THE ECONOMICS OF LIFE
Directions: Write an informative essay in response to the following prompt question: What part does economic thinking play in life?
While you may utilize some direct reference to your own personal life, your work must also speak in general terms. Besides the answer to the broad abstract question above, please also provide a focused answer to at least two of the more specific prompts provided below:
1. To what extent can the economic perspective be applied when deciding between (1) your needs and desires regarding family and (2) the socially-imposed requirements and demands of building a successful career and/or business?
2. How will you reconcile your own personal dreams, hopes, and preferences with those of the others in your family unit (your spouse and your children)?
3. How does economic thinking apply to the "social contract" of the family unit, or can "economics" be disregarded when it comes to decisions inside the family?
4. How important is money in the successful accomplishment of your life goals?
5. How important is it to take an economically rational view in regards towards thinking about and planning towards the future?
6. How does economic thinking apply to considerations of living and working in the city/urban environment versus the country/rural environment? Explain how economics applies to questions surrounding whether to stay near where you originally grew up as opposed to moving far away and/or to moving to a culture that is very different to the one you were raised in.
7. Use economic thinking to describe your efforts to build elements of your human capital, e.g. the attainments of educational credentials, workplace skills and experiences, and social and cultural knowledge. How are these important?
8. Describe the applicability of economic thinking to decisions regarding romance, courtship, and marriage. Does economic thinking come into play in considerations of the relationship between people inside of the institution of marriage? to questions of trust, of faithfulness, and of divorce? Explain.
9. Consider the economics of your career. Will you work in the same productive field your whole life, or will you have to make a major change in professional orientation at some point? How will you prepare for and make such a transition?
10. What are the economics of planning for life difficulties such as unemployment, indebtedness, bankruptcy, and business failure? What about the economics of possible personal challenges of psychological dysfunction such as depression, potential addictions, crime victimization, or chronic physical illness?