The class is a broad overview of the key concepts in applied mathematics and statistics. Tools will be provided that are essential for graduate study at NYU Stern, including first-year Econometrics and Microeconomics sequences. The class will emphasize application of tools via examples, as opposed to stressing technical details and proofs.

This course provides a rigorous introduction to economics, with special emphasis on microeconomics. It introduces economics as a discipline and as a way of thinking. It begins with the study of the behavior of individual consumers and firms. Then it provides insights into how markets work and whether market outcomes are desirable. It also looks at situations in which the firm is a monopolist or competes with a limited number of rivals. Some of the key concepts introduced include economic incentives, marginal analysis, opportunity cost (which costs matter), market efficiency (what does it mean for a market to work) and strategic behavior (how to predict and respond to your rivals’ decisions).