ECO 110 Learning Objectives

I. Examine and understand how a market system functions to coordinate decisions and allocate scarce resources among competing uses to satisfy wants.

A. Recognize our daily choices (as producers and/or consumers) and the subsequent tradeoffs as the basis for the study of economics.

B. Understand how the concept of marginality is linked to demand and supply by examining the changes in benefits and costs of consuming and producing.

C. Understand how the sensitivity to price changes influences consumer and producer decisions by examining the concept of elasticity.

D. Understand how price functions as an allocating mechanism.

E. Compare and analyze the similarities and differences between market structures and how they affect consumer and producer decisions.

II. Understand that some outcomes that develop under a market system may not coordinate decisions in a manner that society most wants. Examples of market failures may be used to justify government intervention which will impact the market mechanism.

A. Understand how public policies may affect demand, supply, and/or price, and subsequently influence our choices as members of society.

B. Develop the ability to analyze and evaluate public policy issues within the framework of economic models, and understand the arguments and counter arguments inherent in social issues and public policies.