The focus of microeconomics is upon the interplay among the households, businesses, and governments within our decentralized market-oriented economic system — how these interactions determine what is produced; how much of each item is produced; by how many producers; what inputs (labor, materials, and equipment) are used and in what absolute and relative amounts; what is paid for the inputs; and what are the prices of the outputs. A basic understanding of microeconomics will help you to perform more effectively as a citizen and as a business or governmental decision maker.
With due diligence by you, upon course completion you will be able to
1) Explain how markets function to allocate the use of the nation’s scarce production inputs;
2) Explain what conditions a firm must satisfy in order to achieve maximum profits in the short run and in the long run;
3) Explain market responses to changes in product demand and in production costs and how these are affected by (a) the presence or lack of product differentiation and (b) the ease with which firms can enter or leave industries;
4) Explain under what conditions markets do or do not yield peak productive efficiency;
5) Explain under what conditions markets do or do not yield peak allocative efficiency;
6) Explain under what conditions price differentiation occurs and what are its implications
7) Explain what are market externalities, what are their implications, and what are appropriate corrective policies;
8) Explain the ramifications of price ceilings and price floors;
9) Interpret and evaluate economic information obtained from the news media as well as existing and proposed governmental microeconomic policies.