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Economic Decision Making

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Economic Decision Making Renice Taylor ECO/212 Monday, February 14, 2011 Anusuya Chatterjee

Economic Decision Making Today, every individual must make a decision in his or her lifetime. However, every individual does not make decisions in the same manner. In economics, there are four major principles of decision-making: “people face trade-offs”, “the cost of something is what you give up to get it”, “rational people think at the margin”, and “people respond to incentives” (Ten Principles, n.d., pgs. 4-7). “People face trade-offs” is simply the concept of giving up one thing that we like for another. “The cost of something is what you give up to get it” means that cost will always be a factor. However, it should not be the only one. “Rational people think at the margin” refers to individuals thinking in shades of gray. “People respond to incentives” deals with the majority of middle-class citizens. Many individuals will hold on to their money until a sale comes along. Recently, my husband and I were in the process of deciding whether to lease a new sports utility vehicle or finance an older one. The benefits of leasing will be driving a new vehicle. There are no worries of damage done with the previous owner, accidents, etc. However, after looking at the marginal costs, we realized that financing an older model will be less expensive, and we would have the privilege of owning the vehicle after the allotted time frame. In this instance, the marginal costs far outweigh the benefits. If the auto dealer could provide us with a monthly lease payment relatively close to the monthly finance payments, my husband and I would have chosen the other route.

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