Apply economic thinking to decisions and trade-offs
Analyze how supply and demand shape markets
Evaluate economic claims using evidence
Economics is about more than markets and money. It is a way of understanding how people, businesses, and governments make choices when resources are limited. In Principles of Economics: Supply, Demand, and Optimization, you will develop an economic lens for examining decisions ranging from how you spend your time and money to how global events, public policies, and technological change shape markets and society.
Guided by Harvard Professors David Laibson and Jason Furman, you will explore foundational economic concepts including scarcity, trade-offs, supply and demand, market equilibrium, and optimization at the margin. You will learn to distinguish objective economic claims from value-based judgments, examine how individuals and institutions make decisions, and analyze how changes in economic conditions affect prices and behavior.
Throughout the course, you will also consider how economists evaluate evidence, distinguish correlation from causation, and use tools such as randomized controlled trials and natural experiments to test economic theories. Rather than memorizing ready-made answers, you will build a framework for asking better questions, evaluating evidence, and approaching personal and public decisions as a skeptical, informed citizen.
