From a technical perspective, economics is the study of how various alternatives or choices are evaluated to best achieve a given objective. The domain of economics is the study of processes by which scarce resources are allocated to satisfy unlimited wants. Ideally, the resources are allocated to their highest valued uses. Supply, demand, preferences, costs, benefits, production relationships and exchange are tools that are used to describe and analyze the market processes by which individuals allocate scarce resources to satisfy as many wants as possible. This increasingly narrow focus is the domain of modern, “neoclassical,” microeconomic analysis. This approach is typical of most economists and is referred to as orthodox economics.

The five basic questions that are asked in the study of the allocation problem are: 1) What to produce? 2) How many to produce? 3) How to produce? 4) When to produce? 5) Who gets it? Provisioning should seek to understand the nature of wants or objectives. Provisioning is the process of framing the approaches to the allocation problem.

This is presentation of some basic economic ideas for the beginning community college student.

For the first time in history, the global demand for freshwater is overtaking its supply in many parts of the world. The U.N. predicts that by 2025, more than half of the countries in the world will be experiencing water stress or outright shortages. Lack of water can cause disease, food shortages, starvation, migrations, political conflict, and even lead to war. Models of cooperation, both historic and contemporary, show the way forward. The first half of the course details the multiple facets of the water crisis. Topics include water systems, water transfers, dams, pollution, climate change, scarcity, water conflict/cooperation, food security, and agriculture. The second half of the course describes innovative solutions: Adaptive technologies and adaptation through policy, planning, management, economic tools, and finally, human behaviors required to preserve this precious and imperiled resource. Several field trips to water/wastewater/biosolids reuse and water-energy sites will help us to better comprehend both local and international challenges and solutions.

Recognizing that a course in economics may seem daunting to some students, we have tried to make the writing clear and engaging. Clarity comes in part from the intuitive presentation style, but we have also integrated a number of pedagogical features that we believe make learning economic concepts and principles easier and more fun. These features are very student-focused. The chapters themselves are written using a “modular” format. In particular, chapters generally consist of three main content sections that break down a particular topic into manageable parts. Each content section contains not only an exposition of the material at hand but also learning objectives, summaries, examples, and problems. Each chapter is introduced with a story to motivate the material and each chapter ends with a wrap-up and additional problems. Our goal is to encourage active learning by including many examples and many problems of different types.

This is a Principles of Macroeconomics Course developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in January 2019. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs) as OSS 005. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Team LeadAmyaz Moledina                                  College of WoosterContent ContributorsRosemarie Emanuele                          Ursuline CollegeKenneth Fah                                        Ohio Dominican UniversityDarcy Hartman                                    Ohio State University – NewarkLibrarianNathan Wolfe                                       Kenyon CollegeReview TeamSeth Kim                                              Central Ohio Technical CollegeJoe Nowakowski                                  Muskingum University 

This topic is considered optional as it would primarily be part of a principles of microeconomics course. If microeconomics is a prerequisite for macroeconomics, this topic can either be skipped entirely, or could be reviewed briefly. In some macroeconomics principles courses, this may need to be presented as new information. Learning objectives of particular interest for a macro course are 1, 2, 7, and 8. Please note that some of the learning objectives contained in this section may overlap with the International Trade unit.

The Principles of Microeconomics course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in December 2019. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Assurance Guides and is also named OSS004. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Content ContributorsKen Fah                                             Ohio Dominican UniversityJohn Fiske                                         Ohio Dominican UniversityJoe Nowakowski                                Muskingum UniversityLibrarianNathan Wolfe                                     Kenyon CollegeReview TeamMolly Cooper                                     Ohio State University Subbu Kumarappan                          Ohio State University ATI 

This topic introduces key concepts that form the foundation of much of microeconomic analysis. The material ranges from a discussion of model-building as a way to simplify complex relationships among economic variables to definitions and descriptions of key concepts such as scarcity, efficiency and inefficiency, opportunity cost, comparative advantage and the gains from trade.

" This course is the first subject in the Environmental Policy and Planning sequence. It reviews philosophical debates including growth vs. deep ecology, "command-and-control" vs. market-oriented approaches to regulation, and the importance of expertise vs. indigenous knowledge. Its emphasis is placed on environmental planning techniques and strategies. Related topics include the management of sustainability, the politics of ecosystem management, environmental governance and the changing role of civil society, ecological economics, integrated assessment (combining environmental impact assessment (EIA) and risk assessment), joint fact finding in science-intensive policy disputes, environmental justice in poor communities of color, and environmental dispute resolution."