ECON 2002.01 Chapter 1: Economics: The Study of Choice

• School: Ohio State University
• Department: Economics
• Course: ECON 2002.01
• Professor: Darcy Hartman

Document Summary

Economics: a social science that studies choices people make. Free good: using this good does not take up another. Opportunity cost: the value of the best alternative choice. Scarce good: using this good takes away another. Scarcity: limited resources mean chooses to be made. Economics studies how people make choices in a scarce world. Scarcity means that the resources are limited, using this good means we can"t use it for something else. Goods that are not scarce are free goods. These do not require another good to be given up. They are the value of the next best thing that you had to give up in order to get the good you chose. Choice at the margin: deciding whether to do a little more or less of something. Macroeconomics: branch of economics that focuses on the way the total economy is affected by choices. Microeconomics: branch of economics that focuses on the way the individual markets are affected by consumers/firms.