Embedded Files
Diego Rivera, Detroit Industry, north wall, 1932–33, fresco, painted surface area: 1544 sq. ft. (144 sq. m). Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Gift of Edsel B. Ford, 33.10.W (artwork in the public domain; photograph provided by Detroit Institute of Arts)
Course INFORMATION
Course INFORMATION
MICROECONOMICS DETAILS FOR SUMMER OF 2026:
Course Title: Principles of Microeconomics
CRN: 56373
Units: 3 units
Transfer Credits: UC/CSU Transferable Credit (See attributes for details)
Attributes:
2LOCAL 4-CSM Soc & Beh Sci
4CSU D2-Economics-CSM
1CalGETC 4-Soc & Beh Sci-CSM
3IGETC 4B-Economics-CSM
Timing:
Semester: Summer 2026
Start date: 08-JUN-2026, End date: 18-JUL-2026
Last Date to enter Census Verification: 16-JUN-2026
Class Meeting Days: Asynchronous
Office Hours: No regularly scheduled hours. Please book office hours via Calendly.
Other Data: Available in the Microeconomics Course Outline of Record
microeconomics Course Description
microeconomics Course Description
From the Catalog:
From the Catalog:
Microeconomics (Econ 102): The American economy: price system; the role of business, labor and government; the money and banking system; trends of national income and factors in its determination; problems and policies for stabilization and growth.
Guillermo's Description:
Guillermo's Description:
Microeconomics studies the interactions between markets, social preferences (e.g. laws), and (sometimes) private property. We will see frameworks that will allow us to understand better the consumer, firms, the labor market, and others, such as the government. We will examine the interactions through technological, historical, environmental, and equity perspectives throughout the course. I hope to expose you to materials and tools to help you succeed in the rest of your academic and professional careers. Additionally, I hope to inspire you to become civically engaged through critical analyses of economic structures and market failures.
Why this course is important to you?
Why this course is important to you?
This course will provide foundational knowledge, skills, and experiences that will be useful for the rest of your academic and professional careers. For example, we will be using Excel, express ourselves on topics useful in your Business career, or learning how to prepare for a salary negotiation.
At the conclusion of THE MICROECONOMICS course, you should be able to meet the following outcomes:
At the conclusion of THE MICROECONOMICS course, you should be able to meet the following outcomes:
Identify some of the fundamental economic concepts.
Demonstrate knowledge about how markets work and what happens in the presence of market imperfections.
Identify and apply the principles of production cost.
Evaluate whether market efficiency exists using the model of supply and demand.
Apply the tools of 'Economic Analysis' to understand human interaction and social issues ranging from business strategic decision making to economics of global warming.
• Develop a critical way of thinking to make optimal decisions in everyday life using marginal benefit, marginal cost concepts.
Teaching Philosophy
Teaching Philosophy
Guillermo's Teaching Philosophy
Guillermo's Teaching Philosophy
Erin Castro studies the community college student and suggests training students in four commonly cited dimensions: Interpretation, problem-solving, the ability to construct an argument, and to help create awareness of the norms necessary to navigate the labor market successfully.
Most of my career has been in the Tech industry, not academia. Specifically, In my tech roles in sales and marketing, I hired, trained, and supervised many folks who were fresh out of college. In this course, I try to provide the training that made many of those folks successful.
I will point out the sometimes oppressive realities that you will find in Business and try to equip you to navigate them. For example, 36% of the American labor force is an independent contractor or works in the "gig" economy. I think it is an issue of social justice to provide you with tools or expose you to mindsets that will allow you to grow your income in this new labor market. For example, we will learn how to prepare for a salary negotiation.
Textbooks
Textbooks
TEXTBOOK (Free)
OpenStax College. (Dec 14, 2022) Principles of Economics. 3rd Edition. OpenStax.
David Shapiro, Daniel MacDonald, Steven A. Greenlaw
Principles of Economics 3e.
Color: ISBN-13: 978-1-711471-45-7
Black and White: ISBN-13: 978-1-711471-46-4
Digital PDF: ISBN-13: 978-1-951693-63-3
https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-economics-3e?Book%20details
COURSEWARE ($15.00)
This is a REQUIRED assessment and assignment tool to accompany the Principles of Economics 3e textbook.
OpenStax College. (2022) Principles of Economics. 3rd Edition. OpenStax-Assignable.
Principles of Economics 3e: 978-1-961584-73-0
David Shapiro, Daniel MacDonald, Steven A. Greenlaw
https://www.vitalsource.com/products/principles-of-economics-david-shapiro-daniel-v9781961584730
TEXTBOOK (Free)
CORE Econ - The Economy 2.0. Economics for a Changing World (2024).
https://books.core-econ.org/the-economy/index.html
If you require a physical text or PDFs, please reach out to me to:
College of San Mateo Bookstore
1700 West Hillsdale Blvd.San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: 650-574-6367Email: csmbookstore@smccd.edu
PERIODICALS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
PERIODICALS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
● Sign up for the Wall Street Journal. Use this link for a free subscription. Type "College of San Mateo."
● Register for a Harvard Business Review Account. Subscribe to the Free Newsletter called Management Tip of the Day.
(suggested) Movies and documentaries
(suggested) Movies and documentaries
● The Corporation. Directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot. Zeitgeist Films. 2003.
● The Big Short. Adam McKay. Paramount Pictures. 2015.
● Moneyball. Brad Pitt. Columbia Pictures. 2011
● Amazon Empire. PBS. Frontline. 2020.
You'll find learning outcomes in each of the chapters in this course. These outline what you'll learn in each chapter, and you can think of these unit-level learning outcomes as baby steps toward our big-picture, course-level learning outcomes outlined above.
You can find these on the schedule to this syllabus or in the Modules within our Canvas
Please note that you will be required to take the Chapter Quiz before you can advance to the next module.
Technical requirements
Technical requirements
Fairly recent Mac, ChromeBook, or PC with a current operating system.
A system that can execute Zoom meetings and simple spreadsheets.
Current browser (Chrome is preferable)
Stable internet connection
An account with a Large Language Model Provider. I would recommend you replace your Google search box with perplexity.ai. Perplexity, Google's Notebook LM, OpenAI's ChatGPT, or Anthropic's Claude.
Computer Readiness
Computer Readiness
This is a list of basic computer system requirements to use Canvas. It is always recommended to use the most up-to-date versions and better connections. Canvas will still run with the minimum specifications, but you may experience slower loading times.
Because it's built using web standards, Canvas runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, or any other device with a modern web browser. Chrome is recommended, but NOT Internet Explorer.
The Computer Readiness Test will test your current browser for plugins and versions to help you navigate general websites. You may want to update your browser.
Canvas also has mobile apps!
Canvas also has mobile apps!
To access this course and others as a student, download the Canvas App for iOS or Android. You can also download this app to access their Canvas courses on your mobile devices.
Recommended Free Software
Recommended Free Software
Student Canvas App: available on the App Store or Google Play. Type “San Mateo Community College District” when you search for your institution.
Adobe Reader: Some of the documents in this course will be available to you in PDF format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your computer, you can download it by going to Adobe Reader.
Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ . ChatGPT. https://chat.openai.com/
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