Is Microeconomics Hard?

Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the economic behavior of individual decision-makers. Such individuals could be a person, household, firm, or a particular industry in an economy. While macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole, microeconomics studies a specific unit of the economy. Let us know Is Microeconomics Hard?

Is Microeconomics Hard?

Is Micro economics Hard?

If you’re aspiring to study economics as a course during your undergraduate college program, or you’re comparing switching your field of study to economics for your graduate program, let it dawn on you that you cannot escape subjects on microeconomics.

Microeconomics is not as hard as some people might have thought, but it’s also not as easy as some other people might think. Generally speaking, microeconomics is an interesting course in the sense that it deals with real-life issues. It’s a course that brings contemporary issues to the classroom for discussion. To perform well in your microeconomics course, you need a good understanding of mathematics, particularly, calculus. Also, be prepared to memorize theories and formulas.

This article is going to open your mind to some of the things you need to know about microeconomics. If you’re ready to receive them, let’s look at some of the subtopics that we have in this discussion.

Scope of microeconomics

You cannot fully understand economics without having a grasp of microeconomics. Every reputable college you attend, either in this country or another, will segment the teaching of economics into micro and macro levels.

As said earlier, macroeconomics is the study of the aggregate economy. That is the study of the economy as a whole. It will cover subjects such as the fiscal and monetary policies of the government, the inflation rate, unemployment, the exchange rate, the interest rate, and so on.

Microeconomics, on the other hand, involves the study of the smallest unit of the economy. It focuses on how a person, household, firm, or a particular sector or industry of the economy makes an economic decision.

The scope of microeconomics is broad. Here, we’ll only mention a few of those topics you’re expected to face when you enroll to study microeconomics.

  • Basic economic concepts: Under here, you’ll face the various concepts in economics including wants needs, choice, preference, opportunity cost, scarcity, and so on.
  • Theory of demand and supply: This is a popular discussion in microeconomics and its coverage spread to macroeconomics itself. When treating the theory of demand and supply, you can expect a discussion on the definition of demand, demand schedule, the law of demand, determinants of demand, the elasticity of demand, and so on.
  • Theory of consumer behavior: This topic will cover something like utility, indifference curves, and so on.
  • Theory of production: This will cover areas like the definition of production, factors of production, rewards for factors of production, production function, laws return to scale, and so on.
  • Theory of cost: This will cover areas like the definition of cost, types of cost, long-run and short-run costs, and so on.
  • Theory of the firm: Here, you’ll face discussion on different types of markets and their characteristics including perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, duopoly, duopsony, and so on.
  • Theory of games and linear programming: This covers linear programming with different methods of solving linear programming problems, and so on.
  • General equilibrium theory of welfare economics: This will cover areas like factor pricing, factor pricing in imperfect competition, the elasticity of factor substitution, technological progress and income distribution, criteria for social welfare, maximization of social welfare, determination of welfare-maximizing output-mix, welfare maximization and perfect competition, and so on.

Recommended texts for microeconomics

It is nearly impossible to succeed as an economics student while consulting extensively with materials. If you desire to understand it and put what you learn into use after your graduation, there are many recommended books you can purchase to broaden your understanding of the different topics we have mentioned above.

There are many textbooks that nations are based on, but there are others out there that are international editions for all microeconomics in any country of the world. Regardless of your country, our recommended textbooks will benefit you.

  • Modern microeconomics, international edition, by A. Koutsoyiannis. A. Koutsoyiannis is a professor of Economics from the University of Ottawa, Ontario.
  • Intermediate Microeconomics, A Modern Approach, by Hal. R. Varian, University of California, Berkeley
  • Microeconomic Theory by Andreu Mas-Colell, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green. Oxford University Press, 1995.
  • Microeconomics analysis by Hal R. Varian, the International edition.

Note: Regarding the text to read, we recommend you subscribe to the texts specifically recommended by your professor.

Tips to simplifying Microeconomics

If you desire to be a master of microeconomics, observe the following rules:

  • Get all the recommended text books
  • Always read ahead of the class
  • Consult with a colleague that know better than when you encounter difficult subject
  • Be attentive in the class
  • Master the mathematics rules of calculus
  • Study as often as you can.

These rules can never fail if you practice them religiously.

Conclusion

Whether microeconomics is hard or not depends on particular individuals. It’s about the way you look at it. It could be simple for some people but hard for others.

What choice do you need to make today to make the study of microeconomics simple for yourself? 

Develop your interest in studying. Get as many texts as you can and study them until you master the basic concept of microeconomics. Love your economics professor or lecturer. 

In this article, we have discussed the definition of microeconomics, we compared microeconomics with macroeconomics. We discussed different topics you’ll encounter under microeconomics and we gave a short list of recommended texts to help scale up your knowledge of microeconomics. 

Frequently Asked Question
  1. What makes microeconomics hard?

We have said before, whether it is hard or not depends on individuals. If it’s hard for you, maybe because you have a solid background in economics and mathematics especially calculus and algebraic.

  1. How can I become grounded in microeconomy?

Love the subject. As a result, you have to study it continually. Get all the available text and read them.

  1. Why should I study microeconomics?

It will broaden your knowledge of how the economy runs; and how people solve the problem of choices in the face of scarce resources. 

Is Microeconomics Hard?

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