thefirstpurposeofthiscourseistohelpyoulearntouse.docVIP

The first purpose of this course is to help you learn to use economics (and other decision making principles) to come to better decisions about hard economic problems. Whatever your business is, you face hard dilemmas. When you create a budget, for example, you have to reconcile dozens, or even hundreds of conflicting needs. Even when you face a seemingly minor problem- like how to cope with a shortage of parking space at your companys office building- the more you examine the problem the more you find complex dilemmas waiting for you. Your job in business is to find wise solutions to these sorts of large and small dilemmas. One of our goals is to learn to do it better. At the same time, you are not the only one who faces hard dilemmas. You and I and the hundreds of millions of other people who live in this country face hard dilemmas in our economic lives together. What do we do when car buyers want SUVs but, by the manufacturers own admission, they are an environmental and safety hazard? What do we do when adult and child workers in China are willing to work for pennies a day in barbaric conditions making toys and clothing for our children? What do we do when everyone wants to get on the Internet, but in the process we jam up the network? A related goal of our work is to learn how we deal with these sorts of problems. To learn how we can deal with these private and public problems, well study a large number of dilemmas in business and public life. For example, how do you decide on a budget when there are so many competing needs and groups involved? What can we do about overuse of business expenses, African Elephants, and the Long Island Expressway? How can your industry develop if growth threatens to destroy the environment but failure to grow could destroy your business and the local economy? How do you decide whether to sue or settle? Whether to lay off worker