Welcome to the course website of Econ 3101.04. I will post all the announcements and course-related materials here. Please check back frequently for any updates.

Class time:  5:30 P.M. - 08:00 P.M. , W.,  @ Blegan Hall 145

Office hours: 2:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. Wednesday or by appointment in Hanson 3-101

Office phone: 612-625-8310

Email: houxx028@umn.edu (Please allow up to 24 hours for reply)

You can get help for this course from the following three sources:

(1) My office hour (Obviously, this is a cost-minimizing solution for you)

(2) Smart Learning Commons. They have peer tutors for Econ 3101. Click here for locations and schedules. (They may or may not be helpful, so use this option wisely!)

(3) Hire a Econ grad student tutor, you can find a list of tutors  in Hanson 4-101.

Syllabus and other materials:

• Syllabus 
•  Math Refresher   (Try to see if you can solve these questions! Some of them were covered in class)
  
•  Math Refresher Answer Key  
  
•  Calculus Refresher  
  

Problem Sets:

• The problem sets are given in a worksheet format. I strongly recommend you print it out and write you answers on it. If you prefer to write on looseleaf paper, please do the following:       1.  Cut the fringes/edges off the left side.
  2. Answer all the questions in order and clearly label your answers.
  3. For each question, put your answer and graph in the same area.
  4. Write clearly and legibly!!!
•  Problem Set 1   (Due Feb. 09)    Answer Key 
•  Problem Set 2   (Due Mar. 02)   Answer Key
•  Problem Set 3   (Due Mar. 30)   Answer Key
•  Problem Set 4   (Due Apr. 13))  Answer Key          
  
•  Problem Set 5   (Due Apr. 27)   Answer Key   (Do take a careful look of this answer key! You didn't get points deducted for your homework  doesn't mean your answer is perfect!)
  

Lectures:

Week 1: Course intro, a short math review and budget constraint.  (Lecture Notes)
                We went over the syllabus, talked about the course policies and then did a short survey. As I emphasized in class, it is very important you have the required math skills to succeed in this class. So please take some time to review your old calculus textbooks/lecture notes, or take a look at the calculus refresher I posted above. Doing so is a very worthy effort, and will greatly help you understand and follow the course materials. We also covered the topic of budget constraint, i.e., budget constraint, budget sets, effect of changes in price/income, effect of a value tax and an example of food stamp program.

Week 2: Preferences.
                We went over the following: 1) Preference relations; 2) Assumptions about preferences; 3) Indifference curves; 4) Examples of preferences. We worked on an "interesting" example of preference relations in class and also had a "good" discussion (which might go on forever and unfortunately we had to stop to move on to other stuff). We will finish what's left in this topic next week and get started with utility.

Week 3: Utility
                 We first finished well-behaved preference and MRS. Then we moved on to utility, discussed utility representation and utility functions, looked at the utility representation of four particular preferences (i.e., perfect substitutes, perfect  complements, quasi-linear utility, and Cobb-Douglas utility), and wrapped up with marginal utilities. We didn't have time to work on the transitivity example in class, but please take a look at it when you have time.

Week 4:  Choice (notes) and Demand I (notes)
Week 5:  Demand II and Slutsky Effects (notes) 
Week 6:  Technology
Week 7:  Technology II and Profit Maximization (notes)
Week 8:  Spring Break
Week 9:  Cost minimization, cost curves and firm supply (notes); midterm returned in class, the average is 81.1
Week 10: Industry supply; Monopoly (notes); we will continue to talk about the inefficiency and price discrimination of monopoly.
Week 11: Cournot Competition, Collusion and Punishment (notes). Here's the complete notes with all the algebra and details (notes).
                    We finished Monopoly and Cournot Competition, used the last few minutes to talk about Question 4 in HW4. We will leave Stackelberg Games, Bertrand Competition to next week. Don't forget to bring the handout which was distributed as the end of today's class. We will be going over that next week.

Week 12: Stackelberg, Bertrand and Sequential Price Games, Into to Exchange. Questions handed out in class (these questions can be find in the oligopoly practice).

Week 13:  In a simple two-agent two-good economy, we introduced the tool of Edgeworth Box and then used it to analyze the Pareto Optimal allocations and Competitive Equilibrium allocations of this economy. Then we were able to establish the First Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics, which was followed by the Second Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics. Edgeworth Box is a thing of beauty. You should be able to use it to plot all the information of a simple exchange economy.

Week 14: We derived the Walras's Law and discussed two of its implications. We then talked about a one-agent two-good economy with production. We did some  graphical analyses to figure out the Pareto Optimal allocation and the Competitive Equilibrium allocations. Once again, we see the CE allocation is Pareto Efficient even when production is added into the economy. We also briefly went over the First and Second Welfare Theorems for this simple economy. Finally, we did a group exercise . You should be able to handle these types of questions in the exam!

Week 15: Final Review. I will do a brief review and then open up to any questions you have. So please come to class with questions!

Exam-Related

• Practice Midterm       Answer Key
• Midterm                         Answer Key 
• Final Practice               Answer Key  (MC Q3, there was an error in the solution, now fixed; The messy notation of LQ Q1 was also simplified.)
  

• Monopoly Practice (TFFFTTTT  CBEEB ACC(-1.2)D DDECD ACDDB) (Let me know if you spot an error!)
  

  Oligopoly  (FFTT(delete #5)TFT  CCCAA CCDED  CABA)
  

• Solutions of Monopoly and Oligopoly Practice (You will have to bear with my handwriting. I didn't have time to type it up.)
  

On the midterm: It covers materials up to Technology (included). Profit-maximization will not be covered.  There will be 5-6 multiple choice questions and 3 long questions. Most of them will be similar to the homework and the practice questions. Those in-class exercises are also worth reviewing. I will be holding extra office hours this week, Monday & Tuesday, 3-5pm. Wednesday is just the regular office hours 2-4pm. If you have any questions, feel free to stop by.

The final will take place on May 11, 2011, 5:30pm - 7:30pm in Hanson Hall 1-106 (NOT the usual classroom!)

Announcements:

Jan 19: A math refresher and its answer key are posted. Please work on these questions when you get a chance!
Jan 25: The first problem set is posted. You can start working on it now.
Jan 30: For those who missed the first class, some lecture notes were posted for your reference. This is only a one time deal, I don't provide notes in general.
Feb 09: I won't be having office hours next week. My colleague Nan will be giving the lecture instead.
Feb 14:  HW2 is posted. You can start working now. If you have any questions, I will use some time in class on Feb 23 to talk about them.  I will also be returning HW1 on Feb 23.
Mar 01: Practice Midterm and the answer key are posted. Make sure you are comfortable with these questions!
Mar 11: HW3 is posted. You should be able to handle the two questions on returns-to-scale and profit-maximization now.
Apr 01: HW4 is posted. It will be due on April 13th in class.