{"id":4996,"date":"2016-07-20T21:08:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T21:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/microeconomics\/?post_type=chapter&p=4996"},"modified":"2016-07-20T21:08:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T21:08:00","slug":"why-it-matters-economic-thinking","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-herkimer-microeconomics\/chapter\/why-it-matters-economic-thinking\/","title":{"raw":"Why It Matters: Economic Thinking","rendered":"Why It Matters: Economic Thinking"},"content":{"raw":"\"Photo<\/a><\/span>\n

Why explain\u00a0the basic premises\u00a0and tools\u00a0of economic thinking?<\/h2>\nMany students find\u00a0the prospect of taking an economics course\u00a0daunting (or maybe just dull). At the heart of this worry is perhaps just a misperception of what economics is about. It's not rocket science, it's not a\u00a0collection of boring facts, and it's not the study of money or the\u00a0stock market. Economics is really just a set of interesting questions organized around a simple fact: There aren't enough resources (money, land, time, etc.) to go around or satisfy all our needs and desires. Economists call this condition scarcity<\/em>. It affects\u00a0individuals, nations, and the entire human species\u2014no one ever has enough of the things they want. On some level, everyone has to grapple with scarcity, and economists are interested in understanding how people do that.\n\nIf you understand how people behave in the face of scarcity\u2014and learn to think like an economist\u2014economics can be an amazingly powerful tool. You can predict the behavior of individual economic agents, such as consumers or businesses\u2014what economists call the micro level. You can predict the behavior of an economy (or economies) as a whole\u2014what economists call the macro level. You can have a better understanding\u00a0of the choices\u2014and consequences\u2014in your own life.\n\nConsider the following example:\n\nImagine that you're about to catch a flight\u00a0to Italy. You've saved and saved to pay for\u00a0this trip, and you're thrilled\u00a0to finally be going.\u00a0You're on top of the world, until . . .\n\nYou get to the airport and have\u00a0to go through security. The line is terrible. What choice do you have? You can\u2019t board\u00a0the plane without passing\u00a0security. As you wait, you notice a different aisle for \"special\" passengers who fly more often. They aren\u2019t waiting at all. In fact, if more than three of them\u00a0collect in the line and have to wait for more than a\u00a0minute, they act\u00a0very annoyed\u2014shifting their weight, rolling their eyes, checking their phones, and so on. Oh, brother! You've been waiting so much longer! How is that fair?\n\nFinally you make it through security and reach\u00a0your gate. Sadly, you are in zone 5, which boards last. You have to struggle down the aisle\u2014past rows\u00a0of seats with more leg room\u2014to\u00a0a center seat. Worse, those who boarded before you have filled all\u00a0the overhead bins. A flight attendant seems irritated\u00a0that you have a large carry-on bag that won't fit under your seat. He takes your bag off the plane and tells you to pick it up at baggage claim after the flight.\n\nYou tuck in your elbows and squeeze into you seat thinking, This isn\u2019t fair.\n\nNot sure what all\u00a0this has to do with scarcity?\u00a0You need to study\u00a0economics!\n

Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n