The Microeconomic Mode

From The Road to Game of Thrones, across works as seemingly different as Gone Girl and Saw, literature, film, and television have become obsessed with the intersection of survival and choice. When the trapped rock-climber hero of 127 Hours is confronted with self-amputation or death, it is only a particularly blunt example of an omnipresent set-up. In real-life settings or fantastical games, protagonists find themselves confronting extreme scenarios with life-or-death consequences, forced to make torturous either-or choices in stripped-down, brutally stark environments. Jane Elliott identifies and analyzes this new and distinctive aesthetic phenomenon, which she calls “the microeconomic mode.” Through close readings of its narratives, tropes, and concepts, she traces the implicit theoretical and political claims conveyed by this combination of abstraction and extremity. In the microeconomic mode, humans isolated from any forms of social organization operate within a mini-economy of costs and benefits, gains and losses, measured in the currency of life. Elliott reads the key concepts that emerge from this aesthetic—life-interest, sovereign capture, and binary life—in relation to biopolitics and natural law theory, becoming and the control society, and primitive accumulation in racial capitalism. The microeconomic mode interrogates the destruction of the liberal political subject, but what it leaves in its place is as disturbing as it is radically new. Going beyond the question of neoliberalism in literature, The Microeconomic Mode combines revelatory close readings of key literary and popular texts with significant theoretical interventions to identify how an aesthetics of choice has reshaped our contemporary understanding of what it means to be human.

Models in Microeconomic Theory covers basic models in current microeconomic theory. Part I (Chapters 1-7) presents models of an economic agent, discussing abstract models of preferences, choice, and decision making under uncertainty, before turning to models of the consumer, the producer, and monopoly. Part II (Chapters 8-14) introduces the concept of equilibrium, beginning, unconventionally, with the models of the jungle and an economy with indivisible goods, and continuing with models of an exchange economy, equilibrium with rational expectations, and an economy with asymmetric information. Part III (Chapters 15-16) provides an introduction to game theory, covering strategic and extensive games and the concepts of Nash equilibrium and subgame perfect equilibrium. Part IV (Chapters 17-20) gives a taste of the topics of mechanism design, matching, the axiomatic analysis of economic systems, and social choice. The book focuses on the concepts of model and equilibrium. It states models and results precisely, and provides proofs for all results. It uses only elementary mathematics (with almost no calculus), although many of the proofs involve sustained logical arguments. It includes about 150 exercises. With its formal but accessible style, this textbook is designed for undergraduate students of microeconomics at intermediate and advanced levels.

The present volume is an outgrowth of several years' interactions be tween U. S. American and W. -German economists interested in analyzing the structure and functioning of housing markets, and the impacts of govern mental policies on these markets. Such an interaction turns out to be fruitful in several respects. Unquestionably, German economists can learn a lot from the high level of sophistication exhibited in much of the American literature. However, this is not a one way road of learning and the adoption of concepts, for the following reason. Most of the analysis presented in that literature hinges on the use of the standard microeco nomics textbook tools. Now, even a casual observation of housing markets in European countries reveals that behavior and conduct in these markets do not follow the assumptions presumed in this mode of analysis, which calls into question the uncritical employment of that tool kit. This has important consequences for policy analysis and indeed, for some principal attitudes towards housing policy, and points sharply to the need for developing analytical concepts that take up more of the pecul iarities of housing market behavior and conduct. While such a develop ment may be particularly warranted in view of European housing markets, we maintain this to be the case in view of the American housing market as well.

Neoliberalism and Contemporary Literary Culture is essential reading for anyone invested in the ever-changing state of literary culture.

The Present Book Provides The Most Clear And Accurate Presentation Of Advanced Microeconomic Concepts. Microeconomics Lays The Basic Foundation Of The Understanding Of Economics. A Good Grasp Of Microeconomics Is Vital For Both Managerial And Public Policy Decision-Making As Well As Analyzing The Modern Trends Of Economy. Primarily Designed To Serve As A Textbook, Microeconomic Theory Covers The Fundamental Concepts And Deals With All The Topics Extensively In An Easily Comprehensible Style. Mathematical Tools And Techniques Have Been Used Wherever Required For The Purpose Of Easy Elucidation Of The Subject Matter. An Ideal Textbook For Both The Graduates As Well As Undergraduates Of The Indian Universities Across The Country, It Gives Students The Opportunity To Work With Theoretical Tools, Real-World Applications And Cutting Edge Developments In The Study Of Microeconomics. Case Studies And Diagrammatic Presentations Have Been Incorporated So As To Make The Subject More Accessible And Interesting. Model Questions And References Included In The Book Will Enable The Readers To Make Self-Assessment And Pursue The Topics In Detail.It Is Hoped That Besides The Students Of Economics, The Book Will Also Be Useful To The Candidates Preparing For Competitive Examinations Like Upsc, State Public Service Examinations Etc.

Economics used to be called political economy, and the loss of the “political” tracks the ascendance of the idea of rational choice within the discipline. Where does this idea of economic rationality – choosing to maximize benefits and minimize costs – come from? What are the consequences of its rise? In this new book, Stephen Engelmann assesses these questions through a consideration of the often-hidden links between choice and government, ranging from the Benthamic utilitarianism that inspired modern economics to the contemporary economic psychologists trying to nudge everyone to choose more rationally. Multiple global crises are exposing how deficient economic rationality is as a political theory, since a focus on choice turns actors away from relations in the common. Political economy once targeted aristocratic rule – heralding a politics and ethics of egalitarian self-command and spurring democratic reform – but economics allows domination and forecloses alternatives to it. This accessible volume will be of interest to students and scholars of politics and economics, and to general readers concerned about the various ways that psychology and management have infiltrated our politics.

A cutting-edge introduction to key topics in modern economic theory for first-year graduate students in economics and related fields Volume II of Microeconomic Foundations introduces models and methods at the center of modern microeconomic theory. In this textbook, David Kreps, a leading economic theorist, emphasizes foundational material, concentrating on seminal work that provides perspective on how and why the theory developed. Because noncooperative game theory is the chief tool of modeling and analyzing microeconomic phenomena, the book stresses the applications of game theory to economics. And throughout, it underscores why theory is most useful when it supports rather than supplants economic intuition. Introduces first-year graduate students to the models and methods at the core of microeconomic theory today Covers an extensive range of topics, including the agency theory, market signaling, relational contracting, bilateral bargaining, auctions, matching markets, and mechanism design Stresses the use—and misuse—of theory in studying economic phenomena and shows why theory should support, not replace, economic intuition Includes extensive appendices reviewing the essential concepts of noncooperative game theory, with guidance about how it should and shouldn’t be used Features free online supplements, including chapter outlines and overviews, solutions to all the problems in the book, and more

This unique new textbook on Information Systems (IS) provides an answer to a few basic questions in the field: What is the scientific nature of IS? How do we design IS in today's connected world? What is the relationship between IS and innovation in knowledge economies? Whereas mainframe corporate computers tended to dominate the thinking in the 1980s, the dominating factor today is personal digital devices that connect the world as one whole IS. Network science is emerging to describe these digital connections (e.g., social networking), and service science is similarly emerging to describe service value networks. This book therefore synthesizes the emerging network science and service science with the classic IS theory, resulting in a new set of principles for IS strategic planning. It also reviews the standard IS topics of system analysis and database design, covering the whole spectrum of databases and all the major methods and techniques of database design. The role of IS as a technological innovation in the knowledge economy is also analyzed. In doing so, new concepts such as basic values of IS, systems of IS, sustainability of IS, IS as a service system, IS as a human value network, and the hyper-network model for innovation by IS, are developed.