Macro and Micro Economics

Course Overview

Economics is a social science and its goal is to understand the behavior of economies. It can further be broken down into two sub disciplines, Micro and Macroeconomics. Both seek to explain economic behavior s on a small scale and large scale respectively. With a firm understanding of macro and microeconomics, one can make informed decisions with a theoretical foundation. Anyone in a management position must have taken an economics course at some point in their education, or learned the basic principals along the way in their career development. With Manhattan Review’s foundational Economics course, you will understand the markets you are or will be working in. We will begin with Micro economic principles and then move on to Macro economic principles. You will learn the analytical tools and techniques that modern economists use to study the economy. Our goal of this is to give you a basic understanding of economics in the academic sense, and to be able to use this knowledge in your careers to understand the modern economy. After all, as business professionals, you are operating within the contemporary economy and with a more developed understanding; you will be a valuable asset to you current organization and any future organizations that your career holds.

Economics is important to you, the business professional because it explains the dynamic nature of the flow of money in organizations and in nations. For many of you, perhaps who work in finance, you will be able to see the numbers on your statements and on the stock ticker and understand why they have changed and what the overall implications of the changes are. You will better understand fiscal policies made and proposed by politicians that benefit and disrupt the workings of your organization. Economics can also be thought of as a science that seeks to understand the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. When the consumption of your goods may be in flux, increasing or declining you can understand why this may be so based on a few economic models that you will learn in Manhattan Reviews economics course.

Microeconomics, the subject with which we will begin our course is the study of economic agents which can be you the individual or an organization, and they choices they make in markets “given scarcity and regulation. This branch of economics considers the supply and demand analysis. Supply and demand refers to goods and services and the concept is the hallmark of much of business. What happens a given economy when you supply more or less than what is being demanded by other economic agents? The outcomes of the business decisions you make can affect an economy in your favor. With an understanding of economics you can perhaps improve those outcomes for you and your organization. We will cover the standard models of decision making, models of consumer and producer behavior, equilibrium, and welfare.

Macroeconomics is of a broader scope than microeconomics and takes a “top down” approach. Gross Domestic Product, standards of living and the choices of larger groups like nations are studied in Macroeconomics. Aggregative behavior, meaning economy-wide and not individuals (people or businesses) are studied to formulate theories. Macroeconomics looks also at price inflation and unemployment: subjects that are of concern to business and those who work in finance on a larger scale. We will look at home macroeconomics explores the growth of national income according to factors like technological and labor force change and capital accumulation. We will look at some standard macroeconomic models from both the neoclassical perspective and the New Keynsian perspective. We will look at how economic behavior influences debt. In particular, macroeconomists look at how these factors, or aggregates relate to eachother and how these relations affect the economic model. How does the behavior and choices of your business affect the price index, unemployment, or the GDP? In turn how do changes in unemployment rates affect your business and the choices you make as a general manager, financial analyst or supply chain manager?

We will explore subjects like how an entrepreneur influences an economic model. Is entrepreneurship creative or destructive in terms of economic competition? How does the competition between you and your direct competitors influence consumer behavior and choices, and how does it factor into the equation of large scale economic theory? How do the legal and ethical decisions or financiers and corporations affect others on a large scale? We can look at case studies to determine how behavior of businesses and business people has affected economic models. Answering these questions may help you make more informed business decisions.

Topics Covered

  • Micro vs. Macro Economics
  • Positive vs. Normative Economics
  • Scarcity
  • Resources
  • Choices
  • Competition
  • Quantitative Analytical Methods
  • Mathematical Economics
  • Econometrics
  • Contributions of Keynsian Economics
  • Neoclassical economics
  • The beginning of economics or “Political Economy”