What does this Microeconomics cheat sheet cover?

It has 10 sections: Supply & Demand, Elasticity, Surplus, Controls & Taxes, Costs, Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly & Games, Externalities and Utility Choice. Together they cover the topics a typical Microeconomics exam tests, including supply and demand, equilibrium, elasticity, consumer and producer surplus and price controls and taxes.

Is the microeconomics cheat sheet free?

The first part is free to read on this page, with no account needed. The full sheet opens in the app with Unlimited ($4.99 a month or $19 for a semester), where you can edit it, print it or save it as a PDF. It is one US Letter page and prints cleanly in black and white or colour.

Can I bring this Microeconomics cheat sheet to my exam?

Only if your course allows a note sheet, so check the syllabus. This one is a single US Letter page. If your exam allows a different size, such as a 3x5 or 4x6 index card or one page front and back, Cheat Sheet AI makes one at exactly that size from your own lecture notes.

The sheet was written by our engine from a standard course outline, then a second model fact-checked every formula and statement against it; it corrected 4 statements before publishing. Notation and emphasis vary between courses, so check it against your own lecture notes.

Can I make a Microeconomics sheet from my own notes?

Yes. Upload your lecture slides, notes or study guide and Cheat Sheet AI writes a sheet in your course's notation, sized to exactly the space your exam allows. Your first sheets are free.

Social Science & BusinessMicroeconomics

Microeconomics Cheat Sheet — 1-page PDF

Supply and demand, elasticity, surplus, firms, market structure, welfare. The whole course on one dense, printable page for your midterm or final, with every formula typeset and worked examples where they help.

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For a specific exam: Microeconomics Final exam study sheet.

1 pageUS Letter
10 sections10 topics
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Preview of the one-page Microeconomics cheat sheet: Supply and demand, elasticity, surplus, firms, market structure, welfare — the whole course, one page

On the sheet

What’s on it

The topics a typical Microeconomics exam tests, all on the one page.

Supply and demand, equilibrium
Elasticity
Consumer and producer surplus
Price controls and taxes
Costs of production
Perfect competition
Monopoly
Oligopoly and game theory
Market failures and externalities
Utility maximization

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The free part, as text

The free part of the sheet, section by section. Unlock the full sheet to read the rest, edit any block, and print it or save it as a PDF.

01Supply & Demand

Demand curve: $Q_{d} = f (P, I, P_{s}, T, N, \dots)$ ; inverse demand: $P = P (Q)$ , ceteris paribus.
Supply curve: $Q_{s} = g (P, w, r, tech, \dots)$ ; inverse supply: $P = P (Q)$ , ceteris paribus.

Market eq.

Q_{d} (P^{*}) = Q_{s} (P^{*})

Equilibrium price $P^{*}$ , quantity $Q^{*}$ where demand = supply.

Comparative statics

Δ P^{*}, Δ Q^{*} from shifts in D or S

Right shift of $D$ raises $P^{*}$ and $Q^{*}$ ; right shift of $S$ lowers $P^{*}$ and raises $Q^{*}$ (usual case).

Shifters

Curve	Shifts right if…	Shifts left if…
Demand	$I ↑$ if normal good; $P_{s} ↑$ ; tastes↑; buyers↑	$I ↓$ if normal good; $P_{s} ↓$ ; tastes↓; buyers↓
Supply	input price $↓$ ; tech↑; sellers↑	input price $↑$ ; tech↓; sellers↓

Eq.If demand rises and supply fixed, what happens to $P^{*}$ and $Q^{*}$ ?

$P^{*} ↑$ , $Q^{*} ↑$ . New shortage at old price; market moves up along supply.

Watch out:Do not say a demand increase means quantity demanded rises at the same price vs. market quantity changes. Shift vs. movement along curve.

02Surplus

Producer surplus: $P S =$ price received $-$ minimum acceptable price; area above supply and below price.

With linear curves

C S = \frac{1}{2} b Q^{*} P S = \frac{1}{2} h Q^{*}

For triangle areas; $b$ = height on demand side, $h$ = height on supply side.

Total surplus

T S = C S + P S

Efficient allocation maximizes $T S$ .

SurplusMarket price $= 10$ , demand intercept $= 18$ , supply intercept $= 4$ , $Q^{*} = 7$ . Find $C S, P S$ .

$C S = \frac{1}{2} (18 - 10) 7 = 28$ ; $P S = \frac{1}{2} (10 - 4) 7 = 21$ ; $T S = 49$ .

03Controls & Taxes

Price ceiling: Legal max price; binding if set below equilibrium price.
Price floor: Legal min price; binding if set above equilibrium price.

Effects

Policy	Binding when	Main effect
Ceiling	$P_{ma x} < P^{*}$	shortage; lower price, lower quantity
Floor	$P_{min} > P^{*}$	surplus; higher price, lower quantity traded
Tax	per-unit wedge	reduces trade; creates deadweight loss

04Costs

Watch out:Short-run shutdown uses $A V C$ , not $A T C$ . Loss-minimizing output can still occur when $P < A T C$ .

05Perfect Competition

Perfect competition: Many buyers/sellers; homogeneous product; free entry/exit; firms are price takers.

Firm demand

P = M R = A R

Price taker faces horizontal demand at market price.

Profit max

M R = M C

Competitive firm chooses $Q$ where $P = M C$ if producing.

Supply rule

Q (P) : P = M C on M C \geq A V C

Firm supply is the $M C$ curve above shutdown point.

Long-run equilibrium

P = M R = M C = A T C_{min}

Zero economic profit; allocative efficiency at $P = M C$ .

Comp. firmIf $P = 12$ and $M C$ crosses $P$ at $Q = 30$ , what output maximizes profit?

Produce $Q = 30$ as long as $P \geq A V C$ at that output; stop if $P < A V C$ .

06Oligopoly & Games

Prisoner’s dilemma

Individually rational $\neq \Rightarrow$ jointly efficient

Incentive to cheat on collusion.

Cournot idea

$q_{i}$ chosen simultaneously; $Q = \sum q_{i}$

Each firm best-responds to rivals’ outputs.

PDIf both firms can collude or cheat, which outcome is usually Nash?

Cheat/cheat, since cheating is often a dominant or best-response strategy.

07Externalities

Negative externality: Private action imposes external cost on others; social marginal cost exceeds private marginal cost ( $M S C > P M C$ ).
Positive externality: Private action creates external benefit; social marginal benefit exceeds private marginal benefit.

Efficient condition

M S B = M S C

Choose quantity where social marginal benefit equals social marginal cost.

Pigouvian tax

t^{*} = M E C

Tax equal to marginal external cost at efficient output.

Subsidy

s^{*} = M E B

Subsidy equal to marginal external benefit.

Cheat sheet locked

Also on the full Microeconomics sheet

8 more sections, with every definition, formula and worked example. Unlimited unlocks every full sheet in the library to edit, print or save as a PDF, and makes unlimited sheets from your own notes.

Elasticity

Price elasticity of demand
Point elasticity
Arc elasticity
Elasticity cases
Total revenue
Cross elasticity
Income elasticity

Surplus

Consumer surplus

Controls & Taxes

Tax wedge
Tax incidence
Deadweight loss

Costs

Economic cost
Fixed cost
Variable cost
Cost relations
Marginal cost
Profit
Shutdown rule

Monopoly

Monopoly
MR under monopoly
Profit max
Mark-up
Deadweight loss
Compare

Oligopoly & Games

Oligopoly
Dominant strategy
Nash equilibrium
Typical payoffs

Externalities

Policy tools

Utility Choice

Utility maximization
Budget constraint
MU per dollar
MRS rule
Corner solution
Two-good choice

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FAQ

Questions

About the Microeconomics sheet and making your own.

What does this Microeconomics cheat sheet cover?: It has 10 sections: Supply & Demand, Elasticity, Surplus, Controls & Taxes, Costs, Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly & Games, Externalities and Utility Choice. Together they cover the topics a typical Microeconomics exam tests, including supply and demand, equilibrium, elasticity, consumer and producer surplus and price controls and taxes.
Is the microeconomics cheat sheet free?: The first part is free to read on this page, with no account needed. The full sheet opens in the app with Unlimited ($4.99 a month or $19 for a semester), where you can edit it, print it or save it as a PDF. It is one US Letter page and prints cleanly in black and white or colour.
Can I bring this Microeconomics cheat sheet to my exam?: Only if your course allows a note sheet, so check the syllabus. This one is a single US Letter page. If your exam allows a different size, such as a 3x5 or 4x6 index card or one page front and back, Cheat Sheet AI makes one at exactly that size from your own lecture notes.
How accurate is it?: The sheet was written by our engine from a standard course outline, then a second model fact-checked every formula and statement against it; it corrected 4 statements before publishing. Notation and emphasis vary between courses, so check it against your own lecture notes.
Can I make a Microeconomics sheet from my own notes?: Yes. Upload your lecture slides, notes or study guide and Cheat Sheet AI writes a sheet in your course's notation, sized to exactly the space your exam allows. Your first sheets are free.

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