Changes

==Introduction==

==Introduction==

We’ve had our first introduction to economics and are ready explore the topic in greater detail. Remember that this course is about the purchase and sale of goods and services in free enterprise.  By “free enterprise,” I mean business transactions that are "free of" interference by someone other than the buyer and seller, such as government.  Free enterprise has little or no government interference in the setting of prices and selling of the goods or services.

In the last lecture we introduced the fundamental concepts of economics.  Now we are ready to explore several issues in greater detail.

 

A focus of economics is on the purchase and sale of goods and services in free enterprise.  By “free enterprise,” I mean business transactions that are "free of" interference by someone other than the buyer and seller, such as government.  Free enterprise has little or no government interference in the setting of prices and selling of the goods or services.  Assume that transactions discussed in this course are in free enterprise unless stated otherwise.

The first obvious question about the purchase and sale of goods is this: what determines the price and quantity of goods sold?

The first obvious question about the purchase and sale of goods is this: what determines the price and quantity of goods sold?