Econ201W2016

On January 27 and February 1 we discuss price controls in class. One very important price control is the minimum wage, a topic that has been debate a lot recently at both the Federal and State levels. This topic is discussed in the op-eds in NYTimes below:

Greg Mankiw

Paul Krugman

For evidence on the effects of changes in the minimum wage see the following summary paper on employment and this paper on the effect on other markets.

On February 15 we discussed the problem of externalities and approaches to dealing with them. A summary of some of the approaches applied to climate change is available here.

In class on February 22 we discussed second degree price discrimination. An example from the airline industry is available here.

In class on February 24 we discussed game theory and Nash equilibrium. The following is a paper that tests the predictions of game theory using penalty kicks in soccer: Chiappori, Groseclose and Levitt (2002).

Problem Sets:

Problem Set 1 (due January 13, 2016)

Problem Set 2 (due January 20, 2016)

Problem Set 3 (due January 27, 2016)

Problem Set 4 (due February 3, 2016)

Problem Set 5 (due February 17, 2016)

Problem Set 6 (due February 24, 2016)

Problem Set 7 (due March 2, 2016)

Problem Set 8 (due March 9, 2016)

Exams:

Practice Midterm 1 with solutions.

Practice Midterm 2 with solutions.