Math For Economics 1 - SP17

During the Spring semester of 2017, MFE - I will be coordinated by Prof. Hesam Oveys (ho15@nyu.edu).

Welcome to Mathematics for Economics! This is the first semester of a sequence designed to give you the intuition to think about economic ideas in mathematical terms, and interpret mathematical concepts in the context of economics. Your understanding of economics and mathematics both will improve after this sequence.

Mathematics is increasingly important in terms of the expression and communication of ideas in economics. A thorough knowledge of mathematics is indispensable for understanding almost all fields of economics, including both applied and theoretical fields. Especially understanding of elements of calculus and linear algebra are crucial to the study of economics. This class is designed to provide the appropriate mathematical tools for students who are interested in economics with policy concentration. The formal derivations of the mathematical tools needed will be the heart of this class. Economic concepts and models can often be easily and precisely described in terms of mathematical notation when words and graphs would fail or mislead us so the intent of this course is to teach you the language of mathematics and how to use it to better understand economics. Therefore, as applications of the mathematical concepts covered in class, examples and motivation will be drawn from important topics in economics. Topics covered in Math for Economics I include derivatives of functions of one and several variables, interpretations of the derivative, convexity, constrained and unconstrained single variable optimization.