Principles of Microeconomics - Fall 2023

Explore the fundamental principles of microeconomics through this comprehensive undergraduate course taught by Professor Jonathan Gruber at MIT. Master core economic concepts including supply and demand dynamics, market equilibrium analysis, consumer theory, and production behavior of firms. Delve into market structures ranging from perfect competition to monopoly and oligopoly, while examining welfare economics, public goods, and externalities. Learn to analyze consumer preferences through utility functions, understand budget constraints and constrained choice problems, and explore demand curves with income and substitution effects. Study production theory and cost analysis, then apply these concepts to competitive markets and monopolistic scenarios. Investigate input markets including labor and capital markets, decision-making over time, and international trade welfare and policy implications. Examine economic uncertainty, social insurance mechanisms, and the relationship between efficiency and equity in economic systems. Analyze government redistribution policies, taxation effects, externalities, and behavioral economics principles. Conclude with specialized topics in health care economics, providing a well-rounded foundation in microeconomic theory and its real-world applications across 26 comprehensive lectures spanning over 20 hours of instruction.