Prices and Quantities: Fundamentals of Microeconomics

Rakesh V. Vohra offers a unique approach to studying and understanding
intermediate microeconomics by reversing the conventional order of
treatment, starting with topics that are mathematically simpler and
progressing to the more complex. The book begins with monopoly, which
requires single variable rather than multivariable calculus and allows
students to focus clearly on the fundamental trade-off at the heart of
economics: margin versus volume. Imperfect competition and the contrast
with monopoly follows, introducing the notion of Nash equilibrium.
Perfect competition is addressed toward the end of the book, and framed
as a model of non-strategic behavior by firms and agents. The last
chapter is devoted to externalities, with an emphasis on how one might
design competitive markets to price externalities and linking the
difficulties to the problem of efficient provision of public goods.
Real-life examples engage the reader while encouraging them to think
critically about the interplay between model and reality.