Core Curriculum Statistics for Data Analysis Sequence Principles of Microeconomics and Public Policy Sequence Analytical Politics Sequence Core Project At the Harris School of Public Policy, microeconomics is a decision-making framework for tackling complex challenges. Whether evaluating tax proposals, regulating markets, or analyzing healthcare policy, understanding how individuals and institutions respond to incentives is essential.The microeconomics sequence combines economic theory with applied analysis. Students learn to assess policy tradeoffs, anticipate behavioral responses, and evaluate the likely effects of different interventions. Rather than treating economics as a siloed discipline, the sequence connects closely with the rest of the Core, offering a set of tools that complement statistical reasoning and political strategy. This training helps students move beyond intuition and ideology to approach policy questions with clarity, rigor, and a structured analytical lens.What You'll LearnCourseMicroeconomics IStudents begin by studying how individuals, firms, and governments make decisions under conditions of scarcity. By examining how prices, incentives, and constraints shape behavior, students build a foundation in core economic concepts such as supply and demand, consumer choice, and firm behavior.This framework prepares students to analyze when markets function effectively and when policy intervention may be warranted. Through applied examples, students learn to think systematically about costs, benefits, and tradeoffs, and to use economic reasoning to evaluate policy options across a range of domains.CourseMicroeconomics IIThe second course turns to situations in which markets fail to produce efficient or equitable outcomes. Students examine sources of market failure such as externalities, market power, and asymmetric information, and analyze policy tools—including taxes, subsidies, regulation, and public provision—used to address them.Students also learn to anticipate the limitations and unintended consequences of government action. By analyzing how costs and benefits are distributed across groups, they develop the ability to evaluate competing proposals, identify potential risks, and apply economic logic to complex policy tradeoffs.Konstantin SoninLearning from Faculty Who Use These ToolsKonstantin Sonin, John Dewey Distinguished Service ProfessorProfessor Konstantin Sonin teaches Microeconomics II as a way for students to make sense of the world they encounter beyond the classroom. His work spans political economy, conflict, development, and economic theory, and his teaching emphasizes how microeconomic frameworks help policy analysts evaluate bold claims made by policymakers, industry leaders, and the media.In Sonin’s view, microeconomics is not about memorizing models but about learning how to reduce complexity. Concepts such as market power, incentives, and tradeoffs provide tools for separating signal from noise and thinking more clearly about consequences. Whether assessing claims about monopolies, airline mergers, or international trade, students learn to ask disciplined questions about who benefits, who bears the costs, and why outcomes differ from intentions.That approach carries directly into applied policy work. Sonin encourages students to distinguish rhetoric from evidence, be precise about what is known and what remains uncertain, and use theory to explain what is likely to happen under different policy choices. His teaching underscores that there are rarely simple answers in public policy—only tradeoffs—and that clear, careful analysis is what allows decisionmakers to understand and navigate them.Molly Smith, MPP'23Putting Analysis to WorkMolly Smith, MPP'23As Director of Policy at IFF, a leading community development financial institution, Molly Smith uses the tools she developed in the Core to translate research into actionable policy strategy. Her work focuses on affordable housing and community development, where weighing tradeoffs and assessing evidence are everyday tasks.Smith credits microeconomics with helping her evaluate competing proposals, understand distributional impacts, and communicate policy implications clearly to decision-makers. “The Core built the habit of thinking critically about evidence and tradeoffs,” she says, a habit that continues to guide her work shaping policies that can earn support and deliver results.