Course Syllabus

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Course Description:

This course introduces students to fundamental microeconomic concepts and theory, including supply and demand, and the formation of equilibrium prices in product and resource markets. In addition, the course offers an introduction to applied fields such as industrial organization (market structures), labor economics, unionism, international trade, and market failure. This is a course in the basic principles of microeconomics from a market economics perspective with a focus on current microeconomic policy issues. The topics discussed in this class can be broadly divided into two parts: theory and policy. In the theory part, we start with an overview of the fundamental concepts of market economics that are foundation for our study of the behavior of individuals and firms. In the policy part, we will try to understand how the theories can be used to answer the broader policy questions, especially those related to individual and firm behavior. The policy issues will be explored by reading and discussing articles on current economic issues in the Wall Street Journal, a student subscription of the Journal will be required as part of the course.

Prerequisites 
There are no prerequisites for this course. 

 

Course-level learning goals:

The core learning objectives for the course are listed below. 

•    Demonstrate understanding of the fundamental microeconomic concepts 
•    Demonstrate mastery of supply and demand, including application to regulated and unregulated markets. 
•    Explain the relationships between marginal cost and marginal benefit. 
•    Explain in detail what is “good” about competitive markets and apply this explanation to descriptions of real firms. 
•    Demonstrate an intuitive understanding of efficiency impacts of market power and relate basic business strategy to the economic idea of market power. 
•    Critically analyze and interpret economic data. 
•    Apply economic reasoning to analysis of current events and case readings. 

Course Content:
Part #I   

Scarcity

Choice
Supply and Demand 
Elasticity
Consumer Choice
Part #2
The Firm
Cost
Competition
Monopoly
Monopolistic Comp and Oligopoly
Market Regulation
Part #3

Negative Externalities 
Positive Externalities
Labor Markets
Poverty
Insurance and Risk

Textbook and Other Materials:

Great news: your textbook for this class is available for free online!
Principles of Microeconomics from OpenStax, ISBN 1-947172-29-8

You have several options to obtain this book:

You can use whichever formats you want. Web view is recommended -- the responsive design works seamlessly on any device.

Student Subscription of the Wall Street Journal

You will need to get a student subscription to the Journal to complete weekly discussion postings on current economic topics of interest.  Proof of this subscription (the only resource you will need to pay for this semester -- $1 per week) will be required by the second week of class.

Canvas

This course will also rely extensively on the on-line instructional system Canvas. Homework, notes, and links to readings will all be posted there.  You should check the Canvas page on a regular basis for updates to the curriculum, assignments, and grading.

 

 

Assessments:

Review Questions and Problems: Each chapter has review questions and problems that will be assigned and should be completed in advance of the class that the topic will be covered.  They will be graded based on effort not on accuracy. Each assignment is worth 10 points for a maximum total of 150 points (you may drop low scores or skip assignments if you have gotten the maximum total).

Weekly Article Summaries:  There will be twelve weekly one-page article summaries on various economic articles from the Wall Street Journal or economics podcasts, assigned a week in advance of the due date.  Each summary will be worth 15 points for a maximum of 150 points (i.e., you need to get full credit on ten of them to get maximum point and can drop low grades or skip if you have gotten the maximum point total).  Each summary will have a set format, a sample of which will be shown on Canvas.

Exams: There will be three “module” exams during the semester. Each exam will be worth 200 points. The exams will only be on the section of the course covered and are not comprehensive. 

The exam dates are as follows: -

Module Exam 1 – Thursday, October 7, 2021 
Module Exam 2 - Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Module Exam 3 - Thursday, December 9, 2021

(note:  there will be no comprehensive final exam during exam period) 

Attendance and Participation:  Success in this course means coming to class and engaging with your classmates and me.  While the occasional absence can’t be avoided, a regular pattern of missed classes will result in fewer points, and anyone missing more than six classes may not be able to pass the class.  Total possible participations point equal 100.

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due