What is Economics? Lesson Notes - Scarcity, Opportunity Costs, and Basic Economic Questions. Scarcity, Opportunity Costs, and Basic Economic Questions I. Graphical Analysis A. The student needs a basic understanding of graphical analysis to be able to learn economics. There are three basic methods of discussing economic models and concepts: (1) verbal discussions, (2) graphical analysis, and (3) mathematical analysis. Mathematical analysis is an extremely important tool in economics. However, at the principles level only basic mathematical tools (algebra) are used and then only occasionally. B. Finally, notice that the Cartesian coordinate system divides the graph into four separate areas, known as quandrants.
C. The major use of graphs, and graphical analysis, in this class will be illustrative. 1. 2. This particular graph is not important for the class, except as an example of graphical analysis. II. The first step in the course is to understand some basic definitions, to be used throughout the course of the semester. A. B. C. D. E. F. 1. G. H. b75a20c306bbacc5a96e956405d61e74299418fa. What is an Economy? -economic systems. Episode 2: Scarcity and Choice.