Your first lesson!

Hey there, student!

Welcome to Day 1 of Economic Funk! I’m Professor Funkeynes, your personal guide through this wacky, wonderful world of economic thinking. You and I have got about 60 lessons ahead of us (plus an introduction), and by the end, my goal is to have you nodding along confidently whenever you hear about inflation, GDP, or why the price of avocado toast skyrocketed last summer. No pressure, right?

We’re kicking off this journey with a straightforward—yet surprisingly deep—question: What is economics? Before you roll your eyes and think, “Oh great, more jargon about money,” let me assure you: economics isn’t just about money, charts, and gray-haired professors debating in dusty lecture halls. Think of economics as a giant toolkit that helps us understand why we make certain choices and how the world around us organizes itself when resources are limited.

Scarcity: The Root of It All

Here’s the big truth at the heart of economics: we live in a world of scarcity. That means we can’t have everything we want—time, money, energy, raw materials, food, vacation days—they’re all limited. Meanwhile, our desires and “wish lists” tend to be infinite: more comfort, more fun experiences, more goodies. Economics studies how individuals, businesses, governments, and entire societies cope with this never-ending tug-of-war between limited resources and unlimited wants.

It might sound fancy, but you already deal with scarcity every day. When you decide whether to spend your evening watching Netflix or catching up on sleep, you’re dealing with scarcity of time. When you weigh buying a new phone against saving for a vacation, you’re managing limited financial resources. Economics turns this everyday struggle into a structured way of thinking.

Trade-Offs and Choices

At its core, economics is about choices. If resources were infinite, we wouldn’t need to make tough calls. We could have everything, and there’d be no conflict. But since we can’t, we must choose. Economics helps us understand why certain decisions make sense and what consequences they have.

For example, a city might choose to build a new public library. That sounds great, right? More books, more learning, more community space. But that also means the city must give up something else—maybe less money available for fixing potholes or funding the local zoo. Economics gives us tools—models, concepts, frameworks—to evaluate these trade-offs and figure out if we’re making the best possible choices.

Beyond Money: Incentives, Behavior, and Society

A common misconception is that economics is all about money. Sure, money plays a big role, but what economics really cares about is how people respond to incentives. An incentive is anything that influences your decisions—prices, laws, social pressures, moral values, you name it. Economists often assume people try to make choices that improve their situation under the constraints they face. While we know humans aren’t always logical robots, this assumption helps us understand patterns and trends in behavior.

This perspective turns economics into more than just numbers. It becomes a lens for understanding all sorts of phenomena:

• Why do certain jobs pay more than others?

• Why do we have traffic jams at rush hour even though no single driver wants them?

• Why do some countries prosper while others struggle with poverty?

• Why does a sale on sneakers cause a buying frenzy?

Economics can shed light on all these mysteries. By focusing on incentives, costs, and benefits, we break down complex issues into something more manageable. Sometimes the answers are elegant. Other times, they spark fierce debate. But debate is part of the fun—economists often disagree because reality is complicated, and values differ.

Microeconomics vs. Macroeconomics

Economics typically splits into two big branches: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Micro looks at the small picture—individual markets, firms, and consumers making decisions. Macro zooms out to the entire economy, looking at stuff like unemployment, inflation, economic growth, and how all these pieces fit together at a national or even global level.

You can think of microeconomics like studying the behavior of individual bees in a hive—each bee (or consumer, business) is making its own decisions. Macroeconomics is like looking at the entire beehive and seeing how all those bees work together (or sometimes fail to work together) as a whole. We’ll explore both perspectives in this course.

Models and Theories: Not Just Ivory-Tower Stuff

Economists use models—simplified representations of reality—to understand how people and markets react to changes. A model might ignore certain complexities to focus on key relationships, like how price affects the quantity demanded of a good. While real life is messier than any model, these simplifications help us get the gist of what’s going on.

Don’t worry if the idea of “models” sounds too theoretical. You don’t need advanced math or fancy graphs to appreciate them. We’ll keep it intuitive. The point isn’t to memorize equations—it’s to develop economic intuition. Once you have that, headlines about interest rates or trade wars won’t feel like alien transmissions anymore.

Why Should You Care?

You might be asking, “Great, but how does this help me?” Understanding economics turns you from a passive observer into an active interpreter of the world. You’ll see through political spin, recognize when someone’s argument is full of hot air, and grasp why certain policies might sound great in theory but fail miserably in practice.

Plus, economics helps you make better personal decisions, too. Weighing the pros and cons of major purchases, choosing a career path, or even understanding why your boss sets certain targets—it all becomes clearer when you think like an economist. You’ll become more informed, more skeptical, and more capable of spotting bullshit a mile away.

Looking Ahead

Today’s just the beginning. We started with the basics: economics is about scarcity, choices, trade-offs, and understanding human behavior. In the coming lessons, we’ll explore opportunity costs (the true cost behind every choice), dive into supply and demand (the heart of how markets set prices), and wander through macro concepts like GDP and inflation. We’ll look at labor markets, inequality, the digital economy, global trade, public policy, climate change economics, and so much more.

By the end of our journey, you won’t just know what economics is—you’ll think economically. Don’t worry if that sounds daunting. We’ll take it step-by-step, adding layers of understanding as we go. Along the way, we’ll crack jokes, use everyday examples, and ensure we never lose sight of the real world behind the theories.

For now, pat yourself on the back. You’ve taken the first step toward making sense of an often confusing world. Economics might not have all the answers, but it gives you a damn good set of tools to start asking the right questions.

Until next time,
Professor Funkeynes