CHAPTER 11Benefits, Costs, and Maximization
As we know, life is all about choices, big and small. Individuals and businesses are constantly making choices while weighing their costs and benefits to try to maximize some result. We choose how to spend our time and money; businesses choose products to sell and how to operate; and as a society we make collective choices that impact our lives.
Whether we are trying to figure out what to do on a Saturday night, or a developer is trying to decide about the best housing options for a project, or government officials are trying to set air quality standards, the thinking process in the decision making is the same. There are some simple thought mechanics used in balancing costs and benefits to find a best strategy. And the same processes are used by everyone: individuals, businesses, and society in general. This chapter introduces those mechanics.
In this chapter, we will learn how individuals, businesses, and society use some specific “rules” for maximizing as they go through the mechanics of weighing costs and benefits. You will also be introduced to marginal analysis, which is the basis of many microeconomic ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access