Office: Monroe 108 D

Phone: 654 1484

email: bhansen

Office Hours:

MW 2-3

T 12:00 - 12:30 and 1:45- 2:45

H 12:00 - 12:30 and 1:45 -2:45
 

Course Description:
 

Microeconomics is the study of how individuals make decisions and how those individuals interact with each other in markets. Microeconomists do not care who the decision maker is or what the decision is. Buying a new car, having a baby, building a factory, pricing a product, and casting a vote are all decisions. They are all part of the subject matter of microeconomics.
 

Doing microeconomics is a lot like doing word problems in algebra. You often begin with a verbal description of a problem and then have to translate this into an equation or a graph so that you can analyze it more precisely. All our problems are essentially the same. They are about maximizing something. In the case of businesses we are concerned with how the business maximizes profits given the costs of its inputs, the level of demand, the amount of competition it faces, and other factors. In the case of individuals the question is how to maximize utility (satisfaction) given the resources the person has available and the price of goods he or she desires.
 

Course Objectives:

1. Develop understanding of microeconomic theory and its application.

2. Develop quantitative analysis skills.
 

This is obviously not a very long list of objectives. However, both objectives require considerable effort. If we achieve these two objectives we will have accomplished a great deal.
 

Grading:

There will be five exams, four during the semester plus the final. Each will be worth 20 % of your grade.
 

for a grade of A final class average must be >= 93.0

for a grade of A- final class average must be >=90.0 and <93.0

for a grade of B+ final class average must be >=87.0 and <90.0

for a grade of B final class average must be >= 83.0 and <87.0

for a grade of B- final class average must be >=80.0 and <83.0

for a grade of C+ final class average must be >=77.0 and <80.0

for a grade of C final class average must be >=73.0 and <77.0

for a grade of C- final class average must be >=70.0 and <73.0

for a grade of D+ final class average must be >=65.0 and <70.0

for a grade of D final class average must be >= 60.0 and <65.0

for a grade of F final class average must be < 60.0
 

Schedule
 

Week	Monday	Wednesday	Friday
1	Aug. 27  Introduction. What are the characteristics of The Economic Way of Thinking?	Aug. 29 What are the benefits and the limits of The Economic Way of Thinking?	Aug. 31 Supply and Demand Experiment.
2	Sep. 3 Algebra of Supply and Demand	Sep. 5 In class problems.	Sep. 7  Budget constraints and Indifference Curves
3	Sep10 Budget Constraints and Indifference Curves	Sep. 12  Best Feasible Bundle	Sep. 14 In class problems.
4	Sep.17 Exam 1	Sep. 19  From Indifference Curves to Individual Demand	Sep. 21 From Individual Demand to Market Demand
5	Sep. 24 Elasticity	Sep. 26  In class problems.	Sep. 28 Applications of rational choice and demand
6	Oct. 1 Applications of Rational Choice and Demand.	Oct. 3  Uncertainty	Oct. 5 Information
7	Oct. 8  In class problems.	Oct. 10  Exam 2	Oct. 12 Production
8	Oct. 15 no class	Oct. 17  Production.	Oct. 19 In class problems.
9	Oct. 22 Costs.	Oct. 24  Costs.	Oct. 26 In class problems.
10	Oct. 29 Perfect Competition.	Oct. 31  Perfect Competition.	Nov. 2 In class problems.
11	Nov. 5 Exam 3	Nov. 7  Monopoly	Nov. 9 Monopoly
12	Nov. 12 In class problems.	Nov. 14  Monopolistic Competition	Nov. 16 Oligopoly.
13	Nov. 19 In class problems.	Nov. 21 no class	Nov. 23 no class
14	Nov. 26  Externalities	Nov. 28  Property Rights and the Coase Theorem	Nov. 30 In class problems.
15	Dec. 3 Exam.	Dec. 5  Questions Day to prepare for the Final exam.	Dec. 7 last class Questions Day to prepare for the Final exam.