Microeconomics.
Start with a choice.
Why does a price rise? When should a business make one more unit? What does “free” really cost? Build your understanding one everyday decision at a time.
No previous economics required. Begin with the foundations, or find the idea you want to revisit.
Choose the idea you need.
The map follows all 34 chapters in the book. Related lessons review a focused concept; they do not replace the whole chapter. Lesson links open in a new tab.
Part 1Foundations5 chapters
Learn to name the choice, read a graph, and compare the next benefit with the next cost.
- 01
The Six-Question Economic Lens
Name the chooser, scarce resource, marginal change, responses, distribution, and model limits.
Begin with the choice
Think at the margin
Trace incentives without assuming people are machines
Use models as maps
Separate description from judgment
Follow the response after the first response - 02
Math and Graph Skills You Actually Need
Read axes, calculate changes and areas, and translate graphs into conclusions.
Related lesson: Read axes before curves - 03
Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, and Marginal Choice
Separate sunk costs from relevant costs and choose at the margin.
Related lesson: Scarcity creates tradeoffs - 04
PPFs, Comparative Advantage, and Trade
Read efficiency, calculate opportunity cost, and test terms of trade.
Related lesson: Read every location on a PPF - 05
Economic Systems, Property Rights, and Incentives
Connect institutions and property rights to incentives and allocation.
Related lesson: Prices coordinate dispersed information
Part 2Supply, demand, and consumer choice9 chapters
Follow prices, purchases, gains from trade, and the effects of taxes and changing budgets.
- 06
Demand
Distinguish movement along demand from a shift caused by a nonprice determinant.
Related lesson: The law of demand is a ceteris paribus claim - 07
Supply
Trace production conditions through marginal cost to market supply.
Related lesson: The law of supply follows the next unit - 08
Market Equilibrium and Market Changes
Locate equilibrium and analyze one or two simultaneous curve shifts.
Related lesson: Shortage and surplus describe plans at a price - 09
Price Ceilings, Price Floors, and Rationing
Decide whether a control binds and calculate shortage, surplus, and traded quantity.
Related lesson: A ceiling binds below equilibrium - 10
Elasticity
Calculate midpoint elasticity and connect responsiveness to total revenue.
Related lesson: Price elasticity of demand uses a magnitude - 11
Consumer Surplus, Producer Surplus, and Efficiency
Measure gains from trade and identify the efficient quantity.
Related lesson: Each trade creates surplus when benefit exceeds cost - 12
Taxes, International Trade, and Public Policy
Read the chapter for taxes and trade; use the linked lesson to review who bears a tax.
Related lesson: The statutory side does not control the economic burden - 13
Utility and Consumer Choice
Allocate a budget using marginal utility per dollar.
Related lesson: Marginal utility is a change in total utility - 14
Income and Substitution Effects
Separate relative-price effects from purchasing-power effects.
Related lesson: The substitution effect follows relative price
Part 3Production, cost, and firm behavior11 chapters
Connect the next unit of output to cost, revenue, profit, and the kind of market a firm faces.
- 15
Production and Marginal Product
Move between total, average, and marginal product.
Related lesson: The short run is defined by a fixed input - 16
Short-Run Costs
Build cost measures and explain the marginal-average relationship.
Related lesson: Total cost separates into fixed and variable cost - 17
Long-Run Costs and Input Choice
Distinguish economies of scale and choose the least-cost input mix.
Related lesson: Long-run average cost envelopes possible plants - 18
Profit and the MR = MC Rule
Choose output with marginal revenue and marginal cost, then calculate profit.
Related lesson: Economic cost includes implicit opportunity cost - 19
Comparing Market Structures
Classify markets by entry, product, pricing power, and strategic dependence.
Related lesson: The firm’s demand reveals price-setting power - 20
Perfect Competition: The Firm's Decision
Use P = MR = AR and apply the shutdown rule.
Related lesson: For a price taker, price equals marginal revenue - 21
Competitive Markets in the Short Run and Long Run
Follow entry and exit to long-run equilibrium.
Related lesson: Use the market graph before the firm graph - 22
Monopoly Output and Price
Compare marginal revenue and marginal cost to choose output, then read price from demand.
Related lesson: Barriers protect the single seller - 23
Monopoly Efficiency, Price Discrimination, and Natural Monopoly
Compare monopoly outcomes and evaluate pricing rules.
Related lesson: Single-price monopoly creates underproduction - 24
Oligopoly and Game Theory
Find dominant strategies, Nash equilibrium, and incentives to cheat.
Related lesson: A payoff matrix must be read player by player - 25
Monopolistic Competition
Combine differentiated demand with free entry and excess capacity.
Related lesson: Short-run choice follows the monopoly rule
Part 4Factor markets and market failure6 chapters
Understand hiring, spillovers, shared resources, regulation, and the distribution of income.
- 26
Derived Demand and Marginal Revenue Product
Value an input by the revenue created by its marginal product.
Related lesson: Marginal revenue product combines productivity and output value - 27
Labor Markets and Hiring Decisions
Compare competitive hiring with monopsony and minimum wages.
Related lesson: Competitive wage comes from market supply and demand - 28
Externalities
Separate private and social marginal values and choose corrective policy.
Related lesson: Negative externalities make private activity excessive - 29
Public Goods, Private Goods, and Common Resources
Classify goods by rivalry and excludability.
Related lesson: Private goods use market demand; public goods require vertical benefit addition - 30
Antitrust and Economic Regulation
Match policy to market power, conduct, and cost conditions.
Related lesson: Antitrust targets conduct and structure that impair competition - 31
Income Distribution, Lorenz Curves, and the Gini Coefficient
Measure inequality and separate description from value judgment.
Related lesson: The Lorenz curve plots cumulative shares
Part 5Microeconomics in the real world3 chapters
Bring hidden information, human behavior, and digital platforms into the picture.
- 32
Information, Trust, and Hidden Quality
See how hidden quality, insurance incentives, signals, and screens shape exchange.
Adverse selection changes who enters the market
Moral hazard changes behavior after an agreement
Signals and screens build trust differently - 33
Behavioral Economics and Better Choices
Examine attention, framing, loss aversion, present bias, and the effects of defaults.
How limited attention and framing affect choices
Present bias creates conflict between today's self and tomorrow's self
Choice architecture should be judged by evidence and agency - 34
Platforms, Networks, and Zero-Dollar Prices
Follow the connections among users, sellers, advertisers, data, and switching costs.
Platforms coordinate interdependent groups
Network effects can accelerate both growth and concentration
A zero money price is not a zero economic cost
No chapters match. Try a shorter term, such as “cost” or “trade.”
Read the axes first.
- Name each variable and its unit.
- Say what is held constant.
- Identify the event that changed.
- Decide whether a curve shifts or you move along it.
- Explain the new outcome in a sentence.
Give the number a job.
Suppose making 10 lunches costs $50, while making 11 costs $56. The extra lunch adds $6 to cost.
The average cost at 11 lunches is $56 ÷ 11, about $5.09 per lunch. “The next lunch” and “each lunch on average” ask different questions.
Make the explanation the useful part.
The book’s practice collection has twelve 40-question forms. Each contains 32 multiple-choice questions and 8 short-answer questions. Short answers are numerical; explanations are provided separately.
Two tests in the book
Use the first after studying the core chapters. Mark answers you guessed, even if they turn out to be correct. Return to the relevant lesson before trying the second.
For each miss, identify what needs work: the concept, a graph, arithmetic, or the meaning of the question.
Ten online forms for readers
The other ten forms are reserved for book readers. Their private destinations are not listed on this public hub.
Open Online Practice Tests 3–12 using the individual links and QR codes in the book’s test-access section.
The tests emphasize the traditional core. For information, behavioral economics, and digital platforms, also review Part V and its end-of-part practice.
A few practical answers
Do I need calculus or advanced algebra?
No. Basic arithmetic, percentages, ratios, and simple equations are enough for the book. Read the math-and-graph chapter slowly and keep track of units.
Should I work through the chapters in order?
If the subject is new, start with Part I and continue in order: later chapters reuse the earlier tools. If you are reviewing one idea, use the chapter search and return to its prerequisites when needed.
Does an equilibrium mean everyone is better off?
No. Equilibrium describes compatible plans at a price. Fairness is a separate question, and externalities, missing information, or market power can prevent an equilibrium from being socially efficient.
Where are the online lessons for Part V?
Open Part V in the reading map for lessons on hidden information, behavioral economics, and digital platforms. Each chapter links to its three topic articles, with examples and related videos.
How should I use the flashcards?
Choose the part you are studying, read the term, and state its meaning before selecting “Show meaning.” If you miss a condition or confuse two terms, return to that passage in the book.