Gunnar Nelson, Chapter 1, Question #6

In the first few pages of Chapter 1, Wheelan gives a quote from a nobel prize economist Gary Becker, Becker states that "economy is the art of making the most out of life" (pg. 6), Wheelan makes the claim that economics is the study of how we make the most out of life. This definition of economics makes the most sense to me. Instead of every economist being completely cut-throat looking for the absolute best deals where they can buy somthing for the least amount of money. 

A major theme that Wheelan used in chapter one was the "individuals maximization of utility." A statement that I found most interesting is "why did the Entrepreneur cross the road? Because he could make more money on the other side." Besides it's humor, this statement provides a very important fundamental of economics on the individual and eventually the nation. Each individual will have preferences, which is non-synonymous with selfishness. It is only in an effort to maximize a persons utilities. Wheelan uses two small scale examples and a larger scale example. Wheelan describes a woman in an obituary who lived in a small, "sparsely furnished house" and only had a black and white tv, Ms.Mcarthy worked as a laundress, and before her passing had given 150,000 dollars to charity. This further shows how the maximization of the individuals utilities is non-synonymous with selfish desire.