Principles of Microeconomics

Fall 2019

Course ID: gueye

Econ 3

Souleymane Gueye Ph.D

Email: Sgueye@ccsf.edu

Phone: (415) 239-3374

Class Meetings: M/W/F from 10 am 11 am

Office Hours: M/W/F from 9 10 – 10 am L622 or (by appointment).

M/W from 1pm – 1 50pm

Course Overview: This course is a general introduction to the theory and practice of Microeconomics. The primary focus of this course is on how individuals and societies deal with the fundamental economic problem of scarcity. The course begins with a discussion of the methodology of economics. This is followed by a discussion of several basic tools and concepts including: marginal analysis, opportunity cost; and demand and supply analysis. Each of these introductory concepts is applied to the discussion of contemporary policy issues (e.g., the minimum wage, farm subsidies, rent control and taxation). The role of government in correcting for alternative types of market failure is also examined.

The next section of the course provides a more detailed discussion of the theory of consumer demand. In this portion of the course students examine the determinants (and the importance of) several measure of the elasticity of demand and supply. In particular, students examine how the price elasticity of demand can be used to predict the change in a firm's total revenue that results from a change in the price of its output. The determinants of individual and market demand are also examined in some depth.

The course focuses on an examination of the theory of the firm under conditions of: perfect competition; monopoly; monopolistic competition; and oligopoly. In each of these market models, students examine the determination of the equilibrium levels of price and output.

The final portion of the course provides a discussion of the determination of equilibrium levels of wages, rental rates, interest rates, and profits under alternative market structures. Particular focus is placed on the labor market and alternative sources of wage differentials among individuals.

Throughout the course, particular emphasis is placed on how economic analysis may be used to explain a wide variety of contemporary domestic and global policy issues.

Student Learning Outcomes are a broad statement of the topics a student must master by the end of a particular course of study. These Outcomes are determined, in part, by the State of California requirements for the AA- Transfer Major in Economics. The Course Objectives are a more detailed statement of how these Outcomes will be addressed. In the following, Student Learning Outcomes are denoted by numbers and Course Objectives are denoted by letters.

Upon completion of this course a student will be able to:”

1. Utilize the concept of scarcity to explain economic trade-offs, opportunity costs, absolute advantage, comparative advantage and rational behavior, by:

1. Identifying fundamental concepts in economic analysis, including scarcity, opportunity cost, resources (factors of production), scientific thinking, and positive and normative analysis.
2. Identifying the assumptions of the production-possibilities model and explain increasing opportunity costs using a production-possibilities schedule or curve.
3. Defining the concepts of absolute and comparative advantage; demonstrating the potential gains from specialization and trade; analyzing the arguments for and against managed trade, protection, tariffs and quotas.

1. Describe the institutional structure of a modern capitalist economy, including the public and private sectors, and the criteria used by economists to evaluate economic outcomes, by:
2. Defining economic systems and capitalism (the market system) and identifying and describing major characteristics of the private sector and the role of the public sector.
3. Explaining major criteria used by economists to evaluate economic system.

1. Analyze how markets function and what happens in the presence of market failures, by:
2. Defining demand, supply, equilibrium price, and perfectly competitive markets, and analyzing how changes in non-price factors affect market equilibrium; and identifying the ways in which markets and the U.S. economy may diverge from the characteristics of a purely competitive model.
3. Explaining the use of marginal utility analysis to describe consumer equilibrium and the use of these concepts to derive a downward sloping demand curve.
4. Define market failures, including the concepts of moral hazard, externality, monopoly power and public goods and describe the policy options available to address these problems.
5. Applying the economic concepts developed in the class to some modern economic conditions and problems such as economic insecurity, poverty, discrimination, drugs, pollution, health care, resource sustainability, and regulation.
6. Calculate and interpret measures of elasticity, by:
7. Defining price elasticity of demand and supply; identifying the five types of elasticity; calculating the elasticity coefficient from two points on a demand or supply curve; and explaining the determinants of price elasticity.
8. Analyze production and costs of the firm and demonstrate how firms attempt to optimize their objectives in response to price signals under a variety of market structures in the short and long-run, by:
9. Explaining the concepts of production function and diminishing returns; marginal and average product; explicit and implicit costs; accounting profit, normal profit and economic profit; short run and long run; fixed, variable and marginal cost; economies and diseconomies of scale and long run average cost
10. Explaining the characteristics of perfectly competitive and non-competitive market structures (monopoly, oligopoly, and monopolistic competition); describing the neoclassical and alternative analysis of the nature of firm behavior and market outcomes upon the criteria used to evaluate economic systems and outcomes; analyzing the use of government policy in such market structures.
11. Analyze the nature factor markets and show how factor markets are affected by product market structures, by:
12. Identifying, describing and critically discussing major theories concerning the determination of factor prices including the alternative views of marginal productivity theory and labor segmentation theory; and discussing the development and role of labor unions in the U.S. economy.

Required Course Materials:

The bundle contains:

Hubbard, R. G, O’Brien, P. A. (2014) Microeconomics. Customised 5th edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey; Pearson Education or Microeconomics 5^th ed

My Econ Lab in Course Compass Plus e-Book Student Access Kit

You can find this bundle at the College bookstore or purchase the access code online.

Reading and Studying tips

• Purchasing the book or the access code for this course is not an option. It is the only way that you will be able to successfully complete this course. The book will be available at the college bookstore. Start by reading and studying each assigned chapter..

• Be aware of the way that you do learn. Read actively, meaning, take notes as you read; do not just highlight sentence after sentence. Part of learning economics is being able to understand a new vocabulary. Economics uses a large number of words in a very precise way, often giving these words definitions different from how they are used in ordinary speech. Mastery of the specialized economic vocabulary is essential for success in this course.

• The web site gives a summary of the subject for each chapter and it also provides learning resources to help you with the subject. The Power Point Presentation of each chapter provides a succinct summary and the Active Graphs are of great assistance.

• It is important to understand that the tests will be based primarily on the lectur notes and worksheets and on the text, and while the self study quiz and the study guide exercises may help you on the tests, it is the worksheets and the chapters which must be primarily emphasized in studying.

• After you have studied the chapter and the worksheets, reviewed the online resources and took the self study quiz and practices from the study plan it is time to take the graded assignments.

• After submitting each graded assignment the software is advised to provide you the correct answers after the due date. Print the assignment and prepare a list of questions especially in the areas where your answer was incorrect. Try to answer some of your questions yourself by revisiting the text and the additional resources. If you still do not understand the reasons behind your incorrect assessment, circle that question and ask me about it either via the e-mail or during class discussion

Make your own notes and write out the key terms and their definitions. There are no short cuts here. If you do not read the material closely and carefully, you will not complete this course successfully.

Time management skills – Keep up with your course work. Complete your reading assignments before attempting the online assignments. All the online assignments are timed, beware of the time limits. Be aware of the deadlines for each assignment since they do have firm deadlines.

Math skills – Students are required to apply algebraic methods to solve quantitative problems in Economics, and to use symbols and make generalizations. The math requirement is not exceptionally demanding but you must be comfortable with reading, drawing and understanding graphs, calculating percentage changes and using formulas and simple equations.

Codes of Conduct and Course Policies:

• Academic honesty is expected. I take cheating very seriously and will report such incidents to the Dean of Student Life. You are required to do all course assignments If I have reason to believe that this is not the case, I will give you a zero grade on that course component.

• I do not drop any student after the introductory meeting when I take roll. It is ultimately the student’s responsibility to formally drop the course if need be. Remember, you will receive a failing grade if you wish to drop the course but do not officially withdraw from the course.

• I would like to encourage you to use the class discussion time to pose and respond to questions and to exchange ideas to reinforce your understanding of the material. Ideally, this should take the role of in-class discussions. Personally, I will bring in economics news from the Economist, Wall Street Journal and New York Times among many other journals, to encourage discussions and ask for connections between these economic news and economics theory. While I do not mandate students to subscribe in any of these journals, I highly suggest that all business majors try to get into the habit of reading the Wall Street Journal. There are discount rates for all these journals for students. If you would be interested in those rates, please drop me an e-mail or ask me when we meet.

Assessment:

Your course grade is based on the following components:

Homework 20%

Quizzes 15%

Four equally weighted proctored exams 45%

Final exam 20%

Class Discussions and attendance 02%

Letter grades for the course are assigned as follows:

A: 88% and above; B: 77% to 87%; C: 65% to 76%; D: 55% to 64%; F: 54% and

below

I do not give makeup work for tests and quizzes. Please don’t ask. There are a total of 12 homework and you are allowed to drop the lowest scores. There are 12 quizzes and you are also allowed to drop the two lowest ones. The privilege of dropping lowest scores is extended in the event of an emergency, technical problems, power failure, unsecured wireless connection, etc. Please use this privilege wisely.

PLAGIARISM

You are required to work independently on graded assignments. You may certainly ask questions about the material in the course of your study and engage in a meaningful discussion where you share your thought process. Please use the discussion board for this. This is not the same thing as “working with a friend” where you and a friend coordinate work on your graded assignments. This is plagiarism. If you are still not sure about this distinction, please talk to me.

Homeworks and Study Plan provided by the publisher: This course is challenging for most students because it exposes students to a new way of thinking and requires some level of abstract reasoning. To help students develop their logical reasoning skills and master the material My Econ Lab has several questions and problems for each chapter. I strongly encourage you to do all the homeworks provided by the publisher and to follow their study plan. Personally, I am excited about this new technology since it provides ample opportunities for students to learn.

Exams: While the exams are not cumulative per se, there is a natural linkage to the material. The exams comprise short/ essay questions, problem solving and graphing questions.

Makeup Policy: It is very important that each exam be taken at the scheduled time and date. No makeup exam is given for unexcused and non-documented absences, or failure to notify instructor (via email) by the scheduled exam day.

Passive reading and doing the quizzes and the tests alone will NOT prepare you for the tests and exams. You must work through the study sheets and hand outs and the recommended end-of-chapter questions; study supplement questions and the study plan questions and thoroughly understand the concepts.

You may use a four-function non-programmable calculator. You may not use your cell phone as a calculator.

Tentative Course Calendar

Dates

Reading Assignments and Exams

Quizzes and Tests/ homeworks

Segment I

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5, and 6

August 14 - 31

Introduction and Overview

Ch. 1 and 2, Economics: Foundations and Models Ch. 3, Where Prices come From: Interaction of

Demand and Supply

Hmk and quizzes will be posted online with their due dates

Sept 1- 10

Ch. 4, Economic Efficiency, Government Price Setting, and Taxes.

Ch. 6, Elasticity: The Responsiveness of Demand and Supply

Chp 5 Externalities

Hmks and Quizzes will be posted online

with their due dates

Exam I

Sept 11

Segment II

Sept 11-October 12

Exam No.1 covers chapters 1, 2 3, and 4.

Ch. 5, 9 and 10,Comparative advantage and Trade, Consumer Choice and Behavioral Economics

Foreign exchange market and Balance of payments

Hmks and Quizzes will be posted online with their due dates

Exam II

Oct 11

Segment III

Oct 13

Exam II covers chps 5, 6, 9, and Foreign Exchange market

Ch. 11 , 12,13, and 15 Technology, Production and Costs, Perfect competition

Homeworks and Quizzes

November 14

Chapters 13, 15

Chap 14 is optional

Ch.12 Perfect Competition

Ch. 13, Monopolistic Competition: The Competitive Model in a more Realistic Setting

Chap 14 Oligopoly

Chap 15 Monopoly and regulation

Homeworks and Quizzes

Exam III

November 15

Exam III:

Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15

Segment IV

November 14

December 20

Chap 16 Pricing strategies

Chapters 17 and 18

Labor market

Factors market and distribution of income

Exam IV December

Review for the Final Exam

Final Exam December

( subject to modification )

Homeworks and quizzes

Homeworks and

Quizzes