Microeconomics for Public Policy

Microeconomics studies individual choices under constraints, and how these interact with one another to produce economic outcomes. We focus on how microeconomics can help us understand the effects of alternative public policies. We begin by studying how individuals and firms make consumption, labor, and production decisions, how consumers and firms interact in a competitive market, and how taxes and regulations affect market outcomes. We then introduce Game Theory. We study imperfect competition, externalities and public goods, market failures, and the political economy of government intervention.