Economics from First Principles
Rebuilding economic intuition from the ground up.
33 posts · Money & Business
- 1
Learn Economics From First Principles: A Beginner Course
A from-scratch economics course for beginners. No jargon, no prior knowledge - just 32 plain-English guides that rebuild how the economy really works.
- 2
What Is Economics? The One Idea That Explains It All
Economics isn't really about money. It's about how people choose when they can't have everything. Here's the one idea that makes the whole field click.
- 3
How Economists Think: Incentives, Margins, and Models
Learn how economists think using incentives, thinking at the margin, and simple models. A clear guide to the mental moves that explain everyday choices.
- 4
Supply and Demand: How Prices Really Get Set
Nobody decides what your coffee costs, yet the price is never random. Here is how supply and demand quietly set prices for everything you buy.
- 5
Why Markets Fail: Monopolies, Pollution, and the Limits of Competition
Markets usually serve us well, but four classic market failures break them. Learn how monopolies, externalities, public goods, and information gaps work.
- 6
How People Really Decide What to Buy
Why does cheap water cost nothing while diamonds cost a fortune? Consumer behavior explains how people really decide what to buy, and how sellers use it.
- 7
What Money Is and Why It Has Value (The Real Answer)
Why does a slip of paper buy real food and labour? Discover what money actually is, why fiat money has value, and what happens when trust in it breaks.
- 8
How Do Banks Create Money? The Truth About Your Deposits
Banks don't lend out savings like you think. They create money from nothing every time they make a loan. Here's how banks really work, in plain language.
- 9
How Central Banks Quietly Steer the Whole Economy
How central banks move one interest rate to steer jobs, prices, mortgages, and the dollar - and why their decisions take a year to land in your life.
- 10
Interest Rates Explained: How Loans and Debt Really Work
Interest rates explained in plain English: why interest exists, how your credit score sets your rate, and why real returns beat the number on your statement.
- 11
Inflation and Deflation: Why Your Money Keeps Losing Value
Why does a coffee cost ten times what it did in 1980? This plain-English guide to inflation, deflation, and the value of money explains it without the jargon.
- 12
GDP, CPI, PPP Explained: How to Actually Read an Economy
GDP, GNP, CPI, and PPP explained in plain language. Learn what each number measures, what it quietly hides, and how to read an economy like a pro.
- 13
Why Are Some Countries Rich? The Math Behind Growth
Economic growth and productivity decide why some countries are rich and others poor. Learn the Rule of 70, the Solow model, and why institutions matter most.
- 14
Why Some Jobs Pay More: The Real Reason Behind Your Wage
Why do some jobs pay more than others? It is not effort or virtue. Learn the six forces that set every wage, from skill scarcity to superstar markets.
- 15
How to Actually Read the Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate can fall while no one gets hired. Learn how the rate is really counted, what it hides, and how to read the jobs report like an economist.
- 16
The Business Cycle: Why Booms Always End in Busts
The business cycle explained in plain language: the four phases, what causes booms and recessions, and the warning signs that a downturn is coming.
- 17
Deficit vs Debt: What the $37 Trillion Really Means
Fiscal policy explained simply: how taxes, spending, deficits, and the national debt work, why the debt isn't like your mortgage, and what really limits it.
- 18
Why a Software Firm Keeps 70 Cents and a Grocer Keeps 2
Why does the same iPhone cost twice as much abroad? This business economics guide shows how costs, margins, pricing, and moats decide which firms win.
- 19
How Companies Grow, Raise Capital, and Fund Your Raise
Learn how companies create value, raise capital, and grow - from bootstrapping to VC, dilution, and the chain that turns one investment into higher wages.
- 20
Stocks, Bonds, and Derivatives Explained Simply
Stocks, bonds, commodities, and derivatives explained in plain English: how financial markets price the future, move risk, and reward patience over panic.
- 21
Housing Economics: Why Cheap Mortgages Cost You More
A plain-English guide to housing economics: why house prices rise, how interest rates move them, the real rent-vs-buy math, and what caused the 2008 crash.
- 22
Who Really Pays a Tariff? How Global Trade Actually Works
Imports, exports, tariffs, and trade deficits explained in plain language. Learn who really pays a tariff, why trade isn't zero-sum, and what it means for you.
- 23
Why Currencies Rise and Fall: Exchange Rates Made Simple
Understand exchange rates in plain language: why currencies rise or fall, how forex markets work, and what moves the value of money across borders.
- 24
Globalization Explained: How Economies Connect
Globalization links national economies through trade, money, people, and ideas. Here is how it works, who wins, who loses, and why it matters to you.
- 25
Financial Crises: Why They Happen, Spread, and How They End
A clear guide to financial crises: why they happen, how panic spreads from one bank to the whole system, and how economies finally recover. No jargon.
- 26
Why the Rich Get Richer: Inequality Explained Simply
Understand wealth inequality, why the rich get richer, and how poverty really works. A clear, jargon-free guide to income, wealth, and mobility.
- 27
Why Are Some Countries Rich and Others Poor? The Real Answer
Why some countries are rich and others poor is not about smart people or luck. See how institutions, borders, and the rules of the game decide a nation's fate.
- 28
Why AI Won't Take Your Job (But Will Reshape It)
Will AI take your job? History says automation reinvents work more than it erases it. Here's how technology really drives growth, jobs, and who keeps the gains.
- 29
How Population and Demographics Shape Every Economy
Why population age and fertility rates quietly decide whether an economy grows or stalls. Demographics in plain language, with real examples you can use.
- 30
Why Government Exists: The Economics of When Markets Fail
Public economics explains when government should step in, how it taxes, and why Social Security is at risk, covering market failure, the Laffer curve, and UBI.
- 31
Environmental Economics: Why Pollution Is a Pricing Bug
Environmental economics shows pollution is a pricing failure, not just greed. Learn externalities, carbon taxes, the commons, and the social cost of carbon.
- 32
Behavioral Economics: Why Smart People Make Money Mistakes
Behavioral economics reveals why your brain makes predictable money mistakes - loss aversion, anchoring, nudges, and the biases that drive bubbles and crashes.
- 33
How the Economy Connects: Ripple Effects Explained
Why does one interest rate decision change your rent, your job, and grocery prices worldwide? Here is how ripple effects move through the whole economy.