Economics deals with a number of very simple ideas that are used in daily life and it involves patterns of behavior that every child knows and understands. For example, Economics teaches us that people will want to buy more clothes when clothing prices decrease. Economics also demonstrates that marketers want to buy products from countries where the manufacturing costs are cheapest. Finally, it tells us that when a person’s income is low – say, $1,000 a month – they will spend most of their money on basic survival goods such as food and shelter. As they start to earn more, then they will also be able to begin saving for other purposes.

These concepts can be illustrated with curves, or lines, or otherwise plotted on graphs. These graphs and curves represent the language through which economic ideas can be conveyed and understood.

 The New Economics Terms

You will find many new economics terms in this course, and many of them will likely be difficult to understand. Such terminology is similar to a foreign language, so practice will be required to understand and to use these terms fluently. Understanding these new terms is the primary challenge of this course. The ideas and concepts underlying these economics terms are not difficult to grasp.