14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Fall 2023, MIT OCW): Lecture 02

14.01 Principles of Microeconomics

14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Fall 2023, MIT OCW). Instructor: Prof. Jonathan Gruber. This introductory undergraduate course covers the fundamentals of microeconomics. Topics include supply and demand, market equilibrium, consumer theory, production and the behavior of firms, monopoly, oligopoly, welfare economics, public goods, and externalities. (from ocw.mit.edu)

Lecture 02 - Preferences and Utility Function

In this lecture, Prof. Gruber talks about where consumer decisions come from, beginning with consumer preferences. He then builds on these concepts to explain the utility function, which is a mathematical expression of consumer preference.

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction and Supply and Demand

Lecture 02 - Preferences and Utility Function

Lecture 03 - Budget Constraints and Constrained Choice

Lecture 04 - Demand Curves and Income/Substitution Effects

Lecture 05 - Production Theory

Lecture 06 - Costs

Lecture 07 - Competition I

Lecture 08 - Competition II

Lecture 09 - Supply and Demand, Consumer/Producer Surplus

Lecture 10 - Welfare Economics

Lecture 11 - Monopoly I