Economics 1: Principles of microeconomicsMonday, April 2, 2012Lecture 1Office Hours in Bunche 2255: Until May 1: Monday 2-3:30 PM, Wednesday 7-8 PM After May 1: Monday 2-3:30 PM, Wednesday 2-3:30 PMIntroduction and Overview -The Big Ideas-What is economics all about?Economics: the study of [how society, which is made up of individual], allocates scarce resources among competing uses for those resources*Scarcity comes about due to unlimited wants*Key points:UNLIMITED WANTS vs. LIMITED RESOURCESSCARCITYCHOICES DO NOT TO DO!Example: if class got cancelled and you do something else instead--> What you do instead is called the opportunity costOpportunity cost: highest value use sacrificed when a decision is madeLimited Resources--> Need to decide who gets the resourcesHOW DO WE ALLOCATE RESOURCES?Economics 1: Principles of microeconomicsMonday, April 2, 2012Lecture 11. Violencea. Favors the violent, bigb. discriminates against the weak and meek2. First come, first servea. favors the people with low values on their timeb. discriminates against those with high values on their time3. Personal characteristicsa. favors those who posses personal characteristicsb. discriminates against those who do not possess the personal characteristics4. Legal allocationsa. favors those who are legally/politically powerfulb. discriminates those who cannot hire a lawyer5. Marketa. favors the wealthy, richb. discriminates against the poorSell talents to acquire an income--> always tailor the competition to something that you do well and then become competitive for goods and servicesExample: someone who is argumentative would be a good lawyer someone who has favored, personal characteristics would be a good game show
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