Clarify economic thinking from everyday choices to policy analysis.
---
name: economics
slug: economics
version: 1.0.0
description: Clarify economic thinking from everyday choices to policy analysis.
homepage: https://clawic.com/skills/economics
metadata:
clawdbot:
emoji: 📈
os:
- linux
- darwin
- win32
displayName: Economics
---
## Detect Level, Adapt Everything
- Context reveals level: vocabulary, question complexity, familiarity with models
- When unclear, start with concrete trade-offs and adjust based on response
- Never condescend to experts or overwhelm beginners
## For Beginners: Choices, Not Money
- Scarcity is the core — you can't have everything, every choice means giving something up
- Use trades they understand — "Would you swap your apple for two cookies? Why?"
- Money is a tool, not the subject — economics is about decisions, not just dollars
- Specialization explains jobs — the baker bakes, the farmer farms, everyone trades
- Supply and demand through stories — "More people want it, price goes up. Why?"
- Incentives shape behavior — "What would YOU do if the rules were X?"
- Connect to their allowance, their time, their choices
## For Students: Models and Mechanisms
- Models simplify to reveal — supply/demand curves aren't real, but they predict
- Incentives first — before analyzing any policy, ask what behavior it rewards and punishes
- Distinguish positive from normative — testable claims vs value judgments
- Graphs tell stories — read axes, find equilibrium, trace what shifts when
- Micro vs macro need different tools — individual optimization ≠ aggregate outcomes
- Ceteris paribus is doing heavy lifting — real predictions account for what else changes
- Elasticity determines impact — who actually pays when you tax something?
## For Researchers: Identification and Assumptions
- Assumptions drive results — most disagreements trace to priors about elasticities or expectations
- Identification is everything — natural experiments, IV, RDD; theory without identification is speculation
- Welfare analysis requires value judgments — efficiency isn't the only criterion, distribution matters
- Models are tools, not beliefs — DSGE, agent-based, behavioral each illuminate different aspects
- Distinguish structural from reduced form — know what each can and cannot answer
- External validity matters — lab results may not generalize, policy context differs
- Acknowledge the replication crisis — be honest about what's robustly established
## For Teachers: Common Traps
- Economics is not finance — stock tips and budgeting are applications, not the discipline
- Preempt misconceptions — "rational" doesn't mean selfish, markets aren't always efficient
- Current events teach — connect inflation, trade policy, unemployment to theory
- Show disagreement honestly — economists dispute much; false consensus breeds distrust
- Use experiments and games — ultimatum game, public goods, reveal intuitions before formalizing
- Calculation builds intuition — work through numbers, don't just show curves
- History of thought provides context — Smith, Keynes, Friedman asked different questions
## Always
- Trade-offs are unavoidable — free lunches are rare, ask what's being sacrificed
- Second-order effects matter — policy changes behavior, changed behavior changes outcomes
- Data without theory is noise; theory without data is speculation
---
name: economics
slug: economics
version: 1.0.0
description: Clarify economic thinking from everyday choices to policy analysis.
homepage: https://clawic.com/skills/economics
metadata:
clawdbot:
emoji: 📈
os:
- linux
- darwin
- win32
displayName: Economics
---
## Detect Level, Adapt Everything
- Context reveals level: vocabulary, question complexity, familiarity with models
- When unclear, start with concrete trade-offs and adjust based on response
- Never condescend to experts or overwhelm beginners
## For Beginners: Choices, Not Money
- Scarcity is the core — you can't have everything, every choice means giving something up
- Use trades they understand — "Would you swap your apple for two cookies? Why?"
- Money is a tool, not the subject — economics is about decisions, not just dollars
- Specialization explains jobs — the baker bakes, the farmer farms, everyone trades
- Supply and demand through stories — "More people want it, price goes up. Why?"
- Incentives shape behavior — "What would YOU do if the rules were X?"
- Connect to their allowance, their time, their choices
## For Students: Models and Mechanisms
- Models simplify to reveal — supply/demand curves aren't real, but they predict
- Incentives first — before analyzing any policy, ask what behavior it rewards and punishes
- Distinguish positive from normative — testable claims vs value judgments
- Graphs tell stories — read axes, find equilibrium, trace what shifts when
- Micro vs macro need different tools — individual optimization ≠ aggregate outcomes
- Ceteris paribus is doing heavy lifting — real predictions account for what else changes
- Elasticity determines impact — who actually pays when you tax something?
## For Researchers: Identification and Assumptions
- Assumptions drive results — most disagreements trace to priors about elasticities or expectations
- Identification is everything — natural experiments, IV, RDD; theory without identification is speculation
- Welfare analysis requires value judgments — efficiency isn't the only criterion, distribution matters
- Models are tools, not beliefs — DSGE, agent-based, behavioral each illuminate different aspects
- Distinguish structural from reduced form — know what each can and cannot answer
- External validity matters — lab results may not generalize, policy context differs
- Acknowledge the replication crisis — be honest about what's robustly established
## For Teachers: Common Traps
- Economics is not finance — stock tips and budgeting are applications, not the discipline
- Preempt misconceptions — "rational" doesn't mean selfish, markets aren't always efficient
- Current events teach — connect inflation, trade policy, unemployment to theory
- Show disagreement honestly — economists dispute much; false consensus breeds distrust
- Use experiments and games — ultimatum game, public goods, reveal intuitions before formalizing
- Calculation builds intuition — work through numbers, don't just show curves
- History of thought provides context — Smith, Keynes, Friedman asked different questions
## Always
- Trade-offs are unavoidable — free lunches are rare, ask what's being sacrificed
- Second-order effects matter — policy changes behavior, changed behavior changes outcomes
- Data without theory is noise; theory without data is speculation
Imported from the listed AgentSkill.sh category. Complete supplied package files and notices are retained. Required external tools and credentials are not installed. No bundled code was executed during import. Individual agent task behavior has not been tested.