Email: phopkins@sas.edu.sg
INTRODUCTION: 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. There is a link to each day's lesson on this page. Click here to access the syllabus and get details about extra-help and peer tutoring and here to see a list of videos that will help you improve your study skills. And click here to see a list of economics related videos.
At SAS we also teach a Self-paced AP Economics course. If you are in this course it covers the same content as the more traditional AP Economics course, but students have the flexibility to move faster than the normal pace of the class. Students may take assessments before the normal “due date” in the self-paced class but may not fall behind. Students who sign up for this course will benefit from the flexibility to plan the timing of assessments themselves but should be self-directed and strong independent learners. Students will be prepared for and strongly encouraged to sit for the AP exam in May.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
August 4/5: Introductions
August 6/7: Economic Systems and the Production Possibilities Model
August 11/12: Comparative Advantage
August 13/14: Summative Quiz
August 17/18: Unit 1 Test
INQUIRY: DO WE REALLY BEHAVE RATIONALLY?
Before listening: Brainstorm some narrow (supporting questions) that must be answered before the broader question (above) can be addressed.
After listening: Brainstorm some questions that arose in your mind as you watched and listened. Try to write them so that they are broad and open, like the question above.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
August 19/20: Demand
August 21/24: Utility Maximization
August 25/26: Supply and Equilibrium and Market Welfare
August 27/28: Elasticities
August 31/September 1: Role of Government and Market Efficiency
September 2/3: Summative Quiz
DUE TO THE 4TH BEING A DISTANCE LEARNING DAY, WE WILL START UNIT 3 ON SEPTEMBER 4/7 (SEE BELOW).
September 4/7: Costs of Production (Short-run) - This is part of Unit 3. It will not be on the Unit 2 Test.
September 8/9: Unit 2 Test
INQUIRY: ARE WE ACTUALLY IN CONTROL OF OUR OWN CHOICES?
After watching/listening/reading: Brainstorm three supporting questions that you could use to help you answer the question above.
Then: For each supporting question identify one source that helps you to answer it. Be able to explain how it relates to the supporting question and why you consider it a reliable source.
For more on the magic of the market check out this video and poem by Russ Roberts
September 10/11: Perfect Competition in the Short-run
September 15/16: Long-run Costs and Perfect Competition in the Long-run
September 17/18: Unit 3 continued as needed or open day
September 21/22: Summative Quiz
September 23/24: Unit 3 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 1): For the rest of the semester you will be working on a project in which you attempt to design an inquiry of your own.
Read through these sample inquiries. Your project should be structured the same way (Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Happiness, Free Trade, Gender Wage Gap, Great Recession, Johnson and Reagan, Labor Market).
Develop a compelling question, one that is open (there is not one correct answer), broad (can be analyzed from a variety of perspectives), and debatable. Use the questions from Unit 1 and Unit 2 and those in the linked inquiries in (1) above as models.
Develop three supporting questions that must be answered in order for you to answer your compelling question.
Find three sources that could be used to answer/analyze your first supporting question.
Using the three sources from (4) above, write a brief response to your first supporting question.
Submit all of this work in the dropbox. Call the document "Inquiry Project".
EXTENSION: If you found this unit interesting, you might want to check out the resources below.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
September 25/28: Pure Monopoly
September 29/30: Price Discrimination and Regulating Monopoly
October 1/2: Monopolistic Competition
October 5/6: Collusive Oligopoly and the Prisoners Dilemma
October 7/8: Non-collusive Oligopoly and Kinked Demand Theory
October 9/19: Open Day
DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE CANNOT GIVE A TEST IMMEDIATELY AFTER FALL BREAK, WE WILL START UNIT 5 ON OCTOBER 20/21 (SEE BELOW). THE UNIT 4 TEST WILL BE ON OCTOBER 22/23.
October 20/21: Supply and Demand for Resources and Allocating Multiple Inputs - This is part of Unit 5. It will not be on the Unit 4 Test.
October 22/23: Unit 4 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 2): Supporting question #2
Continue your project on the same "Inquiry Project" document that you started last unit.
Find three sources that could be used to answer/analyze your second supporting question.
Using the three sources from above, write a brief response to your second supporting question.
EXTENSION: If you found this unit interesting, you might want to check out the resources below.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
October 26/27: Perfectly Competitive Labor Markets
October 28/30: Monopsony and Unions
It's Halloween! Mr. Clifford has something to say about this.
November 2/3: Open Day
November 4/5: Unit 5 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 3): Supporting question #3
Continue your project on the same "Inquiry Project" document that you began in Unit 4.
Find three sources that could be used to answer/analyze your third supporting question.
Using the three sources from above, write a brief response to your third supporting question.
EXTENSION: If you found this unit interesting, you might want to check out the resources below related to this question (Is Amazon a book monopsony and is its market power a good thing?)
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
November 6/9: Negative and Positive Externalities
Today we proclaim our allegiance to the Pigou Club
November 10/11: Public Goods and Common Resources
November 12/17: Income Inequality and Asymmetric Information
November 18/19: Open Day
November 20/23: Unit 6 Test
November 24/30: Exam Review
December 1/2: Exam Review
December 3/4: Exam Review
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 4): Final Product Due sometime before exams begin (December 15). Bring all your work together in a new document called "Inquiry Project Final." It should be organized in exactly the same way as the linked inquiries you used as examples in Unit 3.
Capital in the 21st Century (optional): Listen to these podcasts to learn more about the debate over inequality.
Vaccinations: If you find the idea of positive externalities interesting, watch this video.
Semester Exam
December 7: A3 and A4 semester exams
December 8: B3 and B4 semester exams
December 9: A1 and A2 semester exams
December 10: B1 and B2 semester exams
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
This summary of 20th Century macroeconomic theory is good background for everything we do this semester. It was written by Paul Krugman, a Nobel Laureate. Give it a read if you have time.
January 4/5: Business Cycles and GDP (Plus Circular Flow Review) (Topics 2.1-2.2 and 2.6-2.7)
January 6/7: Unemployment (Topic 2.3)
January 8/11: Price Indexes and Inflation (Topic 2.4-2.5)
January 12/13: Open Day/Summative Quiz (Extra practice docs: Calculating GDP, Unemployment, and Inflation)
January 19/20: Macro Unit 2 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 1): This semester you will be working on a new inquiry project. The process is the same as it was first semester.
Develop a compelling question, one that is open (there is not one correct answer), broad (can be analyzed from a variety of perspectives), and debatable. Use the questions from Unit 1 and Unit 2 and those in the linked inquiries in (1) above as models.
Develop three supporting questions that must be answered in order for you to answer your compelling question.
Find three sources that could be used to answer/analyze your first supporting question.
Using the three sources from (4) above, write a brief response to your first supporting question.
Submit all of this work in the dropbox. Call the document "Inquiry Project".
EXTENSION: If you found this unit interesting, you might want to check out the resources below.
Read the linked article and watch the linked video on "ghost cities" in China
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.
January 14/18: RTI Day
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
January 21/22: Aggregate Demand and Multipliers (Topics 3.1-3.2)
January 26/27: Short-Run Aggregate Supply and Long-Run Aggregate Supply (Topics 3.3-3.4)
January 28/29: Equilibrium in the Short-run and Long-run (Topics 3.5-3.7)
February 1/2: Fiscal Policy and Automatic Stabilizers (Topics 3.8-3.9)
February 3/4: Open Day/Summative Quiz
February 5/8: RTI Day or Unit 2 Test Make-up
February 9/10: Macro Unit 3 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 2): Supporting question #2
Continue your project on the same "Inquiry Project" document that you started last unit.
Find three sources that could be used to answer/analyze your second supporting question.
Using the three sources from above, write a brief response to your second supporting question.
EXTENSION: If you found this unit interesting, you might want to check out the resources below.
Watch this Ted Talk by Adam Davidson.
And read this article by Jude Wanniski: Taxes and a Two Santa Claus Theory
You may read this critique of Wanniski as well, if you are interested.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
February 11: Introduction to Money and Financial Assets (Topics 4.1 and 4.3)
CHINESE NEW YEAR
February 16 (Distance Learning): Introduction to Money and Financial Assets (Topics 4.1 and 4.3)
February 17/18 (Classes before Interim): Interest Rate Determination - The Money Market and the Market for Loanable Funds (Topics 4.2, 4.5, and 4.7)
INTERIM SEMESTER
March1/2: Monetary Policy (Topic 4.6)
March3/4: Open Day/Summative Quiz
March 5/8: RTI Day or Unit 3 Test Make-up
March 9/10: Macro Unit 4 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 3): Supporting question #3
Continue your project on the same "Inquiry Project" document that you began in Unit 4.
Find three sources that could be used to answer/analyze your third supporting question.
Using the three sources from above, write a brief response to your third supporting question.
EXTENSION/ENRICHMENT: Was the United States government right to bail out the banks in 2008?
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
March 11/12: The Phillips Curve (Topics 5.1-5.3)
March 15/16: Supply-side Economics and Crowding Out (Topics 5.5-5.7)
March 17/18: Open Day/Summative Quiz
March 19: RTI Day or Unit 4 Test Make-up
SPRING BREAK
March 29: RTI Day
March 30/31: RTI Day
April 1/5: Macro Unit 5 Test
April 8/9: Foreign Exchange Market (Topics 6.2-6.3 and 6.5)
April 12/13: Free trade vs. Protectionism (Topics 6.4 and 6.6)
April 14/15: Open Day/Summative Quiz
April 16/19: RTI Day or Unit 5 Test Make-up
April 20/21: Macro Unit 6 Test
INQUIRY PROJECT (Step 4): Final Product
Bring all your work together in a new document called "Inquiry Project Final." It should be organized in exactly the same way as the linked inquiries you used as examples in Unit 3.
Submit this document to the dropbox by the end of the period identified above.
EXTENSION: If you found this unit interesting, you might want to check out the resources below.
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.
April 22/23: Review for Macro Mock Exam
April 26/27: Review for Macro Mock Exam
April 28/29: Macro mock exam in class
YOU'RE DONE WITH MACRO!
Watch these videos for entertainment before you begin studying for the AP Exam.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
April 6/7: Balance of Payments (Topic 6.1)