Economics Principles II (Microeconomics) ECON-UA 2-002 NYU 2013, Summer Session II Prof. Séverine Toussaert - Email:
[email protected] July 8, 2013 Basic Course Information Class Schedule and location Mon-Thurs: 9:00-10:35 am, July 8 - August 15 Room: LL23 (7 East 12th Street, Fairchild Building) Office Hours: Tuesday after class and Thursday from 5 to 6pm. Office: 721 (19 W. 4th Street, 7th FL) NYU Classes: All course documents and announcements will be accessible through NYU Classes (which can be accessed at https://newclasses.nyu.edu/). It is your responsibility to check it on a regular basis. Prerequisites: Algebra and Pre-Calculus or equivalent. As this is an introductory course, no prior training in economics is assumed. The course material requires working knowledge of basic concepts in algebra and pre-calculus. Textbooks: The two main textbooks for this course will be Microeconomics (7th ed., 2009) by Robert Pindyck and Daniel Rubinfeld (PR) and Microeconomics, Principles and Applications (5th ed., 2010), by Robert E. Hall and Marc Lieberman (HL). My lecture notes will be based mostly on Pindyck and Rubinfeld which is a more advanced textbook. If you are a pre-college student, I would suggest you read Hall and Lieberman. You don’t have to buy both of them but I would advise you to have one of them, especially if you plan to take other classes in economics in the future. Problem Sets: There will be three problem sets which will be distributed at the beginning of each week when there is no exam and must be turned in one week later in class. You are encouraged to discuss the problem sets with your classmates as long as: (1) each one of you turns in his or her own solutions; (2) you mention the classmates you worked with; and (3) you keep discussion groups reasonably small (say, at most three persons per group). The solutions to each problem set will be posted immediately after your homework is due, so no late submissions will be allowed. You are expected to explain your work carefully and to write legibly; failure to do so will imply a decrease in your grade.
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Exams: There will be one midterm exam on Thursday, August 1st and one final exam on the last day of class, Thursday, August 15th. Course Grade: Your average score in the course will be a weighted average with the following weights: • Problem Sets Grade : 20% • Midterm Exam Grade : 30% • Final Exam Grade : 50% Your final letter grade will be determined by your average score as well as how you are ranked in the class. To do so, I will follow the guidelines of the Economics Department that requires all course instructors to conform approximately to the following distribution of grades (+ deviation of plus or minus five percentage points): • A : 29% • B : 40% • C : 22% • D : 5% • F : 5% Participation: You are expected to participate in class by asking questions when you don’t understand as well as by suggesting answers to questions I may ask you. It really doesn’t matter whether you are right or wrong when you try to answer a question; often mistakes are very informative for everyone. While you will not receive a specific grade for an active participation in class, I will take it into account when I assign letter grades if for instance you were between a B+ and an A-. Punctuality, Attendance and Missed Exams: A regular attendance is expected of each student; if you are absent for whatever reason, you are responsible for the material that was covered during class. Furthermore, due to the amount of material we have to cover, each class will start at 9 am sharp. You are therefore expected to arrive on time. If you have a documented serious illness or documented serious emergency that prevents you from taking one of the exams, contact me ASAP, before the exam. Your situation will be handled with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. If you miss an exam for any reason other than those listed above, you will receive a zero grade on that exam. Academic Misconduct: All students must be familiar with the CAS Academic Policies. They will be strictly enforced. Copies are available at: http://cas.nyu.edu/page/ug.academicintegrity
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Getting Help: If you don’t understand something, please don’t wait until you become totally overwhelmed. Here is what you should do if you don’t understand something during class: (1) Ask questions during lectures. I may request that you ask me again after class (so I can answer one-on-one), or later in the course (after I cover some additional material). But it never hurts to ask; if you have a question, other classmates probably have the same. (2) Talk to me after class: I will be available after each class to answer your questions about previous classes or the current class. (3) Come to my office hours if you have specific questions about the material covered during the week. (4) Talk to an economics tutor at the University Learning Center (ULC). Tutoring is free and conducted on a walk-in, first-come, first-served basis. Schedule: An Economics tutor is available on Mondays from 1:30 to 5:30pm and on Thursdays from 1:30 to 4pm. For more information, visit their website (http://www.nyu.edu/ulc) or go directly to the Academic Resource Center (lower level, 18 Washington Place). When do I need help? There are many ways for you to assess whether you understand the material. (1) Work with other classmates and try to explain to each other the material. If you have hard time to do so, probably you don’t understand the conceptual ideas very well. (2) Read the textbook: each of the chapters in the textbook contains a set of review questions and exercises. I encourage you to try to answer them. You should be able to answer confidently most of them after having read the chapter. (3) Use the companion website of PR: http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_pindyck_micro_7, that allows the students to take self-study quizzes. Please try to solve them with closed book and under time-pressure. This should be a good indicator of your possible performance during the final.
Course Outline and Tentative Schedule Week 1 & 2 - Math review - Chapter 1 (Introduction): What is microeconomics ? Ch.1 PR, Ch.1 HL - Chapter 2 : A first look at markets, supply and demand - Ch.2 PR, Ch.3 & Ch.5 p. 121-127 HL; PART 1 : The Demand Side - Chapter 3 : Consumer Behavior - Ch. 3 PR ; Ch. 6 HL - Chapter 4: Individual and Market Demand - Ch.4 PR ; Ch.6 HL
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Week 3 & 4 PART 2 : The Supply Side - Chapter 5 : Production - Ch.6 PR ; Ch.7 HL - Chapter 6 : The cost of production - Ch.7 PR ; Ch.7 HL - Chapter 7 : Profit maximization and competitive supply - Ch.8 PR ; Ch.8 & 9 HL Midterm : Thursday, August 1st PART 3 : Competitive and Non-Competitive Markets -
Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter
8: Economic Efficiency in competitive markets - Ch.9 PR ; Ch.4 & Ch.14 HL 9: Monopoly and pricing strategies - Ch.10 & 11 PR ; Ch.10 HL 10 : Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly - Ch.12 PR ; Ch.11 HL 11: Game theory - Ch.13 PR ; Ch.11 HL p.336-342
Week 5 PART 4 : Market failures and market examples (if time permits, one of those examples) - Chapter 12: Market failures and Government intervention : Ch. 17 & 18 PR; Ch.15 HL - Chapter 13 : Capital and financial markets - Ch. 15 PR; Ch. 13 HL - Chapter 14 : Labor markets - Ch. 14 PR; Ch. 12 HL and/or - Review session before the final Final : Thursday, August 15th
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