Microeconomics studies individual decision-makers: households, firms, and workers. It looks at how they choose, what they buy, what they produce, and how prices form in specific markets. Where macro looks at the forest, micro looks at the trees.

Core topics include supply and demand, elasticity, consumer choice, and market structures. Microeconomists ask questions like: Why do concert tickets sell out in seconds? How does a minimum wage affect employment? What happens when two airlines merge?

The field provides tools that apply widely. Cost-benefit analysis, marginal thinking, and game theory all come from micro. These tools help businesses price products, governments design policy, and individuals make better decisions. They also have limits. People are not always rational, and markets do not always clear.

Core topics

• Supply and demand
• Elasticity
• Consumer and producer behavior
• Market structures
• Marginal analysis