ECON 312 Week 1 Discussion

ECON 312 Week 1 Discussion | Devry University

Week 1: Economic Thinking and Economic Systems

Initial Post (up to 10 points)

Why do we make choices? Is being rich or poor a choice? Is living healthy or unhealthy a choice? What about having kids? Is that a calculated choice or simply an accident? Why do rural areas have typically calmer and nicer people than cities where you find a mix of professionals and difficult people? Why do you bother wrapping your friend's gift knowing that the wrapping paper is going to be thrown away? Does going to school make sense? How do you know?

These are among countless questions that could be answered through understanding the economics way of thinking. Economists do nothing but watch how the world, including people, work and make calculated assumptions to help the world become a better place.

For your initial post, answer one of the following questions.

1.   Share with us 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 the final choice you made. Would you make the same choice again?

2.   Moreover, 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?

Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)

Create a short, 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions include creating an Adobe Spark Page (Links to an external site.) with a Spark Video, Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.  

Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.

·         Opportunity cost

·         Trade off

·         Scarcity

·         Economic problem

·         Self-interested versus selfish

·         Production possibilities frontier

·         Budget line

·         Utility

·         Economic growth

·         The market system and the command system

·         Specialization

·         The circular flow

Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)

Respond to at least one of your peers' initial posts or multimedia posts.

Your response should add new facts, ideas, knowledge, and/or corrections to the initial post or the multimedia post. Also, provide examples to support your response post.