108 COURSE SCHEDULE:  

Wednesday, September 1

Introduction  ,     Models and Evidence 

BOOK ASSIGNMENTS: Do questions 1-24 in Chapter 1.   Do questions 1-12 and 13a in Chapter 2.

INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS for Chapter 2:   On the Internet, go to the following sites.
(1) Go to the EcoMagic.com.  Choose "total nonfarm employment" under "Bureau of Labor Statistics" and click on "total private" employment (near the top of the list).  Go to the bottom and choose "GIF Chart."  You should see a graph.  Below the graph, you can change the options for the graph -- make the starting year 1950, and click the "Make Chart" button at the bottom of the page.  You will see a graph of total private employment in the United States in the second half of the 20th century.  By how much did it increase in that time period?  Which years did total private employment fall, by how much, and for how long?

Find "interest rates" under "Federal Reserve, Board of Governors," and at the top you'll see the "federal funds rate."  Click on it and then create GIF plot from 1975 to 1999.  In what ways has this interest rate changed in the last quarter century?  Do you see any connection between changes in the "federal funds rate" and changes in total private employment?

(2) Go to the BLS Economy at a Glance.  How large are "Average Weekly Hours" in the United States?  What does the footnote say about their measurement?  In what ways might this measurement be inaccurate or misleading?

(3)    STATISTICS EVERY WRITER SHOULD KNOW    --- ASSIGNMENT: read the first two sections ("So, You're a Beginner?" and "The Next Step: Not Getting Duped" to learn about means, medians, percent changes, "per capita" and rates of change, standard deviations, and margins of error.   Note: If you get a "Javascript error" when you open this site, just click "okay" and go on to the site.

(4) Go to the website for Fair Play: What Your Child Can Teach You About Economics, Values, and the Meaning of Life, by Steven E. Landsburg (Rochester faculty member) and read the sample chapter.  (a) Which statements are positive and which are normative? (b) Summarize Landsburg's positive argument.  (c) Summarize his normative argument.

(5) Click on "Evidence" above or here, read about how economists use data as evidence for or against models, and think about the question at the end.

GOOD TO KNOW:
A very useful site for finding economic data is Resources for Economists on the Internet by Bill Goffe.
A very useful source of U.S. socio-economic data is A Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Read Chapter 3.  (Skip the appendix.)

BOOK ASSIGNMENTS: Do questions 1-21.
 

Gains from Trade -- Friday, September 3

Read Chapter 4, including the appendix.  Do questions 1-21, 24, 27, A1-A2
The most important questions for you to do in Chapter 4 are 5-9, 12-16, 20-21, 24, and A1-A2.

CORRECTION ON PAGE 98: The equation at the top of page 98 should indeed say that "Qs = c + dP" with a plus sign rather than a minus sign.

Supply and Demand --  September 10 

Read Chapter 5.  Do questions 1-20, 33. The most important questions for you to do in Chapter 5 are 3, 4, 6, 11, 13-15, 25-26, and 28.

Elasticities-- September 13

Read Chapter 6.
BOOK ASSIGNMENTS: Do all the problems.  The most important questions for you to do in Chapter 6 are 2, 4, 10-12, 16-17, and 20.

INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS:
Go to an on-line auction site, such as Ebay, and (a) use supply/demand analysis to help explain how equilibrium prices are determined in these markets, and (b) explain how equilibrium prices are related to consumers' "willingness to pay."  This assignment is connected with this week's Workshop Problems.

Applications -- September 15 and 17 

No Class Monday September 20 (Yom Kippur)

Read Chapter 7.
BOOK ASSIGNMENTS: Do problems 1-23, 26-27, 30.
The most important questions for you to do in Chapter 7 are 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 14, 17, 21, 23, 26, 27, 30.

INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS:
(1) Read and be prepared to discuss: My Personal Trade Deficit     (Steven E. Landsburg  in Slate)
(2) Go to Iowa Electronic Markets, and explain how the markets work, with an example.
Also go to the Foresight Exchange (click on "Claims" under Open Services to see what you can bet on) , and explain how the markets work, with an example.
(Other similar markets include Invisible Hand Electronic Market and Fantasy Futures, and WahlStreet (in German only).
(3) Learn to read the stock market pages in the newspaper at Reading a Stock Table
(4) Go to the Global Grocery List , then click on "View Price Lists" and explain how the price data at this site relate to the economics in Chapter 7.

International Trade, Arbitrage, and Speculation -- September 22

Read Chapter 8, including the appendix.  Do problems 1-25, 29-30, and A1-A3 in the appendix.
The most important questions for you to do in Chapter 8 are 1-4, 8, 10, 12-14, 21, 24, A1-A3.
 

Taxes and Price Controls -- September 24, 27 

Read chapter 9 and  both appendices.
        Do all end-of-section questions in chapter 9, questions 19-22, 24-25 at the end of the chapter, and appendix questions A1-A2 and B1-B4.

Economic Efficiency -- September 29, October 1

No Class -- FALL BREAK -- Monday, October 4
 

Read chapter 10.  Don't bother reading the Appendixes -- however, if you know calculus, you might find Appendix C on page 256 useful to help you understand the material.
        Do all end-of-section questions in chapter 10, and questions 11-13 at the end of the chapter.
 

Logic of Choice -- October 6 

Read chapters 11-12, skipping the Appendixes.  However, if you know calculus, you might find the Appendix to Chapter 11 (on pages 274-5) useful to help you understand the material.

        powerpoint slides for lectures on material in Chapter 11
        In chapter 11, do questions 5-8, 15-16, 19-21.   

        powerpoint slides for Chapter 12
        In chapter 12, do questions 4-5, 16-17, 18, 21-24, 27-28.

Business Decisions -- October 8, 11

Read chapters 13-14.
        In chapter 13, do questions 1-3, 5-7, 13.

        In chapter 14, do questions 1-14, 16-17, 19, 21.

Review/Catch-Up Class , Wednesday, October 13

First Midterm Exam -- Friday, October 15

Competition and Monopoly-- October 18, 20, 22,  powerpoint slides -- set 1;

powerpoint slides set 2 (monopoly)

Read chapter 15.
        Do questions 1-4 and 14-16.

Monopolistic Competition -- October 25 

Game Theory -- October 27, 29

Read Chapter 20
powerpoint presentation here
Do problems 1-12, 14, 19-20, 23d, 24

Economics of Information (and other topics) -- November 1

Read Chapter 21
 -- powerpoint presentation here
Do problems 1-28; think about 30-31, 35-37

Environmental Economics and Public Goods -- November 3, 5

Introduction to Macroeconomics -- November 8

Simple Models of GDP, Prices, and Employment -- November 10

Interest Rates, Savings, and Investment -- November 12, 15

Economic Growth -- November 17

Review/Catch-Up Class -- November 19

Second Midterm Exam -- Monday, November 22

No Class -- November 24
 

Inflation and the Monetary System -- November 29

Business Cycles and Economic Policy --December 1- 8

Financial Markets (and Conclusions?) -- December 10

FINAL EXAM: Friday, December 17, 1998,  at 12:30-3:30