Edition: | António Duarte Santos and Sandra Ribeiro

Choices in an economy are constrained because existing resources are scarce in the face of unlimited wants. We can never get everything we want. The microeconomic analysis, when exercised, serves to apprehend the consequences of our choices in the context of the whole society and with the beacon of the time factor. Thus, prosperity and efficiency are generalized but not universal claims. The existence of poverty is an example of this, as is the waste of resources, whether natural, labor force, physical capital, human capital, entrepreneurs or technological resources.

This book asks questions that force choices, reminds us of sacrificing preferences, and looks at alternatives that can help us make better decisions about the use of resources. Thus, it intends to contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of economic agents and the problem of choices and decisions at an introductory level, strengthening the deepening of microeconomics knowledge in a wide audience and without the mandatory need to have exclusive training in this area of the knowledge.