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{{Economics_Lectures}}

{{Economics_Lectures}}

This course requires thinking more than reading or writing.  The assignments will be short and the homework "problem sets" will be intriguing.  You will have time to read and reread the materials, and think about them, in order to fully understand the concepts.  Repeatedly ask yourself and others questions, and ask questions in class.  Test yourself with your own examples.  You may have to read and think about a concept in economics many times before you really understand it.  But once you understand these concepts, you can use them your entire life.  Many of my students have told me that economics is the best course they ever took from me, and I teach many other topics.

This course requires thinking more than reading or writing.  The assignments will be short and the homework "problem sets" will be intriguing.  You will have time to read and reread the materials, and think about them, in order to fully understand the concepts.  Repeatedly ask yourself and others questions, and ask questions in class.  Test yourself with your own examples.  You may have to read and think about a concept in economics many times before you really understand it.  But once you understand these concepts, you can use them your entire life, and this will help you in ways beyond money or business.  This course will enable you to deal with problems and help you understand behavior by others, including politicians.  Many of my students have told me that economics is the best course they ever took from me, and I teach many other topics.

Start working on the problems early in the week, so that you can ponder them a while before answering.  Answers may not occur to you at first.  It may be days after you read a problem, and while you're doing something completely different, when a light bulb turns on in your mind and you think, "Eureka" (I solved it!).  Give yourself plenty of time for that to happen, by starting early on the problems.  They are not difficult if you start early in solving them.

Start working on the problems early in the week, so that you can ponder them a while before answering.  Answers may not occur to you at first.  It may be days after you read a problem, and while you're doing something completely different, when a light bulb turns on in your mind and you think, "Eureka" (I solved it!).  Give yourself plenty of time for that to happen, by starting early on the problems.  They are not difficult if you start early in solving them.

Economics is also special in that it is concerned exclusively with the future rather than the past.  For example, the price a good is sold for does not depend on how much it cost in the past, but how much someone will pay for it now or in the future.  This is a difficult aspect of economics for students to accept, as other subjects (e.g., history) are primarily about the past rather than the future.

Economics is also special in that it is concerned exclusively with the future rather than the past.  For example, the price a good is sold for does not depend on how much it cost in the past, but how much someone will pay for it now or in the future.  This is a difficult aspect of economics for students to accept, as other subjects (e.g., history) are primarily about the past rather than the future.

Economics provides insights about the true nature of "time".  <improve> The present is what is most valuable, the future less so, and that past even less still.  For each person, the value of the future compared to the present is a function of his or her age.  It makes for a young person to plan mostly for the future; it makes less sense for an old person to.  When eternity is taken into consideration, it makes the most sense to plan especially for that.

Economics provides insights about the true nature of "time".  In economics the value of the future is compared to the value of the present.  There is no value to the past.  When Christian values are superimposed on economics, the Christian faith in eternity makes the future far more valuable than the present, and suggests that time spent worrying about the past is wasted time.

Economics also takes account of risk, as in the famous aphorism, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."  The two birds in the bush may fly away before you can put your hands on them.  Again, these insights go far beyond the concept of "money" and extend to many other aspects of the world.

Economics also takes account of risk, as in the famous aphorism, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."  The two birds in the bush may fly away before you can put your hands on them.  Again, these insights go far beyond the concept of "money" and extend to many other aspects of the world.

Economics is a relatively young subject or field, only a century or two old, and is much younger than history and religion and other topics.  There is still many advances to be made in economics, and much more value to be obtained from it.  Perhaps some of the students in this class -- or your teacher -- will discover new economic truths during this course.

Economics is a relatively young subject or field, less than a few centuries old.  Economics is much younger than history and religion and other topics.  There is still many advances to be made in economics, and much more value to be obtained from it.  Perhaps some of the students in this class -- or your teacher -- will discover new economic truths during this course.  Economics, with its powerful logic, contains many surprises for students, such as results that are not what someone first expects based on intuition alone.

Economics is the single most likely course (other than a Bible course) to change a student's life for the better, as many former students of this course and similar courses have described.  That is not because the student becomes better able to deal with money, although that will likely result.  It is because economic truths empower the student to recognize the flaws and fallacies and deceit and unnecessary hardship in life, and look with optimism to the future.  Many of Jesus's parables were stated in economic terms, such as the vineyard owner who paid all of his workers the same good wage no matter how long they worked.  <cite>

Economics is the single most likely course (other than a Bible course) to change a student's life for the better, as many former students of this course and similar courses have described.  That is not simply because the student understands money and business better.  It is because the logic of economics empowers students to recognize that hardships can be turned into blessings, that opportunities exist all around for everyone, and that the future can be made far better than the present.  Many of Jesus's parables were stated in economic terms, such as the vineyard owner who paid all of his workers the same good wage no matter how long they worked (Mt 20:1-16).  Economics, especially when combined with Christianity, is a logical subject that yields unlimited optimism and opportunity.  Learn economics with an open mind and you will be forever glad you did.

==More Definitions==

==More Definitions==