Analyze microeconomic principles and the economic decisions consumers, firms, and the government face regarding economic resources, scarcity, market demand and supply, production costs, and opportunity costs.
Microeconomics is the branch of economics that pertains to consumer behavior and the economic decisions of producers and the government. It includes the topics of supply and demand, the elasticity of demand and supply, production costs, utility and profit maximization, and market structures.
When discussing the economy, we refer to the marketplace or economic system where the choices of all economic agents interact. This course explores how and why we make economic decisions and how our choices affect the economy. Each unit is a building block. By the end of this course, you will be able to grasp the major issues microeconomists face, including consumer and producer behavior, supply and demand, how different markets function, and the welfare outcomes of consumers and producers. We also examine how formal principles and concepts apply to real-world issues.
- Unit 1: Introduction to Economics
- Unit 2: Supply and Demand
- Unit 3: Elasticity and its Applications
- Unit 4: Markets and Maximizing Individual Behavior
- Unit 5: Introduction to Consumer Choice
- Unit 6: The Producer
- Unit 7: Market Structure: Competitive and Non-Competitive Markets
- Unit 8: The Role of the Government in a Market Economy
- Explain the basic assumptions in economic thinking to show how individual economic agents make rational choices for optimizing the use of scarce resources;
- Analyze the factors that affect market demand and market supply, and illustrate their interaction for achieving equilibrium in price and quantity;
- Explain the maximization principle in economics and the tools of government intervention for solving market failure when there are problems in the efficient allocation of resources;
- Explain how consumers make rational choices using the concept of utility, including the principle of diminishing marginal utility;
- Analyze how the producer applies the marginal decision rule to maximize profit in producing goods or services when combining factors of production – labor, capital, and natural resources – in both the short run and long run;
- Illustrate the interaction of market demand and market supply in the various perfectly competitive markets, non-competitive markets, and imperfectly competitive markets;
- Apply economic models in public finance, public choice, and for solving environmental issues; and
- Explain the economics of the environment, especially by applying economic tools for moving the economy toward an efficient level of environmental pollution.
Explore the factors that affect the overall performance of economies, focusing on how public policies help and hinder the achievement of intended outcomes, such as reducing unemployment or increasing trade.
Economists divide their discipline into two areas of study: microeconomics and macroeconomics. In this course, we introduce the principles of macroeconomics: the study of how a country's economy works as we try to discern among good, better, and best choices for improving and maintaining the nation's standard of living and level of economic and societal well-being. Historical and contemporary perspectives on the role of government policy surround questions of who gains and loses within a small set of key interdependent players. These beneficiaries include households, consumers, savers, firm owners, investors, government officials, and global trading partners.
Microeconomics studies how supply and demand determine prices in a given market. In macroeconomics, we examine changes in the price level across all markets. The main goals of the macroeconomy are to achieve economic growth, price stability, and full employment. Macroeconomic performance relies on measures of economic activity, such as variables and data at the national level, within a specific period. Macroeconomics analyzes aggregate measures, such as national income, national output, unemployment and inflation rates, and business cycle fluctuations. In this course, we prompt you to consider national and global issues and various competing perspectives, tools, and alternatives.
- Unit 1: Introduction to Economics
- Unit 2: Macroeconomics: Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, and Unemployment
- Unit 3: Aggregate Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium
- Unit 4: Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
- Unit 5: Fiscal Policy
- Unit 6: International Trade and Finance
- Describe the determinants of total output and the ways to measure nominal and real gross domestic product (GDP);
- Differentiate full employment and unemployment, and the three forms of unemployment;
- Define inflation and explain ways of computing the general movement in prices;
- Explain the model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply and the way the equilibrium price level and real GDP are determined;
- Analyze the government's use of fiscal policy to stabilize the economy;
- Define money, its role in the economy, and the way money is created in the banking system;
- Evaluate how the U.S. Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to influence key variables to achieve economic growth, price stability, and full employment;
- Apply fiscal policy to resolve economic issues and stimulate economic growth;
- Analyze the relationship between inflation and unemployment and the attitudes of various schools of thought toward active management of the economy;
- Analyze capital flows and their impact on the foreign exchange market and the aggregate economy; and
- Explain the importance of comparative advantage, specialization, interdependence, and trade.
The Austrian school of economics has for a century and a half maintained a rich tradition and a unique methodological approach to economics, which sets it apart from other traditions. Unlike other economic schools of thought, the Austrian School acknowledges that there are no constants in human action. Accordingly, the methodology used for economic analysis is different to that employed in natural sciences such as physics. Rather than positing hypothetical relationships between statistical aggregates that break down when scrutinized, the Austrian School treats the actions of individual humans as the ultimate causal explanations of economic phenomena, and analyzes them using deductive methods. The Austrian School does not advocate a particular political programme – it was described by Mises as “value-free” – it merely aims to help humans to understand the consequences of action. Although not currently a mainstream school of economic thought, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Austrian School since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (which many mainstream economists failed to predict) and the invention of bitcoin.
As an introductory course to Austrian economics, the content draws heavily on some of the school’s defining texts authored by Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. It touches on the ideas of Nobel Prize Winner F. A. Hayek, who was a proponent of the Austrian School and strongly influenced by the work of Menger and Mises. Although not covered in this course, Nobel nominees such as Israel Kirzner were also influential figures in the school’s modern development. Students will learn about some of the Austrian School’s most important concepts including time preference, marginal utility and the subjective theory of value.
The starting point of this course is understanding that all value is subjective, and dependent on the individual making the valuation. With this foundation laid, it becomes possible to understand how people willingly engage in trade. The second part of the course then describes how humans economize, by focusing on some of the most important economizing actions: labor, property, capital, technology, trade, and money. Students will explore the economic motivation and rationale behind each of these topics, along with its impact on human time.The third section of the course introduces the market economy and the capitalist system as the social order in which individuals are able to engage in the aforementioned economizing acts. We study how individual decisions translate to a market-wide price. The Misesian conception of the capitalist system as an entrepreneurial system is then explained, along with the concept of economic calculation, and how free market prices, and free enterprise with private property are the motivator and coordinator of economic activity.
The final section of the course examines the economic impact of violent intervention in the market order, and the introduction of coercive imposition on exchange. The course will explain the theoretical and logical reasons such economizing acts will have a different impact from those that are conducted peacefully. The course concludes with a critical assessment of the meaning of economic growth.
After completing this course students will have the methodological grounding required to undertake sound economic reasoning in the Austrian tradition. They will also be well-positioned to undertake further study of some of the more complex ideas of the Austrian School, such as Austrian business cycle theory and capital-based macroeconomics.
- Unit 1: Economic Value
- Unit 2: Human Action
- Unit 3: Time and Labor
- Unit 4: Capital and Technology
- Unit 5: Economic Exchange
- Unit 6: Indirect Exchange
- Unit 7: Prices and Market Order
- Unit 8: Profit and Loss
- Unit 9: Violent Intervention
- Unit 10: Economic Progress
- Explain what economic value is, how it emerges, and how it makes it possible for humans to trade and mutually benefit;
- Analyze economic questions at the margin and how it makes economic analysis more useful and powerful;
- Explain why essential goods are often far cheaper than inessential luxury goods;
- Analyze economic questions through a deductive approach that studies the consequences of human action;
- Explain why no natural resources have been depleted;
- Differentiate between the relative scarcity of economic goods and the absolute scarcity of human time;
- Identify the drivers of capital accumulation, and the risks and costs associated with accumulating capital;
- Identify the benefits from trade that motivate participants to engage in it, and explain the universal prevalence of trade worldwide; and
- Distinguish between coercive and cooperation modes of interpersonal interaction, and the consequences of each.
This course is designed to extend your knowledge of the principles of the Austrian school of economics. It is recommended that students complete ECON103: Principles of Austrian Economics I before this course to enhance their understanding. The course draws on the work of several scholars in the Austrian school tradition, mainly Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, and Hans Hermann Hoppe. It focuses on the concepts of economic calculation, time preference, interest rates, business cycle theory, the economics of security, and intellectual property.
ECON103 explained the main types of actions that humans undertake to economize; this course moves to discuss the features of an impersonal market economic order, beginning with one of the most critical concepts: economic calculation. For example, Mises explains how a market order, where economic production meets the demands of consumers, is only possible with the system of free enterprise and private property, as that is the only system in which the owners of capital are able to calculate the costs and benefits of their actions rationally. This point is one of Mises' most important contributions to economics and forms the essence of his devastating critique of socialist economic planning, which has not been refuted a century later. The course also introduces the work of Friedrich Hayek on the concept of spontaneous order and how it helps us understand economic phenomena as the emergent result of human action and not human design. The different conceptions of rationality in economics and how order can emerge rationally from individual action are then discussed.
The bulk of the course explores the basics of the Austrian analysis of money, beginning with the concept of time preference, which could be considered the most important and useful concept to learn in economics. After explaining the importance and significance of time preference, how the Austrian school views time preference as the determinant of interest rates is analyzed. The concepts of credit and banking are introduced, followed by Mises' typology of money and the distinction between money and credit.
With that background, the Austrian theory of the business cycle is introduced. As interest rates on the free market are a reflection of time preference, an increase in the supply of credit that is treated as money leads to the distortion of interest rates, and the price of money, causing economic miscalculation in the capital markets, leading to malinvestments. We study this highly important theory from the works of several economists to get a full picture over two lectures. Then, we examine the market for security and national defense, analyzing the fallacy that these goods can only be provided by a monopoly, illustrating how they can be, and in fact are, produced by the free market, and how problems of insecurity and conflict around the world can best be understood as a result of the absence of a free market for security.
As we move toward the end of the course, the topic of intellectual property is discussed. We study the work of Stephan Kinsella, who argues that ideas and non-scarce goods cannot be property, and the attempt to treat them as such makes no sense economically or legally. The claim that intellectual property rights enhance innovation and economic well-being is scrutinized. Also, the connection between Austrian economics and Bitcoin is discussed. How does studying Austrian economics help us understand Bitcoin, and what does Bitcoin teach us about Austrian economics? We conclude with a discussion of the stock-to-flow numerical model of Bitcoin price and whether it poses a challenge to the Austrian method of economics. Ammous is a professor of Economics and the author of three books on the subject of economics.
- Unit 1: Economic Calculation
- Unit 2: Spontaneous Order
- Unit 3: Time Preference
- Unit 4: Interest Rates
- Unit 5: Credit and Banking
- Unit 6: Business Cycle Theory - I
- Unit 7: Business Cycle Theory - II
- Unit 8: Security and Defense
- Unit 9: Intellectual Property
- Unit 10: Bitcoin and Austrian Economics
- Describe the critical role of the capital market in determining prices and resource allocation in an economy;
- Describe how low time preference increases prosperity in a society;
- Explain how time preference influences (or determines) the interest rate according to Austrian theory;
- Explain why the expansion of credit cannot form a substitute for capital;
- Evaluate the causes and repercussions of the Austrian Business cycle;
- Differentiate between the effects of saving and creating fiduciary media on the process of production in the long term;
- Describe how security and defense can be a product of a free market; and
- Explain the Austrian concept of intellectual property rights and why they could be considered illegitimate.
Discuss fractional reserve banking, different Bitcoin monetization scenarios, the economics of Bitcoin mining and scaling, the economics of fiat food, and how Bitcoin can affect the developing world.
Welcome to ECON105: Hard Questions on Hard Money. Applying the framework of Dr. Ammous' book "The Bitcoin Standard", this course takes the analytical framework of The Bitcoin Standard and applies it to related concepts such as the economics of fiat food.
- Unit 1: Bitcoin and the Banking System
- Unit 2: Bitcoin Monetization Scenarios
- Unit 3: Bitcoin Monetization Scenarios Part 2
- Unit 4: Bitcoin Mining: Energy and Security
- Unit 5: Bitcoin Mining: Energy and Security Part 2
- Unit 6: Fiat Money and Fiat Food When: Ludwig von Mises Met Weston Price
- Unit 7: Challenges to Bitcoin Adoption
- Unit 8: Bitcoin and International Finance
- Unit 9: Bitcoin and the Developing World
- Unit 10: The Bitcoin Standard as a Scaling Solution
- Explain fractional reserve banking;
- Evaluate Bitcoin's role in shaping a potential banking system;
- Analyze situations that could lead to the monetization of Bitcoin and the achievement of the Bitcoin standard;
- Explain how energy consumption relates to the security of the Bitcoin network;
- Evaluate the link between fiat money and the consumption of fiat food;
- Analyze potential vulnerabilities in the Bitcoin network and proposed countermeasures;
- Describe the changes in the global monetary system after the Second World War and the ending of the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971; and
- Explain how Bitcoin has attempted to scale, such as the creation of the Lightning network.
Explore the past, present, and potential future of money through the lens of a layered framework.
The international monetary system is on the precipice of change. This course suggests a topography of money at this crossroads. Maps help us navigate geographies and terrains, but they have never been associated with money until now. This course walks through a map of the financial system throughout time and a preview of what the map of digital money might look like in the future. It suggests a framework called "layered money" to describe the evolving monetary system, which seeks to explain how different forms of money relate to each other.
By tracing the evolution of layered money, we gain a fascinating perspective on how and why humans interact with currencies. Along with dissecting currency progression, this course asks what the future of money entails. Many will say, "it's digital", but to most of us, money already seems digital. We use smartphone applications to manage checking accounts, make contactless payments, and move to a cashless existence. But with the growth of Bitcoin, digital money has taken on a whole new meaning.
The study of money has thus far lacked a vernacular that incorporates Bitcoin. This course seeks to look at money in the past to contextualize Bitcoin's potential effects on the future of money. This course attempts to explain how Bitcoin might integrate with and change the monetary system. This course aims to explain the monetary system from the beginning.
This course makes the claim that money is a "layered system". This course will attempt to explain why human beings began using monetary systems, how these systems evolved, and how complicated and multilayered they have become today. It will attempt to explain which layer of money certain types of assets are located on and how individuals can navigate between the "layers" of money.
- Unit 1: Introduction to Monetary History
- Unit 2: The Hierarchy of Money
- Unit 3: Money Market History (16th–19th century)
- Unit 4: Federal Reserve System (1913–1944)
- Unit 5: Eurodollar System (1944–Present)
- Unit 6: Bitcoin (2009–Present)
- Unit 7: Cryptocurrencies, Stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (2013–Present)
- Explain why humans use monetary systems;
- Summarize the evolution of the money hierarchy from 16th-century Europe until today;
- Explain the Federal Reserve system and describe how money is created by non-central bank financial institutions;
- Compare Bitcoin to the layered system of money;
- Outline how Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins will function within a monetary system; and
- Explain from an economic perspective what digital money portends for citizens worldwide.
Michael Saylor and Robert Breedlove discuss Bitcoin through the lenses of energy, technology, and anthropology.
The sheer breadth of the Bitcoin universe is incredibly expansive. The first experience of any person who starts down the Bitcoin rabbit hole is the realization that there are many pathways of knowledge and areas of focus to explore. You may have heard about mining, wallets, self-custody, centralized and decentralized exchanges, methods of acquiring Bitcoin, KYC/AML regulations, cryptography, cold vs hot storage, backup keys, coin-joining, and more. This course addresses very few of the topics mentioned above, and intentionally so. Instead, "The Saylor Series" has a different intention and focus. Built around a long-form discussion between Michael Saylor and Robert Breedlove, released as 17 episodes on Breedlove’s podcast ("The What Is Money?” Show), this course facilitates a deep dive into the intersecting themes of energy, technology, and anthropology.
If you're looking for a shorter, less philosophical survey of the Bitcoin landscape that provides a practical guide to acquiring, storing, and spending it, we highly recommend Stephan Livera's course CS120: Bitcoin for Everybody at Saylor Academy. The Saylor Series is different. The curriculum for this course is the discussion between Saylor and Breedlove, with discussion prompts and quiz questions to deepen your engagement with the overarching theme: Bitcoin as the intersection of energy, anthropology, and technology.
- Unit 1: Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Bitcoin: Unraveling Human History and Technological Progress
- Unit 2: Energy, Money, and the Evolution of Digital Power
- Unit 3: Resilience, Function, and Philosophical Implications of Bitcoin
- Unit 4: Transformative Money and the Evolution of Sociopolitical Systems
- Unit 5: Bitcoin's Path to Immortality: Exploring Security, Evolution, and Transformative Applications
- Describe the intersections between energy, technology, and anthropology, both historically and in the modern context of Bitcoin;
- Detail the claim that Bitcoin is a unique store of value, a new method of transferring monetary energy through time and space at levels of efficiency and speed unseen in human history;
- Differentiate Bitcoin from other crypto assets;
- Explain the attributes of Bitcoin that make it antifragile through the lenses of energy, economics, politics, hardware and software, environmentalism, militarism, war, philanthropy, and more; and
- Understand why Bitcoin is a singular monetary innovation that cannot be replicated.
