Module 1: Introduction to Microeconomics

This module focuses on Module 1: Introduction to Microeconomics within Principles of Microeconomics — Part 1: Foundations & Comparative Advantage. The module concentrates on Economics, Scarcity, and Opportunity cost. Learners move through Module 1 Overview: Introduction to Microeconomics. Learning module covering introduction to microeconomics.

Why this module matters

It helps learners connect Module 1: Introduction to Microeconomics to the broader course path in Principles of Microeconomics — Part 1: Foundations & Comparative Advantage. Learners build working familiarity with Economics, Scarcity, and Opportunity cost. The lessons stay grounded in concrete examples and explanations tied to this module's core topics. Learners can check understanding through 23 quiz questions tied….

What this module covers

  • Economics
  • Scarcity
  • Opportunity cost
  • Economics is a social science, along with psychology and anthropology.
  • If we are going to make decisions by comparing costs and benefits, then we need to get the costs right.
  • Explain how scarcity is fundamental to economics

Topical takeaways

  • Economics is a social science, along with psychology and anthropology.
  • If we are going to make decisions by comparing costs and benefits, then we need to get the costs right.
  • Anytime you make a choice, by choosing to have something, you are choosing not to have something else, whatever your alternative was.

Lesson arc

  1. Module 1 Overview: Introduction to Microeconomics (10 min)

    Economics is a social science, along with psychology and anthropology.

    • Economics is a social science, along with psychology and anthropology.
    • If we are going to make decisions by comparing costs and benefits, then we need to get the costs right.
    • Anytime you make a choice, by choosing to have something, you are choosing not to have something else, whatever your alternative was.

Key concepts

  • Economics
  • Scarcity
  • Opportunity cost
  • Sunk cost
  • Marginal analysis
  • Rational behavior

Practice and assessment

Learners reinforce this module through 23 quiz questions and a supporting glossary covering 6 key terms, with practice centered on Economics is a social science, along with psychology and anthropology.

Concept glossary

Economics
A social science that studies how individuals, households, firms, and governments make choices under scarcity.
Scarcity
The condition in which human wants exceed the resources available to satisfy them.
Opportunity cost
The value of the next-best alternative that is forgone when a choice is made.
Sunk cost
A cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered; economists argue it should not influence future decisions.
Marginal analysis
An approach to decision-making that compares the additional (marginal) benefit of an action to its additional (marginal) cost.
Rational behavior
The assumption that economic agents make decisions to maximize their own welfare given their constraints and information.

Continue to the full course

Principles of Microeconomics — Part 1: Foundations & Comparative Advantage is the parent course for this module. Use the full course page for pricing, certificate details, and the full curriculum.

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