WGU D089: Principles of Economics

Why Principles of Economics Shows Up Across WGU Business Degrees

WGU D089 Principles of Economics is the foundational economics course inside the School of Business, and you'll find it in degree plans across business management, finance, accounting, and related programs. It's worth 3 competency units and introduces the economic theories that explain how markets work — why prices rise, why shortages happen, why the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, and how all of that filters down to the decisions managers make every day. WGU's official course description frames it as the knowledge students need to be successful managers, and that's an accurate way to think about it: this is applied reasoning, not abstract math.

Direct answer: You pass D089 by working through the course material in order — economic thinking, then microeconomics, then macroeconomics — while drawing every major graph by hand until you can reproduce and shift it from memory. Take the pre-assessment seriously, drill your weak units, and sit the Objective Assessment once you can explain supply-and-demand shifts, elasticity, market structures, and fiscal versus monetary policy without notes.

The course is organized into three units: the economic way of thinking, microeconomics, and macroeconomics. If you've never taken an economics class, don't panic — D089 assumes no prior background. It starts by defining what economics even is, builds the supply and demand model from scratch, and only then moves into bigger-picture topics like GDP, inflation, and monetary policy. Students who took high school economics or who follow business news often find large stretches familiar.

D089 is assessed by a proctored, multiple-choice Objective Assessment (OA) — there is no paper or project. That makes your prep strategy simple: understand the models, memorize the vocabulary, and practice applying both to scenario questions.

What the D089 Objective Assessment Covers

Based on WGU's official course description, the material breaks down into three areas:

Expect graph-based questions throughout. The exam favors "what happens if..." scenarios — a tax is imposed, consumer income rises, the central bank buys bonds — where you have to predict the direction prices, quantities, or output move. If you can reason through shifts rather than memorizing isolated facts, the questions become much more predictable.

How Hard Is D089, and How Long Does It Take?

Most students land D089 in the moderate range: harder than a pure vocabulary course, easier than quantitative courses like D102 Financial Accounting. The math itself is light — arithmetic, percentages, and simple formulas like the elasticity calculation — but the conceptual load is real. You're learning two related-but-different disciplines (micro and macro) in one course, and each has its own set of graphs and vocabulary.

Many students report finishing D089 in roughly two to five weeks of consistent study, and accelerators with prior economics exposure sometimes move faster. If economics is brand new to you, budget on the longer end and spend the extra time on graph practice. The two spots that slow people down most are elasticity (the calculations and the interpretation) and the macroeconomic policy chapters, where fiscal and monetary policy are easy to mix up under exam pressure.

A Study Plan Built Around How Economics Is Actually Tested

Because the OA leans on scenario reasoning, passive reading is the least efficient way to prepare. Here's a plan that matches the exam:

1. Follow the course order — it's deliberate. The economic way of thinking gives you the vocabulary, microeconomics gives you the core model, and macroeconomics scales that model up. Skipping ahead to macro before supply and demand is solid leads to confusion later.
2. Draw every graph by hand, repeatedly. Supply and demand, shifts versus movements along a curve, the production possibilities frontier, aggregate supply and aggregate demand. For each one, practice the cause-and-effect drills: "income rises for a normal good — which curve moves, which direction, what happens to price and quantity?" Being able to sketch the answer in ten seconds is the single highest-value skill for this OA.
3. Use active recall for vocabulary. Make flashcards for terms like opportunity cost, price ceiling, externality, marginal cost, GDP deflator, and open market operations — then quiz yourself instead of rereading definitions. Space your reviews out over the weeks rather than cramming the night before.
4. Build a market-structure comparison chart. One table with perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly as columns, and rows for number of firms, barriers to entry, pricing power, and examples. Questions that ask you to identify a market structure from a description become nearly free points.
5. Drill fiscal versus monetary policy until the distinction is automatic. Fiscal policy is government taxing and spending; monetary policy is the central bank managing the money supply and interest rates. Practice classifying actions ("Congress cuts taxes" versus "the Fed lowers the discount rate") and predicting whether each is expansionary or contractionary.
6. Take the pre-assessment as a diagnostic, not a formality. Sit it under exam-like conditions, then use your coaching report to target the weakest unit. Free supplemental video series like Khan Academy's economics playlists or Jacob Clifford's review videos are excellent for reteaching a specific topic that didn't click in the course text.

If you're planning your term, D089 pairs naturally as a warm-up before number-heavier business courses like D196 Principles of Financial and Managerial Accounting — the "think in trade-offs" habit transfers directly.

Where Students Lose Points in D089

• Confusing a shift of the curve with movement along it. A price change moves you along a demand curve; a change in income, tastes, or the price of related goods shifts the whole curve. The OA tests this distinction relentlessly.
• Memorizing definitions without the graphs. Knowing what a price floor is won't help if you can't identify the surplus it creates on a diagram.
• Treating elasticity as pure memorization. You need both the computation and the interpretation — what elastic versus inelastic demand means for revenue when prices change.
• Blurring fiscal and monetary policy. Under time pressure, "government spending" and "Fed action" get swapped constantly. Slow down and identify the actor first.
• Cramming macro without securing micro. Aggregate supply and demand make far more sense when ordinary supply and demand are second nature.
• Skipping the pre-assessment. It's the closest official signal of your readiness; walking into the OA without it is guessing.

D089 Exam Readiness Checklist

You're ready to schedule the OA when you can honestly check every box:

• Can you define scarcity, opportunity cost, and marginal thinking, and apply them to a real decision?
• Can you draw a supply and demand graph and correctly shift it for at least five different scenarios (income change, input cost change, substitute price change, tax, expectation change)?
• Can you calculate price elasticity of demand and explain what the result means for a firm's total revenue?
• Can you name the four market structures and identify one from a short written description?
• Can you explain what GDP measures — and what it leaves out — plus how unemployment and inflation are tracked?
• Can you work through an aggregate supply / aggregate demand scenario and predict the effect on output and price level?
• Can you classify a policy action as fiscal or monetary, and as expansionary or contractionary, without hesitating?
• Can you explain why nations trade, including comparative advantage in plain language?
• Have you completed the pre-assessment and reviewed every topic your coaching report flagged?

WGU D089 FAQ

Is WGU D089 an OA or a PA?

D089 is assessed with a single proctored Objective Assessment — a multiple-choice exam. There is no performance assessment (paper or project) for this course.

How many competency units is D089 worth?

Principles of Economics is worth 3 competency units in WGU's business programs, per WGU's official program guidebooks.

Is D089 hard if I've never studied economics?

It's very doable. The course assumes no prior background and builds from first principles. The challenge is volume — micro and macro in one course — and graph fluency, not advanced math. Consistent daily practice with the graphs closes the gap quickly.

How long does D089 take to complete?

It varies with your background, but many students report finishing in roughly two to five weeks of steady study. Prior economics coursework or a habit of following business news tends to shorten that considerably.

How much math is on the D089 exam?

Only basic math: percentages, simple ratios, and formula-based calculations like elasticity. If you can handle the arithmetic in a typical algebra refresher, the math in D089 won't be your obstacle — interpreting graphs correctly is the bigger skill.

What's the best free supplement to the WGU course material?

Students consistently recommend Khan Academy's microeconomics and macroeconomics units and Jacob Clifford's YouTube review videos as clear, free reinforcement. Use them to reteach specific weak topics after your pre-assessment, not as a replacement for the official WGU course content.

Looking for more School of Business prep? Browse the Business course guides or the full guide index.