Description
Book SynopsisYour one-stop guide to understanding Microeconomics Microeconomics For Dummies (with content specific to the UK reader) is designed to help you understand the economics of individuals. Using concise explanations and accessible content that tracks directly to an undergraduate course, this book provides a student-focused course supplement with an in-depth examination of each topic. This invaluable companion provides clear information and real-world examples that bring microeconomics to life and introduces you to all the key concepts. From supply and demand to market competition, you''ll understand how the economy works on an individual level, and how it affects you every day. Before long, you''ll be conversant in consumers, costs, and competition.
Microeconomics is all about the behaviour of individual people and individual firms. It sounds pretty straightforward, but it gets complicated early on. You may not be an economist, but if you''re a business student at
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part I: Getting Started with Microeconomics 5
Chapter 1: Discovering Why Microeconomics Is a Big Deal 7
Chapter 2: Considering Consumer Choice: Why Economists Find You Fascinating! 17
Chapter 3: Looking at Firm Behaviour: What They Are and What They Do 31
Part II: Doing the Best You Can: Consumer Theory 43
Chapter 4: Living a Life without Limits 45
Chapter 5: Considering the Art of the Possible: The Budget Constraint 55
Chapter 6: Achieving the Optimum in Spite of Constraints 67
Part III: Uncovering the Alchemy of Firms’ Inputs and Outputs 85
Chapter 7: Working with Different Costs and Cost Curves 87
Chapter 8: Squeezing Out Every Last Drop of Profit 105
Chapter 9: Supplying the Demanded Information on Supply and Demand 117
Chapter 10: Dreaming of the Consumer’s Delight: Perfect Competition 137
Part IV: Delving into Markets, Market Failure and Welfare Economics 149
Chapter 11: Stepping into the Real World: Oligopoly and Imperfect Competition 151
Chapter 12: Appreciating the Fundamental Theorems of Welfare Economics 167
Chapter 13: Controlling Markets with a Monopoly 179
Chapter 14: Examining Market Failure: Pollution and Parks 197
Chapter 15: Understanding the Dangers of Asymmetric Information 209
Part V: Thinking Strategically: Life Is Just a Game! 219
Chapter 16: Playing Games with Economic Theory 221
Chapter 17: Keeping Things Stable: The Nash Equilibrium 239
Chapter 18: Knowing How to Win at Auctions 249
Chapter 19: Deciphering the Signals: Threats and Benefits 261
Part VI: The Part of Tens 271
Chapter 20: Meeting Ten Great Microeconomists 273
Chapter 21: Ten Top Tips to Take Away 281
Glossary 289
Index 295
