultimately I quite enjoyed the story and regret not getting it earlier as having it would of given context to a lot of concepts that normally seem alien to the average person that does not have business ties. This is of course in addition to the amusing and witty story thus making the 0.01 cents plus 3.99 shipping and handling a real steal for

a. Given the change in the value of the dollar between 2008 and 2009, as indicated in the table above, describe the effects this will have on United States tourism in each of these countries.

Demand is simply defined as goods and services that people are willing and have the ability to buy during a certain time at various prices. Demand in this study will be the request of the patient for medical services. The physicians demand estimates are focused on the recent utilization of healthcare and the delivery patterns. A current pattern of the utilization of physician services is observed as the level of services for what the U.S is willing and able to pay. The demand determinants are based on future demand trends in one of the

Every area that we discussed in this course has improved my understanding of the value that I bring to my role within my organization as well as my ability to create positive change. Due to my increased knowledge of accounting, I can now analyze our

David Colander defines economics as "the study of how human beings coordinate their wants and desires, given the decision-making mechanisms, social customs, and political realities of the society” (Colander, 2010, p. 4). Coordination in this definition refers to production content, method, recipients, and even quantity. To think like an economist one must analyze every situation by comparing the costs and benefits and make any decisions based on those findings (Colander, 2010). The study of microeconomics zeroes in on the individual and analyzes how economic forces affect the choices he or she makes.

Naked Economics is in fact a much more interesting read than I first anticipated. I feel that the author did rather well at truly “Undressing the Dismal Science” (Wheelan & Malkiel 2012) in such a way that it became intriguing to the reader, something I feel was likely a challenge being that so many textbooks tend to be difficult reads. Though, I suppose textbooks are not meant to be entertaining. Regardless I enjoyed the style of the book and will certainly look into reading it again in the future. Now that I have read the entire book I do feel that I have a much better understanding of the importance of economics in our society, even if I don’t understand the math, and effort that goes into understanding it. I still feel that I am better

Working as an underwriter, I've often pondered about my role in the economy and the necessity for insurance companies to have such roles. My job involves taking into account the consumer demands, risk of meeting those demands, rules set forth by the industry, and pricing. There is an incredible amount of statistics behind everything I take into consideration, and most of which i'm able to comprehend based on the knowledge I gained through being a Finance major. The one area that I'm not able to understand is the approach behind the numbers, and I strongly believe that it starts with understanding how these institutions work in the economy. I believe that the masters program at UMKC will help broaden my knowledge of the market and provide the

The course material is a completely new form since I am accustomed to science/health information. However, I now find economics intriguing and do not mind studying for it. I registered for this course since I was considering obtaining a minor in Business. However, I believe that would delay my graduation and dismissed the idea. Nonetheless, although this course is now an elective, I am relieved that I enjoy the material since I previously believed it was a waste of my time. Additionally, Barbara mentioned that some graduate school requires

I’ve learned a lot of useful tips from this semester in ENG 201. English has never been my strong suit nor has it been my favorite class. However this college course has changed my point of view of the subject. Prior coming into college I viewed English as a useless class because I’ve already knew the basics: how to talk, read and write essays. Today I view English as an important class. It helped me in other courses that involved writing, such as World Civilization and Communications, because it allowed me to practice my skills. In my world civilization exams I had to write essays. This course helped me write an impactful essay. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that almost all of my exam scores were in the 90s, usually I do poorly in the

On the other hand, economics degree course provides a range of advantages as well as disadvantages. For example, after pursuing the economic course, I will work either as an accountant or as financial analysts as well as investment analysts and statistician. Economics course will provide me with the opportunity to learn new investment skills, capital management and ability to analyze economic trends and patterns. Despite this, economics is a very complex and demanding course. In addition, economics mostly involves tiresome work

Microeconomics is the economic influences that impact at the micro, or firm, rather than macro level. The study of this subject is one that is highly valuable for any studying business with the provision of knowledge that will increase understanding of different influences and support the decision making processes. With the knowledge gained, along with the skills in applying that knowledge developed through class work and exercises for the different modules, there has also been the development of increased confidence, both personal and in the theories, in using the relevant concepts and tools in a practical setting.

I have gained much respect for Economics as a field of study during this course. Being a political science major, I can honestly say that there isn’t all that much science in many of the topics. Conversation in political science can be argumentative and normative without concrete reason or evidence. Economics, on the other hand, is intuitive and backed by research. More refreshingly, economics simply puts its research out for the world to see, and sure individual economists may voice their opinions about public policy, but as a field, it is based mainly on positive statements; it tells it like it is without venturing into how it should be. Economists do have a rough job in a way, they can’t simply do research by conducting regular experiments like altering the nation’s monetary supply or increasing the minimum wage to study the effects on unemployment. It is impressive that they find a way to use existing data to draw their conclusions. They really make the most out of what they are given. Additionally, it is nice that assumptions about complex economic topics are made so even students in basic principles courses can understand the concepts in simple economic models.

Some of the most compelling topics that I learned in this topic only came into focus at the end of the course. Economics is a very large and complex study and reflecting on this subject, piece by piece, requires some patience and ability to put the pieces together. The relationships between simple choices, such as supply and demand, drives all economic and commercial exchange but only through the lens of economic models that attempt to layout this system by combing mathematical principles and psycho-social evaluation. All in all, this was very interesting introduction to some of the complex drivers that propel society.