1. Basic Economic Concepts Ways to organize an economic system –Free markets –Government-run Nature of decision making –Objectives –Constraints

2. Tools of Economic Analysis Economic rhetoric –Words –Graphs –Tables/Spreadsheets –Mathematical equations Statistics and econometrics

3. Concepts Used in the Periodicals We Read Causality Ratios, decimals, percentages Averages and expected values Risk and uncertainty Absolute and relative magnitudes Reading and translating tables and charts Differential calculus to solve optimization problems

4. Expressing Functional Relationships Tables/Spreadsheets Graphs Equations –Linear, quadratic, multiplicative, exponential, logarithmic

5. Graphing Data Basics of graphing –Scatter diagrams, slope, intercept Functional relationships –Dependent and independent variables Time series relationships Cross section relationships

6. Marginal Analysis Profit maximization Total revenue maximization Cost minimization Break-even point

7. Net Present Value Discount rates Probability and risk Expected values