Chapter 21: The Theory of Consumer Choice
Recent Posts
(Note: Page numbers referenced in posts prior to June 1, 2011 refer to 5th edition)
August 31
The Economics of Disaster Relief
Paul Krugman and Steve Landsburg disagree about how to pay for Federal disaster aid.
Textbook References:
Pages 4-5 “Principle 1: People Face Trade-offs”Page 447 “Utility: An Alternative Way to Describe Preferences and Optimization”
December 16
The Economics of Seinfeld
Clips from the TV show "Seinfeld" are used to illustrate a variety of economic concepts.
Textbook References:
Pages 4-5 “Principle 1: People Face Trade-offs”Pages 5-6 “Principle 2: The Cost of Something is What You Give Up to Get It”
Page 6 “Principle 3: Rational People Think at the Margin”
Pages 7-8 “Principle 4: People Respond to Incentives”
Pages 10-12 “Principle 7: Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes”
Chapter 3 “Interdependence and the Gains from Trade”
Pages 67-72 “Demand”
Pages 73-76 “Supply”
Pages 144-153 “Controls on Prices”
Chapter 10 “Externalities”
Pages 226-227 “The Different Kinds of Goods”
Pages 227-232 “Public Goods”
Pages 230-232 “The Difficult Job of Cost-Benefit Analysis”
Pages 232-237 “Common Resources”
Pages 274-275 “Fixed and Variable Costs”
Page 281 “Economies and Diseconomies of Scale”
Pages 312-315 “Why Monopolies Arise”
Chapter 16 “Monopolistic Competition”
Pages 370-378 “The Economics of Cooperation”
Pages 399-400 “The Supply of Labor”
Page 414 “Compensating Differentials”
Page 442 “Utility”
Page 465 “Utility: An Alternative Way to Describe Preferences and Optimization”
Pages 484-489 “Asymmetric Information”
Pages 556-558 “Technological Knowledge”
Pages 578-580 “Financial Intermediaries”
Pages 598-600 “Present Value: Measuring the Time Value of Money”
Pages 603-604 “Diversification of Firm-Specific Risk”
Pages 606-609 “The Efficient Market Hypothesis”
Pages 630-631 “The Economics of Unions”
Pages 703-705 “The Prices for International Transactions: Real and Nominal Exchange Rates”
Pages 707-708 “The Basic Logic of Purchasing Power Parity”
Page 833 “Time Inconsistency”
May 14
Kocherlakota on Modern Macro
The President of the Minneapolis Fed claims that modern macroeconomics has made a lot of progress, but must do a better job of communicating its findings to policymakers.
Textbook References:
Chapter 21: The Theory of Consumer ChoicePart IX: The Real Economy in the Long Run
Part XII: Short-Run Economic Fluctuations
December 9
Tiger Woods as a Natural Experiment
Matthew Kahn predicts that Tiger Woods will play in more tournaments next year due to the negative income effect of lost endorsements.
Textbook References:
Pages 466-467 “How Changes in Income Affect the Consumer's Choice”