Week 1 · Readings & resources

Week 1 — Readings & Resources

Principles of Macroeconomics Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 1 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 63–73 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (19–22 min total)

① What macroeconomics studies

Chapter 1, Section “Macroeconomics defined: zoom out to the whole economy” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Macro versus micro” · Remember: micro looks at one market, and macro looks at the whole economy.

Intro to Economics: Crash Course Econ #1 — CrashCourse — a lively first tour of what economics studies, built around people making choices under scarcity; listen for the split between the whole economy and single markets, and compare it with the chapter's definitions. (video, 12 min) (captions: creator)
The Difference Between Micro and Macro Economics — Think Econ — a three-minute contrast between studying one market and studying the whole economy; sort each example it gives into micro or macro as you watch. (video, 3 min) (captions: automatic)
Difference Between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics — Economics Help — a short explainer that sets the study of particular markets beside the study of the whole economy and reads one supply-and-demand diagram for cars at both levels; read it for the contrast, and skip the history if you are short on time. Use it while working through the Week-1 module overview. (reading, 6–9 min)

② Scarcity and the frontier

Chapter 1, Section “The production possibilities frontier: draw the trade-off” · Session 1, Segment 3, “The production possibilities frontier” · Remember: the slope of the frontier is the price of one good, paid in the other.

Real-Life Examples of Opportunity Cost — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Open Vault — a plain-language blog post that prices everyday choices by the best alternative given up; read the opening examples and test each one the way the chapter prices a free evening. (reading, 7–10 min)
The Production Possibilities Frontier, Part 1 of 3: Economic Lowdown — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — an island economy draws its frontier and reads opportunity cost off the trade between two goods; pause after the graph appears and find each endpoint yourself. (video, 5 min) (captions: creator)
The Production Possibilities Frontier, Part 3 of 3: Economic Lowdown — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — the same island economy sits inside its frontier with idle resources and then grows outward; match each point it shows to the chapter's on, inside, and outside test. (video, 5 min) (captions: creator)
The Production Possibilities Curve (PPC) Explained — Think Econ — a worked homework-style walk through events that shift a frontier outward or inward; for each event, say whether the economy gained or lost resources or technology. (video, 6 min) (captions: automatic)

③ Following the money

Chapter 1, Section “The circular-flow model: follow the money around” · Session 2, Segment 6, “The circular flow” · Remember: every dollar one side spends is a dollar of income to the other.

Circular Flow — Federal Reserve Education — a short video lesson with a transcript on how households and businesses meet in the market for resources and the market for goods and services; read the transcript and trace one dollar around the loop. Stop at the loop itself; next week, Measuring Output: Gross Domestic Product, takes up how that flow is measured. (reading, 8–10 min)

④ Telling facts from values

Chapter 1, Section “Positive versus normative: separate the facts from the values” · Session 2, Segment 7, “Positive and normative statements” · Remember: if evidence could settle it, the statement is positive; if it rests on values, it is normative.

Positive vs Normative in Economics — Ashley Hodgson — a clear walk through the difference between statements evidence can test and statements that rest on values; label each example yourself before the video does. (video, 8 min) (captions: automatic)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

What Is Economics? — American Economic Association — the economics profession's own short description of the field, including the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics; read the opening sections and skip the career and research links. (reading, 3–5 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com