There are many reasons for studying economics. First, economics is essential to understanding the world in which you live and work. What determines the prices of the goods and services on which you spend your income, and the prices of the stocks and bonds in which you invest your savings? How does education affect the lifetime earnings of people? Why do some people earn so much and others so little? Why do some jobs pay high wages while other jobs pay low wages? How do firms operating in different market environments decide what quantities to produce of their product outputs, what prices to charge for these outputs, and what quantities of labour and capital inputs to employ? How can economic analysis help us understand and solve the problems of environmental pollution and resource depletion? What determines the level of national income and aggregate employment, the rate of price inflation, the rate of unemployment, the rate of growth of aggregate output and productivity, and the international value of the Canadian dollar? Why do average standards of living vary so widely among and within countries?