In this course, you will explore the relationship between economics and public policy and learn the concepts necessary to become an informed consumer of microeconomic-based policy analysis. You will develop an understanding of resource scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand, consumer and producer surplus, market equilibrium, competitive markets, economic efficiency, market failure, efficiency equity, and cost-benefit principles.

This course will also show you how to apply the basic principles of modern microeconomic theory to practical public policy problems and decisions. You will discover how to avoid unintended consequences of policy interventions by thinking critically about the resulting incentives and how individuals are likely to respond to them. These skills will help you recognize all relevant costs and benefits to avoid common pitfalls in decision making.

This course was developed by Assistant Professor Seth Gershenson, who has been honored with the Emerging Education Scholar Award sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Professor Gers Henson’s approach to teaching and scholarship applies economic approaches to practical, policy-driven questions in policy areas such as education, including the study of teacher behavior in response to financial incentives. He has completed grant work for the American Educational Research Association, the Spencer Foundation, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Course objectives:

• Learn to think like an economist to make sound decisions and avoid negative consequences
• Design sound policy using principles of behavioral economics
• Predict how consumers are likely to respond to incentives using marginal cost analysis
• Use principles of game theory to describe and analyze how players make strategic decisions in competitive environments

This course covers subject units that include:

• How to think like an economist 
• Supply, demand, and elasticities
• Externalities and property rights
• Public goods and information
• Perfectly competitive markets and profit maximization 
• Regulating monopolies 
• Behavioral economics 

Learn more today. Call us at 855-725-7614 to speak to an admissions representative, or request more information here.