Microeconomics

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Microeconomics

• Sébastien Mary
• sebastienmary_at_abdn.ac.uk
• www.abdn.ac.uk/r12sm6/
• Edward Wright Annex, Room F02, Desk 09
• University of Aberdeen

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What do we study?

• Microeconomics
• Where does the word come from?
• Microeconomics

Micros
Nomos
Oikos
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• Ancient Greek
• Micros Small
• Oikos family, state, city, household
• Nomos rules
• How to use/create resources for a small economic
  unit i.e. agent, individual?
• Consumption, investment, production, labour
• Example of a cake (eat, save, depreciation,
  taste, time allocated to  produce  a cake)

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Toolbox

• (Micro)Economics ltgt Toolbox
• Powerful tools
• To analyse economic questions using economic
  concepts opportunity cost, supply and demand,
  comparative/absolute advantage
• But not only  classical  economic questions

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Tool?

• Tool Model Story
• (1) Model Maths, Statistics, Equations
• (2) Story Intuition
• (1) is complex and boring!
• Useless, takes time to understand, most of the
  economists do not even understand Part (1)

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Taxi drivers

• They always understand very well the world they
  live in (actually better than economists do)
• They ask you a simple question and you are never
  able to answer SIMPLY
• Taxi drivers show you how stupid you are because
  they have a better understanding of what you
  do!!! (Humiliation, persona non grata or B..)
• and yet they expect a tip! (Hey, I am an
  economist and you just humiliated me)

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Focus on Part (2)

• Tutorials gt Intuition
• Thats what being an economist is exactly gt Part
  (2)
• Explain different notions and concepts using very
  famous and well-known economists
• Any ideas who they might be?

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• Batman (alias Bruce Wayne)
• Bob Marley
• Georges W Bush (??)
• David Beckham
• The Emperor of Antartica
• Any ideas who the best economist is?

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Dopey
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To answer questions such as

• The Economics of Faking Orgasm
• Should I get wasted tonight? Or not?
• How to chase girls (boys) in Aberdeen?
• Why should men learn how to do 2 things in the
  same time?
• Women always make fun of men for their limited
  intellectual skills!
• Experiment!
• If a man was actually able to do that, he would
  attract all the women! ( Money on the table )

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www.abdn.ac.uk/r12sm6/

• The Economics of Brushing Teeth
• Why do attractive women marry ugly men?
• Why study economics?
• Knowledge! Use!
• gt Make better choices
• gt Make money
• gt Look clever and impress people
• (people tend to think that economics is hard!)

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Conclusion

• Economics is SEXY (or makes you sexy)!
• Economics is SIMPLE (even Dopey can understand!)
  and INTERESTING!
• Economics is USEFUL in everyday life!
• A piece of evidence is to come

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You will all become economists at the end of the
tutorialsif you work (of course)