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Microeconomics undrstand of a computer replacement schedule?

Kickstart70 — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:09:44 -0800

I work in IT in an industry that is currently suffering (forestry in Canada), because of that, the current computer replacement schedule (of approx 2500 computers) has moved from a 3 or 4 year schedule to 5-7 years. I am also *just* starting a course in microeconomics. I'd like to learn, and at the same time create a graph and information to understand and be able to explain the opportunity cost of this move. As well, I'd like (if what I learn proves it) provide convincing evidence of the worthwhileness of keeping closer to the original replacement schedule. And, I admit, I want to make myself look good :)

Where do I start? Is there an available resource that already covers this issue?

Thanks in advance!

How can I optimize my study given a time constraint of 'x' in a quasilinear scenario? (or: Help!)

cgomez — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:50:28 -0800

Looking for resources to help me understand material from an intermediate microeconomics course. Notes, practice problems, simplified explanations, anything would help. I'm currently in enrolled in the first course of a series on 'intermediate microeconomics'. The professor's teaching style isn't working too well for me as he never really delves into the math outside of mere basic equations which aren't what I'm being tested on.

Are there any particularly good sites online that would help make this course easier? With each week, it seems as though I'm just falling further behind. The topics that were covered recently are...

Preference and utility functions, finding optimal consumption bundles (optimal choice), perfect compliments/substitutes, demand curves, the Slutsky equation/substitution effect, endowment, etc.

Or if anyone has advice on learning the material. I have a little over a week and a half before the next midterm to get my act together; anything helps.

Tricks of reading supply and demand graphs

dropkick — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:49:02 -0800

I'm having the darndest time reading and discerning supply and demand graphs in Microeconomics, and I'm looking for suggestions from econ whizzes on how to improve in this area. There is so much that can be read from a simple supply and demand graph: who is getting product and how much, who isn't, price ceilings and price floors etcetera etcetera. I want to get good at it, and I'm asking for any tricks in parsing all this information quickly and accurately. Where do I look first on the graph? What question do I ask first? What do you do to extract all that info from a few straight lines on a page?