Hi, I'm Mark Zupan and looking forward to taking this journey with you on The Power of Markets course. Economics literally changed my life, having a wonderful faculty member when I was an undergraduate student at Harvard, turned me on to what the science could do, to understanding how actors, how markets behaved, how institutions were either structured effectively or ineffectively. It was a very powerful framework that has guided me throughout my career. I believe that it can offer you the same insights and benefits. And thrilled that you're willing to take this journey along with me. What I'd like to do first is cover some of the materials and the framework for the course to help you get the most out of it. First we'll be using PowerPoint slides that are going to accompany each of the videos, and you can reference in addition to the videos in addition to the videos for your learning purpose. I'm the proud co-author of the microeconomics text, with Butch Browning. It's about to come out in the 12th edition. We will create a PDF version of the first 6 chapters, that will accompany these first four weeks of the Power of Markets course. And would highly encourage you, if you want to get into greater depth in the material, and to get a better understanding, to also access the PDF version of the textbook. And we'll get to more details shortly of how to avail yourself of that opportunity. After each of the video segments, we'll ask a question to make sure you're keeping up with the material, it's a great way to test yourself. Each week, we'll provide some review questions, again, so you can test how the material is sinking in. We'll also have a discussion forum each week, and would encourage you to participate as part of the forum to deepen your understanding of the material. And at the end of the first four-week module, as well as the other two four-week modules to follow We'll provide you with an exam to test how the overall material in the module has taken. So without further ado also want to offer some advice on how to get the most out of the course, beyond the materials available. First and foremost, keep up. If you've seen any studies that if you're going to put 40 hours into a particular course, it's always better to spread out the time as opposed to bunch it up right before the exam. Economics, especially, is a material that requires pickling time. So giving yourself the opportunity to have the material seep in will ensure that you'll get more out of it. Second thing, don't be afraid to ask questions. so in the discussion forums put out there if you're struggling with a concept. As a general rule of thumb, Any time you're struggling with a concept, at least a third of the other students in the course are struggling with that exact same concept. So don't be shy about asking questions. Third thing, don't be shy about answering questions. You may think you know a concept, but I found you never fully understand a concept until you have to explain it to somebody else. A fellow student, a parent, a friend. So take the opportunity also in the discussion forums to test yourself. How well do you know a particular concept? And to weigh in. You'll deepen your learning along the way. And then the last and perhaps the most important piece of advice is be patient. Economics, as a colleague calls it, is common sense made heart. It can strike you as counter-intuitive. My best students over the years have been ones where the light bulb has gone off later in the course, when suddenly, that way of looking at the world starts clicking. It definitely presents a paradigmatic way of looking and understanding what's going in the world. Thomas Kuhn, several decades ago, wrote a powerful book, called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. And in it, he talks about how much time it can take for a new paradigm to sink in. And to drive home the point he uses this example from psychology where sometimes psychologists will mess with a normal deck of cards, so instead of the ace of hearts, they'll color it black. And they'll show it to subjects. And it's amazing how many of the subjects even when the card's held right in front of their face, will misidentify it. Because they're seeing a new paradigm that they're not used to. They're, they're used to a deck where, where the, the ace of hearts is always red, and not black. So either they misidentify or some go through this small emotional crisis. I don't know what it is. Economics can be like that. So have patience. And I'll share just a funny story from my own background. used to play cards, poker. Every month. And one month I was hosting the poker party. And, the person who had hosted it the month before forgot to bring the cards. So, I volunteered to run down to the local pharmacy to get a new deck of cards. And, at the time Hoyle made red decks and blue decks. And, I thought they only difference was the color. I brought back the blue deck. We were playing poker. The red deck, though, was the poker deck. The blue deck was pinochle. And for those who, that have played pinochle, it's different from the standard deck. it has double of everything above a nine, and nothing below a nine. So basically all high cards enrichen those high cards. We were playing poker, though. And, nobody knew that I'd brought mistakenly, this pinochle deck to the party. Five PhDs, economics PhDs were around the table. The hand gets dealt. Deathly silence around the table. Except a real estate economist to my left who keeps saying. Something's not right here. Something's not right. And, if you've ever played poker, as soon as somebody says that, there's at least somebody around the table who will throw down their cards, and say misdeal. Because, they have a crappy hand and they want to restart a fresh lease on life. This was the exact opposite though. Beyond nobody saying a word for a while, they started saying stuff like well to the real estate professor, Dave if you need another card, go ahead, grab another card. Or if you've got one to many just ditch whatever you'd like. We were all sitting there, economics PHDs with four kings, four aces. Licking our chops at winning the pot. And we didn't realize that this new paradigm we were playing with. Economics is like that. So, let's begin the journey.
