Microeconomics is concerned with the actions of individuals. The focus of macroeconomics is entire sectors of the economy. All good macro will have micro foundations because those economic sectors are made up of individuals, each using scarce means to achieve their desired ends.

Part 1 of 14. Presented in 1986 at New York Polytechnic University.

Why is it that things like bread and water which have high use values are cheap while on the other hand luxury items like diamonds are very expensive? This paradox was not solved until it became understood that people choose only a marginal unit - this loaf or this diamond. Value can be attached to a good only by individuals' desires to use it directly in the present or in the present expectation of selling to such individuals in the future. It is subjective only.

Part 2 of 14. Presented in 1986 at New York Polytechnic University.

Price is determined by the equilibrium price and the equilibrium quantity. If your good is not selling, you lower the price. If your goods fly off the shelves you are selling too cheaply and you raise prices. Demand changes constantly, e.g. the shift to white wines away from dark hard liquor. Prices will fall when demand falls.

Part 3 of 14. Presented in 1986 at New York Polytechnic University.

The disappearance of oil has been forecast every decade. Prices were overlooked. When the price is high it is more profitable to look for oil. Total reserves on the ground are higher than they were in 1890. Treating demand as a fixed quantity, the oil industry tried to control production and prices. Gas rationing was implemented. 55 MPH limit was legislated without economic or safety benefit. Safety belts increased fatalities of pedestrians. Natural gas experienced increasing shortages when it became artificially cheap. An insane price structure led to the shut down of older wells.

Part 4 of 14. Presented in 1986 at New York Polytechnic University.

Thou shalt not sell a certain product or service below a certain price, e.g. wheat, cotton, corn, cheese, sugar. This will result in an artificial unsold permanent surplus, as it does in the American farm situation. Initially resources are attracted into the field, but the artificially high price discourages buyer demand. This kind of interventionary tampering with market signals destroys the market tendency to adjustment and brings about losses and misallocation of resources in satisfying consumer wants.The principles of minimum price controls apply to minimum wage laws, which lead to involuntary mass unemployment.

Part 5 of 14. Presented in 1986 at New York Polytechnic University.