01 Oct Economic Thinking and Economic Systems
ECON312 Principles of Economics
Week 1 Discussion
Economic Thinking and Economic Systems
1. Opportunity Cost: Tasty Ice Cream or Pain?
Which is better, to get up early in the morning and go for a walk in humid and muggy weather or to stay inside a cool home and enjoy a delicious bowl of ice cream topped with your favorite goodies while watching a comedy show? Which choice would you make and why? Provide an explanation of your thinking process, including the costs and benefits of each choice.
2. Life Choices and Lessons
Share an example from your life where you had to make a choice knowing that you are giving up opportunities for doing or gaining something else. Tell us about your thinking process and how you arrived at your final choice. Would you make the same choice again? Why or why not?
3. Rational Thinking and Scarcity
Why do consumers make choices when they acquire something (jobs, money, friends, vacations, sleep, living places, etc.)? And why do individual producers or nations have to choose the type, quality, and quantity of what they produce?
4. Capitalism or Socialism?
How does the concept of self-interest make the capitalist system produce better goods and services than the command or socialist system?
5. Current Event: Economics and Higher Education
Why are more people attending colleges and universities these days than 40 or 50 years ago? Discuss the economic costs and benefits of attending a college by submitting a one- to two-slide narrated PowerPoint file or a short video. Additionally, see if you can find and share an article or news story that supports or expands on this discussion.
