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
August 27/28: Equilibrium and Elasticities (continued from last class - same homework)
August 31/September 1: Role of Government and Market Efficiency (Price Controls, Taxes and Subsidies)
September 2/3: Summative Quiz
September 4/7: 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
ALL DATES BEYOND HERE INVALID FOR NOW
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
September 20 (Exchange)/23: Costs of Production (Short-run)
September 24/25: Perfect Competition in the Short-run
September 26/27: Long-run Costs and Perfect Competition in the Long-run
September 30/October 1: Unit 3 continued as needed or open day
October 2/3: Summative Quiz
October 4/7: 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
October 8/9: Pure Monopoly
October 10/11 (IASAS): Price Discrimination and Regulating Monopoly (Class before Fall Break)
October 21/22 (IASAS): Monopolistic Competition (Class after Fall Break)
October 23/24: Collusive Oligopoly and the Prisoners Dilemma
October 25/29: Non-collusive Oligopoly and Kinked Demand Theory
October 31/November 1: Summative Quiz
November 4/5: RTI (Review, Tutorial, Inquiry)
November 6/7: 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
November 8/11 (IASAS MUN): Supply and Demand for Resources and Allocating Multiple Inputs
November 12/13: Perfectly Competitive Labor Markets
November 14/15: Monopsony and Unions
November 18/19: Summative Quiz
November 20/21: RTI (Review, Tutorial, Inquiry)
November 22/25: 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 26/27 (Early Release): Negative and Positive Externalities (Day before Thanksgiving Break)
Today we proclaim our allegiance to the Pigou Club
December 2/3: Public Goods and Common Resources
December 4/5: Distribution of Income and Taxes and Asymmetric Information
December 6/9: Summative Quiz
December 10/11: Unit 6 Test
December 12/13: RTI (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 16: A1 and A2 semester exams
December 17: B1 and B2 semester exams
December 18: A3 and A4 semester exams
December 19: B3 and B4 semester exams
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
January 13/14: 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 15/16: Business Cycles and GDP
January 20/21: Unemployment
January 22/28 (Day before CNY): Inflation (including costs of inflation)
January 29/30 (IASAS): Summative Quiz (Extra practice docs: Calculating GDP, Unemployment, and Inflation)
January 31 (IASAS)/February 3: RTI (Review, Tutorial, Inquiry)
February 4/5: Unit 7 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.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
February 6/10: Aggregate Demand
February 11/12: Aggregate Supply
February 13/17: Equilibrium in the Short-run and Long-run (Keynesian and Classical economics)
February 18/19: The Phillips Curve
February 20/24: Keynesian Fiscal Policy and the Multiplier (Negative and Positive Output Gaps)
February 25/26: Supply-side Economics and Crowding Out
February 27/28: Summative Quiz
March 2/3: RTI (Review, Tutorial, Inquiry)
March 4/5: Unit 8 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
March 6/9: Introduction to Money and Money Creation
March 10/11: Interest Rate Determination (The Money Market and the Market for Loanable Funds)
March 12/13: Monetary Policy
March 16/17: Summative Quiz
March 18/19: Unit 9 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 20/30 (Classes before and after Spring Break): Open Day
March 31/April 1: Free trade vs. Protectionism
April 2/3: Balance of Payments
April 6/7: Foreign Exchange Market
April 8/9: Summative Quiz
April 13/14: RTI (Review, Tutorial, Inquiry)
April 15/16: Unit 10 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 17/20: Review for Mock Exam
April 21/22: Review for Mock Exam
April 23/24: Review for Mock Exam
April 27/28: Macro mock exam in class
April 29/30: Review for AP Exams. But before you start watch these videos.
May 4/5: Review
May 6/8: Review
May 11/12: Review
May 13: AP Micro Exam
May 14: AP Macro Exam