Email: phopkins@sas.edu.sg
There is a link to each day's lesson on this page. The calendar contains information about homework, assignments that are due, and class resources (videos, slideshows, and related readings and podcasts). It also has information about what we'll be doing each day, including the problem of the day.
Syllabus: Click here to read the syllabus.
Extra-help: An economics teacher will be available to help you with any questions you have every Tuesday and Thursday at 3:00. Ask your teacher which room to report to for extra-help (H403, H321 or H322). If you plan to be in H403 on any Tuesday to Thursday, you must download this document and complete it before you arrive. It will help us use our time productively.
Seinfeld: Click here for some economics related comedy.
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Do we really behave rationally?
Related but not required: Vernon Smith on Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. In order to be eligible for participation, you will need to have performed well on the summative quiz, and watched the video linked above. On the day you take the quiz, those who earn an A (and choose to participate) will go to H322 for a short written assessment and discussion of the reading. If your written assessment is good, you contribute to the discussion, AND you get an A on the unit test, your grade for both the quiz and the test will be changed to A+. The podcast on Adam Smith is linked for students who want to know more about this topic.
August 10/11: Introduction to AP Economics and the Circular Flow Model.
Expectations: First, we will discuss the course and our expectations.
Simulation: We will do a class simulation to highlight some important concepts related to the study of economics.
August 15/16: Economic Systems and the Production Possibilities Model
August 17/18: Comparative Advantage
August 19/22: Summative Quiz
Review
Extension
August 23/24: Unit 1 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Are we actually in control of our own choices?
Related but not required
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. In order to be eligible for participation, you will need to have performed well on the summative quiz, and watched the 2 videos linked above. On the day you take the quiz, those who earn an A (and choose to participate) will go to H322 for a short written assessment and discussion of the reading. If your written assessment is good, you contribute to the discussion, AND you get an A on the unit test, your grade for both the quiz and the test will be changed to A+. The readings on Veblen goods and Adam Smith are linked for students who want to know more about this topic.
August 25/26: Demand
August 29/30: Utility Maximization and Consumer Choice
August 31/September 1: Supply
September 2/5: Equilibrium and Elasticities
September 8/9: Role of Government and Market Efficiency (Price Controls, Taxes and Subsidies)
September 14/15: Summative Quiz
Review
Extension
September 16(Exchange)/19: Open DaySeptember 20/21: Unit 2 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Is pure competition really the ideal market structure?
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. In order to be eligible for participation, you will need to have performed well on the summative quiz and done the reading linked above. On the day you take the quiz, those who earn an A (and choose to participate) will go to H322 for a short written assessment and discussion of the reading. If your written assessment is good, you contribute to the discussion, AND you get an A on the unit test, your grade for the test will be changed to A+.
September 22/23: Costs of Production (Short-run)
September 26/27: Perfect Competition in the Short-run
September 28/29: Long-run Costs and Perfect Competition in the Long-run
September 23/28: Summative Quiz
Review
Extension
September 30/October 3: Unit 3 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. In order to be eligible for participation, you will need to have performed well on the summative quiz, and done the reading linked above and watched the video linked above. On the day you take the quiz, those who earn an A (and choose to participate) will go to H322 for a short written assessment and discussion of the reading. If your written assessment is good, you contribute to the discussion, AND you get an A on the unit test, your grade for both the quiz and the test will be changed to A+.
October 4/5: Pure Monopoly
October 6/7 (Class before fall break): Price Discrimination and Regulating Monopoly
October 17/18: Monopolistic Competition
October 20/21 (IASAS): Collusive Oligopoly and the Prisoners Dilemma
October 24/25: Non-collusive Oligopoly and Kinked Demand Theory
October 28/November 2: Summative Quiz
Review
Extension
November 3/4: Unit 4 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Heilbroner on Karl Marx: Read if you're interested in knowing more about the history of economic thought regarding monopsony and the labor market.
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. In order to be eligible for participation, you will need to have performed well on the summative quiz, and done the readings ("Yes" and "No") linked above and watched the video linked above. On the day you take the quiz, those who earn an A (and choose to participate) will go to H322 for a short written assessment and discussion of the reading. If your written assessment is good, you contribute to the discussion, AND you get an A on the unit test, your grade for both the quiz and the test will be changed to A+. The reading on Karl Marx is linked for students who want to know more about this topic and are interested in economic history.
November 7/8: Supply and Demand for Resources and Allocating Multiple Inputs
November 9/10: Perfectly Competitive Labor Markets
November 11/14: Monopsony and Unions
November 15/16: Summative Quiz
Review
Extension
November 17/18: Unit 5 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Capital in the 21st Century (optional): Listen to these podcasts to learn more about the debate over inequality.
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. Your "entry ticket" for the discussion (in addition to getting an A on the quiz) is an essay (250 words minimum) responding to the question above. Please do all of the following:
Begin the essay by presenting both sides of the argument, quoting both readings (Krugman and Will). You may quote the videos too, if you choose.
Conclude the essay by making an argument for one side or the other, using further evidence. Print out the essay and bring it to class in hard copy.
Submit the essay to turnitin.com by 8 AM on Thursday. You'll have to sign up for our class and submit the essay there. The assignment is called "Unit 6 Enrichment" (sign up info below):
Class ID: 11179084
Password: hopkins
On the day you take the quiz, those who earn an A (and have chosen to participate by writing the essay) will go to H322 for a discussion of the reading. If you contribute to the discussion AND you get an A on the unit test, your grade for both the quiz and the test will be changed to A+. The podcasts with Thomas Piketty and Daron Acemoglu are linked for students who want to know more about this topic.
November 21/22(Class before Thanksgiving): Negative and Positive Externalities
November 23(Class before Thanksgiving)/28: Public Goods and Common Resources
November 24/25: Distribution of Income and Taxes
November 29/30: Asymmetric Information
December 1/2: Summative Quiz
December 5/6: Unit 6 Test
December 7/8: Open Day
December 9: Open Day
December 10/11 (Exam review): Exam Review
December 12: A1 and A2 semester exams
December 13: B1 and B2 semester exams
December 14: A3 and A4 semester exams
December 15: B3 and B4 semester exams
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Is GDP a good measure of economic well being?
Watch this video on the Chinese economy.
Listen to this podcast (Freakonomics Podcast on the Shadow Economy).
Official measures of GDP do not capture much of the activity that goes on in the economy. Much of what is missed takes place in black (illegal) markets or is just never reported to the government. This Freakonomics podcast discusses these activities.
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. Your "entry ticket" for the discussion (in addition to getting an A on the quiz) is an essay (250 words minimum) responding to the question above. Please do all of the following:
Begin the essay by presenting both sides of the argument. (Yes, GDP is a good measure vs. No, it is not)
Conclude the essay by making an argument for one side or the other, using further evidence.
Submit the essay to turnitin.com by 8 AM on the day of the summative quiz. You'll have to sign up for our class (if you haven't already) and submit the essay there. The assignment is called "Unit 7 Enrichment" (sign up info below):
Class ID: 11179084
Password: hopkins
January 9/10: Return first semester exams and introduce macro (Review circular flow model)
January 11/12: Business Cycles and GDP
January 13/16: Unemployment
January 17/18: Inflation (including costs of inflation)
January 19/23: Calculating GDP, Unemployment, and Inflation
January 24/25: Summative Quiz
January 26/February 1: Unit 7 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Is United States government debt a serious problem?
Watch this Ted Talk by Adam Davidson.
And read this article by Jude Wanniski: Taxes and a Two Santa Claus Theory
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. Your "entry ticket" for the discussion (in addition to getting an A on the quiz) is an essay (250 words minimum) responding to the question above. Please do all of the following:
Begin the essay by presenting both sides of the argument.
Conclude the essay by making an argument for one side or the other, using further evidence.
Submit the essay to turnitin.com by 8 AM on the day of the summative quiz. You'll have to sign up for our class (if you haven't already) and submit the essay there. The assignment is called "Unit 8 Enrichment" (sign up info below):
Class ID: 11179084
Password: hopkins
February 2/3 (Class before CNY): Aggregate Demand
February 6/7: Aggregate Supply
February 8/9 (Class before Interim): Equilibrium in the Short-run and Long-run (Keynesian and Classical economics)
February 20/21: The Phillips Curve
February 22/23: Keynesian Fiscal Policy and the Multiplier (Recessionary and Inflationary Gaps)
February 24/27: Supply-side Economics and Crowding Out
February 28/March 1 (Wednesday before IASAS Cultural): Summative Quiz
March 2/3 (IASAS Cultural Convention): Open Day
March 6/7: Unit 8 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Was the United States government right to bail out the banks in 2008?
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. Your "entry ticket" for the discussion (in addition to getting an A on the quiz) is an essay (250 words minimum) responding to the question above. Please do all of the following:
Begin the essay by presenting both sides of the argument.
Conclude the essay by making an argument for one side or the other, using further evidence.
Submit the essay to turnitin.com by 8 AM on the day of the summative quiz. You'll have to sign up for our class (if you haven't already) and submit the essay there. The assignment is called "Unit 9 Enrichment" (sign up info below):
Class ID: 11179084
Password: hopkins
March 8/9 (day before exchanges)/14: Introduction to Money and Money Creation
March 10/13: Interest Rate Determination (The Money Market and the Market for Loanable Funds)
March 14/15: Monetary Policy Tools and Keynesian Monetary Policy
March 16/17 (Day before Spring Break): Monetarism and the Natural Rate School
March 27/28 (Day after Spring Break): Open Day
April 29/30: Summative Quiz
March 31/April 3: Unit 9 Test
Extension/Enrichment Opportunity
Is Walmart good for America?
Required: Watch sections 1, 3, and 5 of this program. (Feel free to watch sections 2 and 4 if you like, too.)
Optional: This podcast looks at the same problem, the relationship between international trade (particularly trade deficits) and unemployment, through a more technical lens.
At the end of the unit you will have the opportunity to participate in an activity that will extend the ideas you've learned in the unit and challenge you as a student with a group that has demonstrated mastery of the standards. Being part of this group will enhance your learning, prepare you for the college classroom (especially the seminar feature of it) and have a positive impact on your grade. Your "entry ticket" for the discussion (in addition to getting an A on the quiz) is an essay (250 words minimum) responding to the question above. Please do all of the following:
Begin the essay by presenting both sides of the argument.
Conclude the essay by making an argument for one side or the other, using further evidence.
Submit the essay to turnitin.com by 8 AM on the day of the summative quiz. You'll have to sign up for our class (if you haven't already) and submit the essay there. The assignment is called "Unit 9 Enrichment" (sign up info below):
Class ID: 11179084
Password: hopkins
April 4/5 (Wednesday before IASAS): Free trade vs. Protectionism
April 6/7 (IASAS): Balance of Payments
April 10/11: Foreign Exchange Market
April 12/13: Links between international trade and macroeconomy
April 17/18: Summative Quiz
April 19/20: Open Day
April 21/24: Unit 10 Test
April 25/26: Open Day
April 27/28: Macro mock exam in class
May 2/3: Review
May 4/5: Review
May 8/9: Review
May 11/12: Review
May 15/16: Review
May 17/18: Review
May 19/22: Review
May 23/24 (Exam Review Day):
May 25: Exam Review Day