It is hard to identify the reasons why some businesses fail and why some succeed. Each possible factor (luck, market share, first to the market, etc.) has its own constituency of advocates. Yet, no one thing stands out across the population of firms. What does stand out, however, is that all business managers must make decisions and solve problems. Economics offers a framework for managers to better understand human behavior, and as such, analyze business issues. Thus, economics is a way to think. One of the basic foundations of economic thinking is that all decisions have costs. When one thing is selected, another thing is given up. The reason for this is that business resources are limited. This is to say, economic analysis encourages business managers to think in terms of alternatives when addressing business issues.