Econ 101: Principles of Microeconomics meets every day from May 19-July 11 2014.
General
- Economics Blogs – This is a good way to learn more about current economic issues.
- Econ 101 math primer – If you feel a little rusty on some math concepts, a fellow graduate student, TJ Rakitan, has created the following econ 101 math survival guide.
- Economics 101 – Syllabus
Reasoning About Economics
- For Tuesday, May 20. Reading Assignment #1: How Politics Makes Us Stupid. Link to discussion questions (fill out and hand in) – Reading Assignment #1 – Politics Makes Us Stupid.
- For Wednesday, May 21. Read Mankiw 19-24 for an introduction to economic models. If you need a refresher on using graphs and charts, it will also be helpful to read either Mankiw 37-45 or the Economic 101 Math Primer (see above), section 5.
- Slides: Lecture #1 – What is Economics, Lecture #2 – Positive and Normative Reasoning, Lecture #3 – Graphs
The Rational Actor
- For Thursday, May 22. Read Mankiw 3-12.
- Deriving the Saving with Annual Contributions Formula
- For Tuesday, May 27. Extra Credit Homework #1 – EC HW #1 – Interest Rates. Answer Key – EC HW #1 – Interest Rates Answer Key.
- Corrected in class calculation – How much school to get
Demand
- For Tuesday, May 27. Read Mankiw 67-73 for an introduction to demand curves.
- For Wednesday, May 28. Read Mankiw 89-98 for an introduction to demand elasticity.
- For Friday, May 30. Read Mankiw 135-140 for an introduction to welfare.
- For Friday, May 30. Extra Credit Homework #2 – EC HW #2 – Is College Worth It. Answer Key – EC HW #2 – Is College Worth It Answer Key.
- For Monday, June 2. Reading Assignment #2 – The Grapes of Wrath
Firms
- For Tuesday, June 3. Read Mankiw 259-274 on Firm costs. You can ignore any mention of supply curves, since we will discuss that in the upcoming classes.
- For Wednesday, June 4. Read the in-class Handout of Chapter 8 (up to costs in long-run) of Microeconomics: Principles and Applications by Robert E. Hall and Marc Lieberman, Sixth Edition, copyright 2012.
- For Friday, June 6. Extra Credit Homework #3 – Test #1 Practice
- For Tuesday, June 10. Read Mankiw 279-285 (where do supply curves come from), Mankiw 73-77 (supply curve basics), Mankiw 98-101 (price elasticity of supply), Mankiw 141-144 (welfare – producer surplus)
- Friday, June 6 is the last day to hand in Extra Credit Homework and have it be graded and returned before the first test.
- Monday, June 9 will be a Test Review day, where we will go over the homework and the practice exam. No credit will be given for homework handed in after this point.
- Additional Practice Problems for the first exam – Practice Problems #1
- Wednesday, June 11. Test #1. In class.
- Slides: Lecture #11 – Production Costs, Lecture #12 – Profit Maximization
- For Wednesday, June 18. Extra Credit Homework #4 – EC HW #4 – Intro to Competition. Answer key – EC HW #4 – Answer Key
Markets
- For Friday, June 13. Read Mankiw 77-85 (short-run market equilibrium), 144-151 (market efficiency).
- For Monday, June 16. Read Mankiw 285-295 (long-run market equilibrium)
- For Tuesday, June 17. Read Mankiw 329-344 (monopolistic competition).
- For Wednesday, June 18. Read Mankiw 24-26 (production possibilities frontier).
- For Thursday, June 19. Read Mankiw 47-58 (comparative advantage)
- For Friday, June 20. Reading Assignment #3 – Red Plenty (discussion questions)
- For Friday, June 20. Read Mankiw 373-390 (factor markets).
- For Monday, June 23. Extra Credit Homework #5 – EC HW #5 – Markets. Answer Key – EC HW 5 Answer Key.
- For Wednesday, June 25. Extra Credit Homework #6 –Test #2 Practice (if you want the test back by Wednesday for the in-class review, hand in this exam Tuesday)
- For Thursday, June 26. Read Mankiw 314-319 (Price discrimination) and Mankiw 111-128 (Markets and government intervention)
- Friday, June 27. Test #2, in class.
- For Monday, June 30. Read Mankiw 111-121 (Price controls)
- Slides: Markets in the Long Run, Stuff vs Leisure, International Trade – US & China, Disaster Economics and Factor Markets
The Limits of Markets
- For Tuesday, July 1. Reading Assignment #4 – Sears (discussion questions), Article
- For Tuesday, July 1. Read Mankiw 195-212 (externalities).
- For Wednesday, July 2. Read Mankiw 215-228 (public goods and common resources).
- For Thursday, July 3. Read Mankiw 121-128 and 155-168 (introduction to taxation).
- For Monday, July 7. Read Mankiw 233-252 (taxation continued).
- For Monday, July 7. Extra Credit Homework #7 – EC HW #7 – Limits of Markets, EC HW #7 – Limits of Markets – Answer Key
- For Wednesday, July 9. Extra Credit Homework #8 – Test #3 Practice
- Wednesday, July 9. Final Test review day
- Slides: Taxes in the Real World, Inequality and Social Mobility
- Friday, July 11. Test #3, in class.