Economics for business - John Sloman

Why study Economics for Business

Good economic decision making is fundamental to the success of business

Economic decisions lie at the heart of business. Economics is all about the choices between alternatives and how to weigh up their costs and benefits. Studying this book will help you understand such choices and how to make them successfully when you take up a job or perhaps run your own business.

Businesses need to make choices of what and how much to produce, what techniques to use, who to employ, what investment to make, where to locate, what markets to develop and how best to compete with rivals. Economics helps them make the right decisions.

But making the right decisions depends on the economic environment in which businesses operate. For example, government policy affects business: whether through taxation, subsidies, training and education, regulation or trade policies.

The economic environment is also affected by trade relations and the actions of international bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Issues such as Brexit, trade deals and migration crucially affect businesses. The book shows you how.

You will be studying all these issues and more in this book. It will give you the skills to advise businesses and other organisations on how best to achieve their objectives. The advice of economists is crucial to good decision making.

But to give good advice requires understanding issues and assessing evidence. Studying economics helps to give you this understanding and makes you a better problem solver.