Olivet Business School (OBS) professor, Jacob Chatterjee reflected on the Microeconomics course offered during summer quarter.
Interviewer: Why do you think microeconomics course is important for MBA students?
Professor Chatterjee: Microeconomics and macroeconomics are an essential part of every MBA curriculum. Though on the surface, they seem as some of the less useful courses for an MBA student, it is the foundation of every exchange in our societies, whether it is for a single individual choice or societal.
Interviewer: It is said that economics is a hard subject to study. What is your comment on that?
Professor Chatterjee: Economics is usually seen as a social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. However a simpler way to see economics is through scarcity mindset – There is simply not enough resources on this planet for everyone, so we have to manage them properly. Economics becomes increasingly purposeful and interesting with this view.
Interviewer: What was the most interesting part about the microeconomics class this summer?
Professor Chatterjee: The class was very interesting, especially when students were able to identify various concepts of economics in their everyday life without even realizing it. For instance the students were taught about the notions of Average Cost, Marginal Cost, Average Variable Cost, and Marginal revenue. One of our current students was previously working in Samsung, deciding the price of laptops. He didn’t know that he was actually using those 4 notions without knowing it. The class was more practical than conceptual which was helpful for the students to be malleable for today’s world.
Interviewer: What were some of the responses of the students about the class?
Professor Chatterjee: One of the students who took the class said, “The class helped me have a critical look at my indirect surrounding. There are many things we don’t even think about but we are forced to experience. I think, at least for me, now I am forced to think a little bit differently after my microeconomics course.”
Interviewer: Is OBS offering any follow-up course on economics?
Professor Chatterjee: Yes, OBS is offering macroeconomics in Fall for those who took microeconomics in summer.