Microeconomics Principles Course Syllabus
Full curriculum breakdown — modules, lessons, estimated time, and outcomes.
Overview: This beginner-friendly course provides a clear and practical introduction to microeconomics, designed to build a strong foundation in core concepts and real-world applications. The course spans six modules, each requiring approximately 1 week of study, or about 3–5 hours per module. Through video lectures, interactive quizzes, and hands-on exercises, learners will explore supply and demand, market efficiency, production decisions, and more. The curriculum emphasizes intuitive understanding over advanced mathematics, making it ideal for students in business, policy, or social sciences. By the end, you’ll be able to apply microeconomic reasoning to everyday decisions and policy issues, with a certificate to validate your learning.
Module 1: Introduction and Supply & Demand
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Scarcity and opportunity cost
- Market systems and economic models
- Demand and supply curves
- Market equilibrium and shifts in supply and demand
Module 2: Elasticity
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Price elasticity of demand and supply
- Midpoint method for calculating elasticity
- Income elasticity and cross-price elasticity
- Interpreting elasticity values in real-world markets
Module 3: Market Efficiency and Government Intervention
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Consumer and producer surplus
- Deadweight loss and market inefficiency
- Effects of taxation on markets
- Price floors and price ceilings
Module 4: Production, Costs, and Profit Maximization
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Short-run and long-run production
- Fixed, variable, and marginal costs
- Marginal analysis and profit maximization
- Case studies on business cost decisions
Module 5: Market Structures
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Perfect competition and monopoly
- Monopolistic competition and oligopoly
- Game theory basics and strategic behavior
- Comparing market outcomes across structures
Module 6: Externalities and Public Goods
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Positive and negative externalities
- Market failure and social cost
- Public goods and the free-rider problem
- Government solutions and policy evaluation
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with basic algebra
- No prior economics knowledge required
- Comfort with graphical interpretations
What You'll Be Able to Do After
- Understand and analyze supply and demand dynamics in real markets
- Calculate and interpret various types of elasticity
- Evaluate the impact of taxes and price controls on market outcomes
- Apply cost and production concepts to business decision-making
- Assess market structures and policy responses to externalities