In this week's discussion, we focus on how key economic principles affect the way a society goes about making decisions that maximize the utility from its limited resources.

a) Because of the fundamental problem of scarcity, we have to weigh options carefully before making a decision. Think about a major personal action you will be taking in the near future or have taken recently. Review the steps in "the economic way of thinking" and explain how you would apply its methodology to obtain the best possible decision. Provide specifics as much as possible.

(b) Economists often compare variables to determine the nature and extent of their relationships so that they can anticipate outcomes from changes in related variables. The relationship can be positive or negative. For example, the number of hours of exercise and a person's blood glucose count has a negative relationship. Better stated, for every additional 10 minutes you walk, your blood sugar decreases by 22 percent. Describe a pair of economic variables with a positive relationship and a pair with a negative relationship. Explain the extent to which they change in response to each other and the importance of their relationship to economics. Focus on "economic" variables only and use some numeric values to make your examples more meaningful.