Introduction to Economics (ECON 101)
Course description:
| 1. This course gives an introduction to students to the
fundamentals of economics. We will study basic economic terminology, concepts, institutions, activities and some theories. More specifically, we will study how consumers and producers as economic agents behave, how prices are determined, how the performances of an economy is measured by things like growth, unemployment and inflation, and how government policies may affect the performances of the economy. Students will get a general idea as how to appreciate the relevance of economic analysis and be able, on a rudimentary level, to practice the economic way of thinking. |
| 2. Pre-requisite: None |
| 3. Textbook: Economics, by Paul A.
Samuelson and William D. Nordhaus, 16th edition, McGraw-Hill, 1994. |
| 4. Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 6:00 - 7:50PM at KH120. |
| 5. Office Hours: 10:00 - 11:30AM, Tuesday and Thursday; or by appointment. |
| 6. Examinations: There will be altogether four
tests with each contributing 25% to the final grade. |
| 7. Attendance: For every class missed beyond two,
1% will be deducted from the final grade. |
Syllabus:
| 1. | 8/31 (T) | Introduction: scarcity and choice; microeconomics and macroeconomics; and economic methodology; Chapter 1. |
| 2. | 9/2 (R) | Organizing the economy, markets and government; Chapter 2. |
| 3. | 9/7 (T) | Supply and demand; Chapter 3. |
| 4. | 9/9 (R) | Applications of supply and demand; Chapter 4. |
| 5. | 9/14 (T) | A Consumer's behavior: preference and budget; Chapter 5. |
| 6. | 9/16 (R) | Test 1. |
| 7. | 9/21 (T) | Production, production function, constant returns to scale, Chapter 6. |
| 8. | 9/23 (R) | Cost analysis; Chapter 7. |
| 9. | 9/28 (T) | Perfectly competitive markets; Chapter 8. |
| 10. | 9/30 (R) | Monopoly; Chapter 9. |
| 11. | 10/5 (T) | Oligopoly and monopolistic competition; Chapter 10. |
| 12. | 10/7 (R) | Game theory introduction; Chapter 11. |
| 10/12 (T) | Fall Reading Day, No Class | |
| 13. | 10/14 (R) | Test 2. |
| 14. | 10/19 (T) | Introduction to factor market, demand for and supply of labor; wage determination, monopsony, and labor union;; Chapter 13. |
| 15. | 10/21 (R) | Externality and environmental protection; public goods: non-exclusiveness and free rider's problem; Chapter 18. |
| 16. | 10/26 (T) | The tradeoff between efficiency and equality; Chapter 19. |
| 17. | 10/28 (R) | Introduction to macroeconomics; Chapter 20. |
| 11/2 (T) | All Day Advising, No Class. | |
| 18. | 11/4 (R) | Measuring economic activity, how to measure GDP, nominal GDP and real GDP, price index; Chapter 21. |
| 19. | 11/9 (T) | Consumption and investment; Chapter 22. |
| 20. | 11/11 (R) | Test 3. |
| 21. | 11/16 (T) | Business cycles and Keynesian economics; Chapter 23. |
| 22. | 11/18 (R) | Multiplier model; Chapter 24. |
| 23. | 11/23 (T) | Money and banking; Chapter 25. |
| 11/25 (R) | Thanksgiving Recess, No Class | |
| 24. | 11/30 (T) | Monetary policy; Chapter 26. |
| 25. | 12/2 (R) | Economic growth; Chapter 27. |
| 26. | 12/7 (T) | Unemployment and inflation; Chapters 29 and 30. |
| 27. | 12/9 (R) | Test 4. |
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Last Updated 07/31/00