Microeconomics

Microeconomics is a social science that looks at the choices and behaviours of decision makers within the economy – and they can be firms, government, households, and individuals like you and me. At the heart of microeconomics is a conflict between desires and resources. On one hand, we have unlimited desires, needs, and wants. On the other, we exist in a world with limited resources. This collision means that choices will need to be made. For a consumer, this can be on selecting particular goods to consume that can best optimise our satisfaction given the constraints. For firms producing goods and services, the choices that they need to make can be on what to produce, how and how much to produce, what price to charge, and to whom the goods should be produced. For a government, the decisions that they are concerned with include: whether to take a laissez-faire approach, or an active intervention in all aspects of the economy, or some combination in between.

The following is a list of key topics in Microeconomics – click on the relevant text to find out more.