Harvard EC 10A: Principles of Economics: Microeconomics
Ec 10A is the fall-semester microeconomics half of Harvard's famous Principles of Economics sequence, historically one of the largest courses at the college. It covers supply and demand, markets, firm behavior, and policy applications, and is the entry point to the economics concentration.
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What makes it hard
The content is standard intro micro, but exams reward precise graphical and quantitative reasoning, and the course's scale means grading is systematic, with no partial credit for vibes. Students who treat it as a reading course get caught by problem-set-style exam questions on elasticity, surplus, and policy analysis.
What you'll cover
- • Supply, demand, and equilibrium
- • Elasticity
- • Consumer and producer theory
- • Market efficiency and welfare
- • Taxes, externalities, and policy
- • Market structures
The EC 10A study guide
How to study for Harvard EC 10A, step by step.
- 1
Do every pset thoroughly, not minimally
Ec 10A's exams are predictable for students who treat each problem set as exam rehearsal. Work every part, and rework the ones you needed help on a few days later.
- 2
Make graph mechanics automatic
Drawing, shifting, and labeling supply-demand and welfare diagrams should cost zero conscious effort by midterm. The exams grade systematically, with no partial credit for vibes, so precision in the mechanics is everything.
- 3
Use section as a feedback loop, not a recap
Arrive with the week's problems attempted and your specific confusions identified. Section is where the gap between your reasoning and the rubric's expectations gets closed.
- 4
Drill the quantitative question styles
Elasticity computations, surplus areas, and tax-incidence numbers recur in exam after exam. Practice them under time pressure until the setups are instant.
Today
Today's EC 10A plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for EC 10A. Yours is built from your own syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is Ec 10A hard?
It's accessible but precise. Exam questions are quantitative and graphical, not essay-style. Students who do every pset thoroughly find exams predictable.
Do I need Ec 10A for the economics concentration?
Ec 10A and 10B (or equivalent placement) are the standard gateway into the Harvard economics concentration and prerequisites for intermediate theory.
Should I take Ec 10A with no economics background?
Yes, it assumes none. Comfort with graphs and basic algebra is the only real prerequisite.
More Harvard courses
EC 10B: Principles of Economics: Macroeconomics
Ec 10B is the spring macroeconomics half of Harvard's principles sequence: GDP, inflation, unemployment, growth, monetary and fiscal policy, and international economics. Together with Ec 10A it forms the foundation for all further economics coursework at Harvard.
EC 1010A: Intermediate Microeconomics
Ec 1010A is Harvard's intermediate microeconomic theory course, covering consumer and producer optimization, equilibrium, market failures, and welfare. It's the first of the two theory pillars of the economics concentration after Ec 10, and where economics goes from graphs to calculus.
EC 1010B: Intermediate Macroeconomics
Ec 1010B is Harvard's intermediate macroeconomic theory course, covering growth, fluctuations, unemployment, inflation, and the analytics of fiscal and monetary policy. It's the second theory pillar of the economics concentration after Ec 10. Models that Ec 10B sketched verbally get full mathematical treatment here.