PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS

Syllabus

2007-02-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 2020
PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS
SUMMER 2008

Instructor:
M. FAZIL ACAR
fazilacar@wayne.edu
Office: 2140 F/AB Lecture:
MTWR
10:30AM – 12:20PM
STAT 129 Office Hours:
Wednesday
01:00PM-03:00PM
Other times by appointment

Textbook: Principles of Macroeconomics, John B. Taylor, 5th edition (Houghton Mifflin)

The Study Guide for this book is very helpful and is definitely recommended for students seeking additional resources.

General: Here is my recommendation on how you should attempt to master the material covered in this class:
1. Read the textbook on your own before coming to class. Begin to think through some of the questions at the end of the chapter as best you can. Quiz yourself on the vocabulary terms defined in the chapter.
2. Come to lecture and hear the material explained. Pay attention for the concepts that you understood from the book as well as any concepts you did not understand. Listen for the terms you learned from reading the textbook to confirm that you understood their meanings.
3. Read the textbook a second time, this time keeping in mind the points emphasized in lecture. By now you have mastered the terminology of the chapter and have worked with the concepts in detail. Attempt to answer the end of chapter questions. If you purchased the Study Guide, work through the chapter in the Study Guide.
4. Come to my office hours.

Grades: Your grade will have the following components:

Quizzes 20%
First midterm exam 25%
Second midterm exam 25%
Final exam 30%

The following scale will be used to calculate final grades:

80% - 84%, B + 65% - 69%, C + 50% - 54%, D+
90% - 100%, A 75% - 79%, B 60% - 64%, C 45% - 49%, D
85% - 89%, A – 70% - 74%, B – 55% - 59%, C – 40% - 44%, D –

Exams: The exams will be exclusively multiple-choice. You will need to bring a scantron form to both midterm exams and to the final exam.

The first midterm will cover material from chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and will be given during lecture time on JULY 16. The second midterm will cover material from chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and will be given during lecture time on AUG 5.

The final exam will be cumulative. The final exam will be given during the lecture time on Thursday, AUG 14.

Makeups: Since you cannot pass the class without taking all three exams, you should plan on being in class to take those exams. Only with a documented, legitimate excuse can an exam be taken at a time other than the scheduled time. Examples of legitimate excuses are doctor-verified illnesses or hospitalization, funerals, court dates, jury duty, etc. Examples of excuses that are not legitimate are vacation plans, undocumented illnesses, work, etc.
Quizzes: At the end of each chapter we done you will take the Quiz. The Quizzes will be multiple-choice and I will drop your lowest 3 scores. In that case you will have right to miss 3 quiz. There is no make up for Quizzes.

Schedule: The following is our schedule. Changes will be announced in lecture and on Blackboard.

Jun 25 …Syllabus/Chapter 1 July 22 …Chapter 10
Jun 26 …Chapter 1 July 23 …Chapter 10
Jun 30 …Chapter 2 July 24 …Chapter 11
July 1 …Chapter 2 July 28 …Chapter 11
July 2 …Chapter 3 July 29 …Chapter 12
July 3 …Chapter 3 July 30 …Chapter 12
July 7 …Chapter 4 July 31 …Chapter 13
July 8 …Chapter 4 Aug 4 …Chapter 13
July 9 …Chapter 5 Aug 5 …Exam 2
July 10 …Chapter 5 Aug 6 …Chapter 14
July 14 …Chapter 6 Aug 7 …Chapter 14
July 15 …Chapter 6 Aug 11 …Chapter 15
July 16 …Exam 1 Aug 12 …Chapter 15
July 17 …Chapter 9 Aug 14 …FINAL
July 21 …Chapter 9
…

(See academic calendar: http://sdcl.wayne.edu/RegistrarWeb/Calendars/academic)

PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS

2006-09-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 2010
PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS
FALL 2006

Instructor: M. Fazil Acar
Email: fazilacar@wayne.edu
Office: 2122 FAB
Phone: 577-3345

Class Meetings:
CRN Section Day & Time Room
10938 10 Wed 9:35AM-10:30 AM 0012
11836 11 Fri 9:35AM-10:30 AM 0012
11723 12 Fri 11:45AM-12:40 PM 0012

Office hours: Wednesday: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (and by appointment)

Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics, 4th Edition

Grades: Your grade will have the following components:
Weekly quizzes in discussion groups 25%
In-class assignments during lecture 5%
First midterm exam 20%
Second midterm exam 20%
Final exam 30%

The following scale will be used to calculate final grades:

80% - 84%, B + 65% - 69%, C + 50% - 54%, D+
90% - 100%, A 75% - 79%, B 60% - 64%, C 45% - 49%, D
85% - 89%, A – 70% - 74%, B – 55% - 59%, C – 40% - 44%, D –

Quizzes: At the end of each meeting, you will take a short quiz on the material covered that week in lecture. The Quizzes will be exclusively multiple-choice and I will drop your lowest score. In that case you will have right to miss one quiz.

Makeups: Ask me to have a makeup quiz in the case of legitimate excuses are doctor-verified illnesses or hospitalization, funerals, court dates, jury duty, etc. Examples of excuses that are not legitimate are vacation plans, undocumented illnesses, work, etc.

There is no lecture and there are no discussion group meetings on Thursday and Friday, November 23rd and 24th, because of Thanksgiving. According to the Academic Calendar for Fall 2006, Tuesday, November 21st is scheduled as a Thursday and Wednesday, November 22nd is scheduled as a Friday. (See http://sdcl.wayne.edu/RegistrarWeb/Calendars/academic)

Political Economy Classes both section 1 and 2

2005-09-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

POLITICAL ECONOMY FALL 2005

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By November 10th
my new office number: BB.4.03.48 Phone: 210-458-5396

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FOR STUDENTS IN BOTH SECTION 1 AND SECTION 2

I will be holding REVIEW SESSION for Exam #3

Sunday

5pm to 8pm

Room number: BB.2.01.18

for any questions please email me: fazil.acar@utsa.edu

Here is the review sheet for test 3, Fall 2005

There are 56 questions on this test, which is over chapters 7, 8, and 9. See below for information on which sections of each chapter are included or excluded. There are no questions on the Exploration sections. There are two graphs. Be sure to bring the correct Parscore form and a #2 pencil. The number of questions from each chapter is indicated in parentheses below.

Chapter 7 (12 questions)

What is a barrier to entry? Provide examples.
What is market power?___________
How do barriers to entry create market power?
What are the sources of monopoly?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Provide at least two examples of businesses that might be natural monopolies. Why is telephone service no longer a natural monopoly although in the past it was?
A monopoly firm is defined as one which _______________________________. Is a monopoly really a monopoly if there are close substitutes for its product?
The monopolist’s demand curve would show the pure monopoly firm as having a market share of _________ percent of the total market. That means that the monopoly business has a demand curve which is ___________________ the market demand curve for the product or service it produces.
“A natural monopoly exists when one firm can produce at a lower per unit cost than could two firms.” True or False. Explain your answer.
What types of businesses provides the best example of a natural monopoly? ___________ _______________ One specific example of this type of business is a _______________ company.
Draw a demand curve for a firm with no market power. Then draw a demand curve for a firm with slight market power. Then draw a third demand curve for a monopoly firm. Compare your graph to the one in the text. Is there a relationship between the slope of the demand and the amount of market power? Explain.
No questions from Section 7.2, as stated in class. This is the section with lots of numbers and graphs.
Oligopoly occurs when _____________________.
The key characteristic of oligopoly is called ______________ _______. Provide an example or two of this behavior that you might have observed in the business world yourself.
In light of the key characteristic of oligopoly, to which game of skill and/or chance does oligopoly most easily compare? _____________
Can oligopolies be differentiated? Can they be homogeneous? Explain. Name a specific company that represents a differentiated oligopoly.
The characteristics of monopolistic competition are ___,__, __, and_____.
Do monopolistically competitive firms advertise? Is advertising a form of product differentiation? Explain.

Chapter 8 (34 questions)

People who work for salaries are paid differently than people who work for wages. Explain. Include a brief statement of why 40 hours is especially important for those who work for wages.
According to the pie chart, which source of income is most important in our economy, profits, wages, or some other type of income? ___________________
A reservation wage is _____________________.
The income effect of a wage increase would cause a person to ______________.
The substitution effect of a wage increase would cause a person to _______.
Most people have a backward bending labor supply curve. Draw a backward bending labor supply curve, making sure to label the axes. Show the section of the curve where the income effect is stronger and show the section of the curve where the substitution effect is stronger. Does what is shown in the graph describe you personally?
Put some numbers on the graph you just drew. Your labor supply curve starts at your ____________ wage. What is that value for you personally? For the graph you drew, at what wage does the income effect start to get stronger than the substitution effect?
What is nonlabor income? Provide a few examples.
What effect would more nonlabor income have on your labor supply curve? What effect would less nonlabor income have on your labor supply curve?
A compensating wage differential is a payment whose purpose is to _____.
What types of jobs pay compensating differentials?
Labor Unions: What fraction of workers belong (approximately—the exact number will change a little every year)?
In what industry are labor unions particularly popular?
What is a right-to-work law? Do unions favor or oppose these laws? Why?
What is bargaining power? What gives unions bargaining power: ____________________, ______________________.
The signaling hypothesis says that a college degree says to employers that an applicant _____________ _________________.
Pre-market discrimination is different from market discrimination. Explain that difference briefly.
What are economic rents? Stephen Kings earns economic rents. So does Madonna. How is that different from wages and salaries?

Chapter 9 (section 9.1 only: 10 questions)

Market failure means that markets fail to achieve __________________, meaning there might be too little or too much of a good.
Excludable means _________________.
Rival means ___________________________.
Pure public goods are _________________________ and _____________________.
Pure private goods are ________________________ and ______________________.
An example of a pure public good is _________________ ________________.
Many public goods are not pure, but _____________.
How is the value of a public good determined? Does the value that you personally place on a library, for example, make a difference in the value of that library?
John is a free rider. This means that he ___________________.
We’d rather not have too much or too little of a public good. For example, an empty highway that leads nowhere is not a good use of tax dollars, but on the other hand, a highly congested, overcrowded highway system probably needs to be expanded. The efficient quantity of something is the “right amount.” State the rule for determining the efficient quantity of a public good: __________ _____ = ______________ ________________. Draw a graph that expresses this rule, and briefly interpret the graph.

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LEARNING CONTRACT PAST DUE

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Each classes:

Please send your "learning contract" to my email: fazil.acar@utsa.edu

I will be posting your credits on the WebCt.

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My review session for exam #1 will be tomorrow (Friday) from 3pm to 5pm.

Classroom number is MB 0.208

If you can not make it; please ask me another time.

and

If few of you come together who can not make review session please email
me, I will hold another review session for you.

My email address is fazil.acar@utsa.edu

Hope to see you tomorrow.

My Office Information

2005-09-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Department of Economics
Wayne State University
656 W. Kirby, 2074 FAB
Detroit , Michigan 48202

Office: 2122 F/AB
Phone: (313) 577-3345
Office hours: Friday; 10:30 AM-11:45 AM and 12:40 PM-1:30 PM (and by appointment)