Course: ECO 5311-001Economic Analysis
Term: Summer 2015
Class Time: 5:30–7:50p.m., Tuesday/Thursday
Class Room: COB 241
Professor: Dr. Tara Brown
Professor Contact Information
Office Location: College of Business, Office320
Office Hours: Please email to set up an appt.
when Emailing me, please put which class you are in!
Email:
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to economic analysis. The basic principles of microeconomics deal with how individuals or firms make decisions about what to consume, produce, buy, and sell and how they interact with other consumers, producers, buyers, and sellers in the marketplace. In addition the basic principles of macroeconomics deal with the overall organization of the economy. Various concepts and tools of economic analysis will be introduced and applied through case studies. By the end of the semester, you will have reviewed previous economic lessons and looked into topics deeper than you have before. This class will prepare you to “think like economists” as you continue your studies toward your graduate degree.
Required Textbook
Principles of Economics by M. Gregory Mankiw, Sixth Edition
A note about the text book: Class lectures may have additional material than the text book. The text book should be used for critical background reading to complement class lectures and activities.
Chapter Reading Assignments:
Topic(s) / Chapters / SectionsIntroduction / Chapters 1 and 2 / (Chapter 1: How people make decisions (Principles 1-4); How people interact (Principle 5-7)
(Chapter 2: The scientific method, the role of assumptions, economic models and Microeconomics and Macroeconomics; for extra reading about economics: The economist as a Policy adviser and why economists disagree)
Microeconomic Studies
Demand / Chapter 4 / (What is a Market? and Demand including The Demand Curve: The Relationship between Price and Quantity Demanded, Market Demand vs. Individual Demand and Shifts in the Demand Curve))
Supply / Chapter 4 / (Supply including The Supply Curve: The relationship between Price and Quantity Supplied, Market Supply vs Individual Supply and Shifts in the Supply Curve))
Market Equilibrium I / Chapter 4 and 6 / (Chapter 4: Supply and demand together, the Equilibrium andChapter Conclusion: How prices Allocate Resources)
(Chapter 6: Controls on Prices including How Price Ceilings Affect Market Outcomes, How Price Floors Affect Market Outcomes and Evaluating Price Controls)
Market Equilibrium II / Chapter 4 / (Three Steps to Analyzing Changes in Equilibrium)
Welfare/ Surplus / Chapter 7 / (The whole Chapter)
Application to welfare: Taxes / Chapter 8 and 6 / (Chapter 6: Taxes including How Taxes on Sellers Affect Market Outcomes, and How Taxes on Buyers Affect Market Outcomes)
(Chapter 8: the whole chapter)
Elasticity / Chapter 5 / (The Price Elasticity of Demand and Its Determinants, Computing the Price Elasticity of Demand, The Midpoint Method: A Better Way to Calculate Percentage Changes and Elasticities, The Variety of Demand Curves, Total Revenue and Price Elasticity of Demand, Elasticity and Total Revenue Along the Demand Curve, Other Demand Elasticities, The Price Elasticity of Supply and Its Determinants, Computing the Price Elasticity of Supply, and the Variety of Supply Curves)
(For more applications of elasticities, read Three Applications of Supply, Demand, and Elasticity)
EXAM 1
Total Product and Profits / Chapter 13 / (The Production Function and From the Production Function to the Total-Cost Curve)
Costs / Chapter 13 / (Total Revenue, Total Cost, and Profit, Costs as Opportunity Costs, The Costs of Capital as an Opportunity Cost, Economic Profit vs Accounting Profit, Fixed and Variable Costs, Average and Marginal Cost, Cost Curves and Their Shapes, Typical Cost Curves, The Relationship between Short-Run and Long-Run Average Total Cost, Economies and Diseconomies of Scale and the chapter conclusion)
Cost Minimization / Book on reserve in library at Circulation Desk / (Pages 239-244(stop at start of cost with one variable input); 218-226(stop at start of input sub for 3 special prod techs); 247(start at cost min with 2 variable inputs)-250; 255(start at Firm's Cost Function)-256(stop at start of Lumpy inputs and Avoidable Fixed Costs); 258-265(stop at start of effects of input price changes); 271(start at Economies and Diseconomies of Scale and Scope)-275
Externalities / Chapter 10 / (the whole chapter)
Public Goods and Common Resources / Chapter 11 / (the whole chapter)
EXAM 2
Macroeconomics Studies
Measuring a Nation’s Wealth / Chapter 23 and a little from Chapter 31 / (Chapter 23: The Economy’s Income and Expenditure, The Measurement of Gross Domestic Product, The Components of GDP, Is GDP a Good Measure of Economic Well-Being?)
(Chapter 31: The International Flow of Goods and Capital, section on The Flow of Goods: Exports, Imports, and Net Exports only)
The Monetary System / Chapter 29 / The whole chapter except the section titled “Bank Capital, Leverage, and the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009”
Unemployment / Chapter 28 / The Chapter Intoduction, and the following sections: Identifying Unemployment, Job Search, Minimum- Wage Laws, Unions and Collective Bargaining
Unemployment and inflation / Chapter 35 / The Chapter Introduction, and the following sections: The Phillip’s Curve, Shifts in the Phillips curve, Shifts in the Phillips Curve: The Role of Supply Shocks, The Cost of Reducing Inflation
EXAM 3
Blackboard:
Please note there is a blackboard page set up for this class. Blackboard is available at You can log into the site using your UTA id and password (the id and password you use to log into your email). I will post announcements on this site and power point presentations for each of the topics above. These power point presentations will have graphs and other crucial material missing. Their purpose is to allow you to focus on the lecture without worrying about getting every detail written down. I will also post practice problems before each exam along with the answer key. After each pop quiz, I will post an answer key.
Grading Policy:
The grading for this course will consist of 3 exams. The following weights apply (the dates are subject to change given the pace and needs of this specific class):
Exam 1:(Thursday, June 25, 2015)25%
Exam 2: (Thursday, July 16, 2015) 25%
Exam 3: (Tuesday, August 4, 2015)25%
Exam with the highest grade will be counted again25%
If you know of a conflict with one of these dates, tell me asap.
Extra Practice Questions:
Economics can be a challenging subject, and one of the best ways to understand it is to work through a lot of problems. Hence, I have posted for you a set of practice questions for before each exam. I also have posted the answer key to these problems. These are extra problems to aid you in your studies. I will be happy to answer questions on them in class and during the review time.
Examinations:
There will be two in-class midterm examsand one final exam. The majority of the exams will cover material discussed in class. Since this may diverge from the textbook, it behooves you to attend class regularly. The exams are not cumulative so each exam will cover material from the previous test on.
Attendance:
At The University of Texas at Arlington, taking attendance is not required. Rather, each faculty member is free to develop his or her own methods of evaluating students’ academic performance, which includes establishing course-specific policies on attendance. As the instructor of this section, to encourage regular attendance, there will be 10 pop quizzes throughout the semester and being in class to take them can help your lowest exam grade. These pop quizzes are open book and note and will not be graded. The purpose of them is two fold. First, it gives me feedback on the class’s understanding of the concepts covered. Second, it gives you an idea of what I think is important in class and a preview of some of the concepts that will be covered in exam questions.
I will keep track of how many pop quizzes you were in class to take. If you take all 10 pop quizzes, 5 points will be added to your lowest exam grade. If you take 8 or 9 pop quizzes, 3 points will be added to your lowest exam. Anything less, you will receive 0 additional points on your lowest exam. Pop quizzes may be administered at any point in the class time.
There will be ways to earn additional pop quiz credits which will be explained throughout the class. So it is possible to earn more than 10 pop quizzes. In this case, 0.5 points for every pop quiz over 10 will be added to your lowest exam grade. So, if you earn 0-7 pop quizzes, you receive 0 extra points on your lowest exam. If you earn 8-9 pop quizzes, you receive 3 extra points on your lowest exam. If you earn 10+ pop quizzes, you receive the number of pop quizzes you have earned divided by two extra on your lowest exam. Note: to get credit for a pop quiz, you must be in class at the start of the pop quiz. Since pop quizzes can and will be given at the beginning of the class time, it would greatly benefit you to be on time to class.
Make-up Exams: Make-up exams are available if you miss an exam for a valid reason. I reserve the right to determine validity and require proof for the absence. Please see me to schedule a make-up exam as soon as possible. Unless there is an emergency, I require you schedule a make-up exam with me 2 weeks prior to the exam date.
Grade Grievances: Any grade grievance other than a mis-adding of points or a similar “human error” type of mistake on any test may be taken up with me during the review week at the end of the semester. I will not change any grades for any other reason before then. In addition, the only grade which I will change after the review week is that of the final exam.
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Final Review Week:A period of five class days prior to the first day of final examinations in the long sessions shall be designated as Final Review Week. The purpose of this week is to allow students sufficient time to prepare for final examinations. During this week, there shall be no scheduled activities such as required field trips or performances; and no instructor shall assign any themes, research problems or exercises of similar scope that have a completion date during or following this week unless specified in the class syllabus. During Final Review Week, an instructor shall not give any examinations constituting 10% or more of the final grade, except makeup tests and laboratory examinations. In addition, no instructor shall give any portion of the final examination during Final Review Week. During this week, classes are held as scheduled. In addition, instructors are not required to limit content to topics that have been previously covered; they may introduce new concepts as appropriate.
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Course SyllabusPage 1