Among college economics majors, microeconomics has a reputation for being especially tough, perhaps due to its emphasis on complex mathematics. Microeconomics uses a variety of models to demonstrate microeconomic behavior under various conditions. It draws heavily on advanced statistics and calculus. One objective of the course, therefore, is to be able to apply these mathematical concepts to the field and to solve mathematical problems related to macroeconomic forces.
Students study the relationship between the government and the economy, and the role the government plays in altering, mitigating and otherwise influencing a competitive free market. Microeconomics studies how government intervention handles market failures and the influence it has on economic efficiency. An objective of the course is to give students a well-rounded, critical perspective on government intervention that allows them to make judgments on when such intervention is warranted.
The basis of microeconomics is product markets. Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of what markets are, how they function at the microeconomic level and their relationship to the economy as a whole. Students will learn about supply and demand, monopoly and market structures.
Producer theory and consumer theory factors heavily in the study of microeconomics. These theories explore the impact of individual actors and consider such concepts as consumer choice, profit maximization, short-run production and costs and long-run production and costs, disposable income and the interaction between producer and consumer demand curves.