Economic Decision-Making Principles
After careful thought, I decided to take Web Design as an elective course besides my three compulsory courses for the semester. In the making of this decision, I considered personal interests and economic decision-making principles.
First, I considered the principle that people face trade-offs whenever they purchase a good or service (Mankiw, 2018). Under this principle, any money used for a good cannot be used to satisfy another need. This allows people to carefully analyze their spending habits to ensure they cater for basic needs before satisfying secondary desires. Under this principle, I first analyzed whether there was a basic course that was left out, mainly because this was my last semester. After determining that all the vital courses were catered for, I searched for a course that was within my desires and whose professional demand was relatively high.
Secondly, I decided to take the course after reflecting on the principle that defines the cost of a good or service as what is given up to make the purchase (Power, 2017). This does not mean money. For example, the cost of a car is both its buying price and the money needed to cater for its maintenance and fuel. Under this principle, if the overall costs turns out expensive in the long run, then the good is not worth investing in. Applying the law to my choice, I analyzed the overall cost in terms of the time spent learning, the amount paid in school fees, and whether it will require any further input in the long run. From my analysis, the projected returns and satisfaction from taking the course were more than the overall cost, making the course worth it.
References
Mankiw, G. N. (2018). Principles of Macroeconomics. Cengage.
Power, M. (2017). The Four Principles of Making Economic Decisions. Biz Fluent.