Beat The Market is an interactive software program, designed for the personal computer that will help students learn microeconomics in a new and exciting way. This is accomplished by allowing students to apply microeconomic terms, concepts, and models in a decision-making setting to achieve the objectives of the firm. This program puts students inside the world of the textbook. Students do not just read about market behavior and resource allocation, they live it!

Students are asked to manage a firm in different markets; perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. Beat The Market gives students the opportunity to see how different markets function. They then apply the microeconomic tools of analysis and try to 'beat the market'.

The mechanics of playing the game are very simple. Students compete against firms in a simulated market. Each market is managed by the computer. The program is self explanatory, menu driven, and has help screens. The general process is to enter your firm's operating decisions for a given period and market structure. You advance to the next time period by pressing the execute button, and you receive immediate feedback. The simulation evaluates your decisions relative to the competition and market environment and generates a set of reports that show you how well you are doing. Students are given a performance rating based on their firm's results.