| Topic | Lesson Topic | Subtopics | Objectives |
| 1 |
Thinking Like an Economist |
- Cost-Benefit Principle
- The Scarcity Principle
- Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
- The Economizing Problem
|
- Define opportunity cost and provide an example.
- Explain the usefulness of the “other-things-equal” assumption in economics analysis,
- State the difference between Macroeconomics and Microeconomics.
- Explain the problem of unlimited needs and wants as it relates to the individual and to society.
- Explain the message of the basic production possibilities curve.
- Represent a relationship between two variables with a graph.
|
| 2 |
Comparative Advantage |
- International Trade
- Specialization and Comparative Advantage
- Government and Trade
- Trade Barriers
- Trade Agreements
- Production Possibilities
|
- Define comparative advantage and use a table to illustrate the concept.
- Describe the gains from specialization and explain how exchange rates are determined.
Identify common trade barriers imposed by governments and explain why governments interfere with trade.
- Analyze the economic impact of trade barriers.
- Describe notable trade agreements.
- Explain the difference between positive and normative economics.
- Determine comparative advantage.
- Determine comparative advantage from information implicit in two PPCs.
- Delineate a case for free trade.
|
| 3 |
Supply and Demand |
- Economic Systems
- Characteristics of the Market System
- Markets
- Demand
- Supply
- Market Equilibrium
|
- Identify two major economic systems.
- Identify and explain the characteristics of the market system.
- Describe markets and their function.
- Explain the relationship between price and quantity demanded.
- Identify the determinants of demand.
- Explain and graphically illustrate the difference between a change in quantity demanded and a change in demand.
- Identify the determinants of supply.
- Explain and graphically illustrate the difference between a change in quantity supplied and a change in supply.
- Explain and graphically illustrate market equilibrium.
- Explain the Efficacy Principle.
- Apply demand and supply analysis to real-world issues and problems.
- Explain the income and substitution effects.
|
| 4 |
Elasticity |
- Price Elasticity of Demand
- Price Elasticity of Supply
- Cross Elasticity of Demand
- Income Elasticity of Demand
|
- Calculate price elasticity of demand using the mid-point and the percentage formulas.
- Compare and contrast inelastic and elastic demands.
- Explain what determines price elasticity of demand.
- Apply price-elasticity of demand to real-world issues.
- Contrast the short-run and the long-run with respect to price elasticity of supply.
- Apply price elasticity of supply to real-world issues.
- Explain cross-price elasticity and income elasticity of demand.
|
| 5 |
Demand |
- Consumer Choice and Budget Constraint
- Rational Spending and the Demand Curve
- Consumer Surplus
- Optimal Combination of Resources
|
- Explain and illustrate the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
Use the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility to explain the shape of a typical demand curve.
- Use the Rational Spending Rule to determine how a consumer will allocate a fixed income in the purchase of two goods.
- Use the Rational Spending Rule to derive the demand for a product.
- Explain the income and substitution effects.
- Describe consumer surplus.
- Determine the optimal combination of resources using two methods.
|
| 6 |
Perfectly Competitive Supply |
- Characteristics of Perfect Competition
- Short-Run Profit Maximization
- Long-Run Profit Maximization
- Producer Surplus
|
- Identify the characteristics of the representative firm operating under the conditions of perfect competition.
- Analyze the demand faced by the perfectly competitive firm.
- Calculate the purely competitive firm’s level of production and profit (or loss) in the short run using two methods.
- Explain the condition under which the perfectly competitive firm with shut down in the short run.
- Derive the competitive firm’s short-run supply curve.
- Analyze the perfectly competitive firm’s long-run equilibrium.
- Describe producer surplus.
|
| 7 |
Efficiency, Exchange, and the Invisible Hand |
- Economic Profit
- Economic Rent
|
- Analyze the sources of economic profit.
- Explain the economic function of profit.
- Explain the existence of economic rent.
- Explain why Adam SMith believed the “invisible hand” would promote the public or social interest.
|
| 8 |
Monopoly, Oligopoly, and Monopolistic Competition |
- Characteristics of Pure Monopoly
- Monopoly Demand
- Monopoly Output and Price Determination
- Efficiency Implications of Pure Monopoly
- Price Discrimination
- Public Policy
- The Regulated Monopoly
- Characteristics of Monopolistic Competition
- Price and Output Determination in Monopolistic Competition
- Monopolistic Competition and Efficiency
- Characteristics of Oligopoly
- Models of Oligopoly
- Oligopoly and Efficiency
- The Antitrust Laws and Policy
- Effectiveness of Antitrust Laws
- Natural Monopoly
|
- Compare and contrast the characteristics of pure monopoly with those of pure competition.
- Compare and contrast the demand curve and marginal revenue curve of the monopolist with that of the purely competitive firm.
- Use the MR=MC rule to determine the monopolist's profit maximizing price and output.
- Analyze the economic effects of monopoly.
- Define price discrimination.
- Identify real-world examples of price discrimination.
- Analyze the various public policies toward natural monopoly
- Compare and contrast the characteristics of monopolistic competition with those of pure competition.
- Use the MR=MC rule to determine the monopolistically competitive firm's output and price in the short and long run.
- Analyze the efficiency implications of the monopolistically competitive market.
- Identify the conditions that lead to oligopoly.
- Analyze three models of Oligopoly.
- Analyze the efficiency implications of oligopoly.
- Describe the most important of the antitrust laws of the U.S. and the historical events leading to the passing of these laws.
-
- Describe inconsistencies in antitrust policies.
- Analyze the conditions that result in the existence of natural monopoly.
|
| 9 |
Games and Strategic Behavior
|
- Game Theory
- The Prisoner’s Dilemma
|
- Use Game Theory to explain pricing behavior in different markets.
- Apply the Prisoner’s Dilemma to real-world scenarios.
- Provide examples when of when timing matters in a game.
|
| 10 |
Externalities and Property Rights |
- Externalities
- Private Ownership
|
- Define positive and negative externalities.
- Use the Coase Theorem to analyze a real-world individual bargaining example.
- Explain various ways in which government can bring about efficiency in the face of externalities.
- Describe how private ownership prevents the “tragedy of the commons.”
|
| 11 |
The Economics of Misinformation |
- Economic Value
- The Cost-Benefit Test
- Asymmetric Information
|
- Explain how buyers and sellers can create real economic value.
- Identify the optimal amount of information by applying the Cost-Benefit Principle.
- Define Asymmetric information.
- Describe how asymmetric information contributes to the lemons problem.
- Explain the responses to asymmetric information problems.
|
| 12 |
Labor Markets, Poverty, and Income |
- Labor, Wages, and Earnings
- Perfect Competition in the Labor Market
- Imperfect Competition in the Labor Market
- The Minimum Wage Debate
- Wage Differentials
- Facts About Income Inequality
- Causes of Income Inequality
- Income Inequality Over Time
- Poverty
- Economic Effects of Unions
- Labor Market Discrimination
- Economic Analysis of Discrimination
- Marginal Productivity Theory
- Deadweight Loss
|
- Distinguish between nominal wages and real wages.
- Describe the relationship between real wages and productivity.
- Analyze wage determination in a purely competitive labor market.
- State a case for and against the minimum wage.
- Analyze the causes of income inequality.
- Present historical data on income inequality.
- Define poverty and delineate the incidence of poverty.
- State ways in which unions may decrease economic efficiency.
- State ways in which unions may increase economic efficiency.
- Define labor market discrimination and identify the types of discrimination that may occur.
- Explain how changes in the determinants of resource demand impact the demand for resources.
- Illustrate deadweight losses due to over- or under-production of an economic good.
|
| 13 |
The Environment, Health, and Safety |
- Costs and Access
- High and Rising Health Care Costs
- Why Costs Are Rising So Rapidly
- Health Care Reform
- Pollution
- Workplace Safety
|
- Present current statistics relative to the health care industry.
- Analyze the health care industry and explain why costs are rising so rapidly in that industry.
- Use cost-benefit criterion to show why health care costs are rising so rapidly.
- List various options to health care reform.
- Discuss the ways in which taxes and tradeable permits can reduce pollution.
- Apply the Cost-Benefit Principle to improve workplace safety.
|
| 14 |
Public Goods and Tax Policy |
- Public Goods
- Tax Incidence and Efficiency Loss
|
- Compare and contrast private goods and public goods.
- Use the MB=MC rule to determine the optimal quantity of public goods.
- Explain why rent seeking occurs.
- Contrast progressive, proportional, and regressive taxes.
- Analyze the relationship between elasticity and tax incidence.
- Illustrate the efficiency loss of a tax.
|
| 15 |
Review |
|
None |
It not only cost effective, but you really can learn
It not only cost effective, but you really can learn
This is a great course. There is a lot of information but there is also a lot of resources and support. I do not believe this course was intended to be completed within 30 days. There is way too much information.
Straighterline provided a flexible way to complete my courses and that was great.
Straighterline provided a flexible way to complete my courses and that was great.
Some questions were worded poorly and hard to understand. Other than that you can do well if you have the textbook.
This is an excellent course. Personally, I think it went into a lot more detail than required, but if you plan on taking other Economic classes like International Trade, then this will definitely help you out. Some of the exam questions were a little specific. For example, in the midterm and final exam, there were very specific questions, that I definitely couldn't recall.
This is an excellent course. Personally, I think it went into a lot more detail than required, but if you plan on taking other Economic classes like International Trade, then this will definitely help you out. Some of the exam questions were a little specific. For example, in the midterm and final exam, there were very specific questions, that I definitely couldn't recall.
This course was very informative. The textbook was relatively easy to understand.
This course was very informative. The textbook was relatively easy to understand.
This is
This is
It was pretty cool being able to take this course on my own pace and time.
It was pretty cool being able to take this course on my own pace and time.
Very good
Very good
It was simply great.
It was simply great.
very good course
very good course
took longer than ex
took longer than ex
It was an okay course. You have to actually sit there and understand most of it if you want to pass.
It was an okay course. You have to actually sit there and understand most of it if you want to pass.
The course was very knowledgeable . The practice exams were very informative. On the whole course provided me in depth knowledge of the subject.
The course was very knowledgeable . The practice exams were very informative. On the whole course provided me in depth knowledge of the subject.
Some questions were worded poorly and hard to understand. Other than that you can do well if you have the textbook.
Very organized and thorough course on Microeconomics
Very organized and thorough course on Microeconomics
Great course. Learned a lot about microeconomics.
Great course. Learned a lot about microeconomics.
It was decent. Pretty straightforward.
It was decent. Pretty straightforward.
This is a great course. There is a lot of information but there is also a lot of resources and support. I do not believe this course was intended to be completed within 30 days. There is way too much information.
The lessons that are provided throughout the class cover a very very small percentage of what you need to know. Also, understand that it is important to stay dedicated to doing the class and not put it off
ok
it was ok
.
good course
Good - a lot of work, but good considering there were so many scores to help buffer any bad grades.
good and true to the book
The course provided a nice and condensed overview over microeconomics for me. Well-structured and not too time-consuming course.
This course was very well put together! The lessons were easy to navigate and the information was very straight forward. I would recommend this course to anyone looking to take economics.
This course is easy and can be completed very quickly. I loved taking this class.
The test material some how is missing or incorrect
Very good
A good compposite course
Great when you have a busy schedule.
I learned a ton and most of the concepts were presented in a straight-forward manner.
This course was painless, quick and easy. I completed it in less than 2 weeks!
Straightforward in regards to what is required. You really need to rely on the text though. The lesson slide show is informative, but you can't just use it for the tests. Overall it was awesome because I was able to complete courses within 3 weeks while working and enjoying my summer.
i was doing fairly well untill my last test and i got a 68.5 and that hurts bad
It was good, I needed to read the book a lot.
I like the fact that I could take these courses at my own pace.
I like the fact that I could take these courses at my own pace.
I liked that micro and macroeconomics had overlapping information. It made it easier and made me feel more confident
I liked the practice tests
I liked the Review Presentations because I felt that they clearly explained the main concepts in the topic.
I liked the whole course setup becasue it was an easy way for me to learn with out a professor and it is online.
I thought it was a straight forward easy to use program.
I liked that micro and macroeconomics had overlapping information. It made it easier and made me feel more confident
Loads of information. Great course
The aspect that I liked best from the course were the presentations since they helpful to understand better the concept of Microeconomics.
The tests were very fair. There were many small chapters with an exam at the end of each. This required less memorization at one time. The advisors were exemplary. Although there were several issues over the course of the class, the advisors were quick to resolve the issues.
I liked the practice tests
I liked the Review Presentations because I felt that they clearly explained the main concepts in the topic.
I liked the whole course setup becasue it was an easy way for me to learn with out a professor and it is online.
I thought it was a straight forward easy to use program.
Loads of information. Great course
The aspect that I liked best from the course were the presentations since they helpful to understand better the concept of Microeconomics.
The tests were very fair. There were many small chapters with an exam at the end of each. This required less memorization at one time. The advisors were exemplary. Although there were several issues over the course of the class, the advisors were quick to resolve the issues.