Dec
20
Undergraduate Economics Should Focus on Revealed Preference Logic
In December 2016, I wrote a short Amazon book on the economics of revealed preference. I wrote this book after teaching "Econ 101" at USC. While I have taught Econ 101 on and off for 25 years (starting back at Columbia University), I have now concluded that the right way to teach this class is to cast the economist as "a detective". We observe clues about a person's "type" based on the choices we observe her make when she is confronted with different choices sets (that vary due to her income changing and the relative prices she faces shifting). Under the assumption that a person's tastes do not change much over time, we can begin to pin down a specific person's tastes.
An example of my book's logic. Sally is offered a meat pizza at a price of $15 and she doesn't buy it.
An example of my book's logic. Sally is offered a meat pizza at a price of $15 and she doesn't buy it.