14.04 - Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
14.04 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (Fall 2020, MIT OCW). Instructor: Prof. Robert M. Townsend. This course provides an introduction to theory and data designed to meet the needs of students interested in economic science. It provides an introduction to consumer choice, the theory of the firm, and general equilibrium models, with an overview of the main results and tools used in studying these topics, both directly in economics and indirectly in various other fields. This includes analysis of consumer and producer decisions, partial and general equilibrium analysis, insurance, the welfare theorems and failures of these theorems as with externalities but with resolutions, contract theory and mechanism design, policy analysis, the content of theory for data, and the design of media of exchange as with Bitcoin and markets made possible by distributed ledgers. (from ocw.mit.edu)
| Lecture 07 - Pareto Optimality |
Instructor: Prof. Robert M. Townsend. How do we divide the social pie of the available resources in an economy across its household members? Economists have a way of figuring out what allocations of consumption bundles are efficient, or what allocations are not. Crucially, this is different from taking a stand on the appropriate distribution of income. Confusion on this subject, equity vs. efficiency, abounds in the popular press. An application is discussed: the Pareto optimal allocation of risk implemented with risk sharing rules - who gets what when there are adverse shocks.
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