Thinking Like an Economist: A Guide to Rational Decision Making

Course Overview

Learn how to make smarter economic decisions in your professional and personal life by using the same practical principles and analytical tools employed by top economists.

Economic forces shape our everyday lives, but understanding them can empower you to make better decisions. This course features 12 fast-paced lectures that introduce you to fundamental economic principles that can help you leverage these forces to your advantage. Professor Randall Bartlett weaves together theory and practical application, allowing you to navigate decisions with a clearer understanding of the underlying economic dynamics. Mastering these concepts will transform how you view economic choices, from daily purchases to major investments.

Video Lectures

1. The Economist’s Tool Kit-6 Principles
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Key principles of human behavior recognized by economists.

2. The Economist’s Tool Kit-3 Core Concepts
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Fundamental concepts like rational decision-making and marginal analysis.

3. The Myth of “True Value”
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Exploring the relationship between individual choices and social efficiency.

4. Incentives and Optimal Choice
   • Duration: 31 min
   • Understanding rights and rules in human interactions through incentives.

5. False Incentives, Real Harm
   • Duration: 33 min
   • Case studies illustrating economic pitfalls like the Tragedy of the Commons.

6. The Economics of Ignorance
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Strategies for coping with incomplete or imperfect information.

7. Playing the Odds-Reason in a Risky World
   • Duration: 32 min
   • Analyzing how information asymmetry influences decision-making.

8. The Economics of Information
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Understanding how safety costs can influence economic evaluations.

• A Matter of Time-Predicting Future Values
  • Duration: 31 min
  • Dealing with the importance of timing in economic thought.

10. Think Again-Evaluating Risk in Purchasing
    • Duration: 31 min
    • Applying economic tools to decisions like purchasing warranties.

• Behavioral Economics-What Are We Thinking?
  • Duration: 32 min
  • Examining irrational behaviors and ways to counteract them.

• Acting like an Economist
  • Duration: 34 min
  • Applying economic thinking to real-life scenarios to evaluate decisions.