AP/ECON 1900 A 1. Microeconomics for Business and Life

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1 Economics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University AP/ECON 1900 A Microeconomics for Business and Life Instructor Avi J. Cohen (economicsforlife.ca) Office 1072 Vari Hall Phone ext Office Hours Tuesdays 9 am - noon, and by appointment Use Discussion Board within MyEconLab for all course issues; avicohen@yorku.ca only for personal correspondence Course Description / Learning Objectives Economics is a science of thinking in terms of models joined to the art of choosing models which are relevant to the contemporary world. It is compelled to be this, because, unlike the typical natural science, the material to which it is applied is, in too many respects, not homogeneous through time. The object of a model is to segregate the semi-permanent or relatively constant factors from those which are transitory of fluctuating so as to develop a logical way of thinking about the latter. Good economists are scarce because the gift for using vigilant observation to choose good models, although it does not require a highly specialised intellectual technique, appears to be a very rare one. John Maynard Keynes The goal of AP/ECON 1900 is to show you how to use economic ideas to make smart choices in life. Introduces microeconomics as the basis for making smart choices as consumers, businesspeople, investors and informed citizens judging government policies. Focuses on cost/benefit analysis of all decisions. Provides intuitive fundamentals for economic literacy without the mathematical details of AP/ECON Note: Students intending to minor or major in economics (ECON), Business Economics (BUEC), Financial and Business Economics (FBEC), Administrative Studies (BAS), Public Administration (BPA), or Business and Society (BUSO) are advised to take ECON 1000/1010. Business and Society (BUSO) majors must take ECON 1000/1010 and will not get credit for ECON 1900/1910. You will not get credit for this course if you have completed or are currently enrolled in AP/ECON 1010, GL/ECON 2510, or SB/INTL However: If you take ECON 1900/1910 and get interested in becoming an Economics major, students achieving a B grade or better can use AP/ECON 1900/1910 to replace AP/ECON 1000/1010 in requirements for the Economics major or minor (ECON), Business Economics major (BUEC), or Financial and Business economics major (FBEC). Required Course Materials Economics for Life: Smart Choices for You, 2 nd edition, by A. Cohen (Pearson, 2015) (includes Study Guide) MyEconLab (MEL) Online Access (Pearson 2015); PeerScholar Online Access (Pearson 2013) Best Value The York Bookstore has a bundle (ISBN 13: ) combining the textbook, etext access, required MyEconLab software, and required PeerScholar software for $ At enter course ID cohen54983 to see online purchase options. You can buy 12 month access to an etext of the textbook, with MyEconLab (no peerscholar) for $90. If you buy a used print textbook, MyEconLab access alone (no etext, no peerscholar) is available for $50. You can also get free 14 day access to all online resources (etext, MyEconLab) to get started on coursework while you decide on what to buy. To buy peerscholar for $15 (no free 14 day access), go to AP/ECON 1900 A 1

2 A calculator is not required and is not allowed at tests and the exam. Any additional required readings will be posted to the course website. Final Grade Composition Task % of Course Grade Marks Date 5 Online MyEconLab Quizzes 10% 45 Throughout the term Test 1 [65 minutes] 20% 90 Tuesday, 18 October 2016 Test 2 [65 minutes] 20% 90 Tuesday, 15 November 2016 Op-Ed Writing Assignment 17% 75 Staggered dates, November 2016 Final Exam [120 minutes] 33% 150 December 7-22, 2016 Totals 100% 450 Make-Up Policy No permission is ever given to a student to write a test or exam in advance of its scheduled date. A student who misses a test will be allowed to write a make-up test only if the student provides a completed Registrar s Office Attending Physician s Statement showing a physical incapability of writing the test/exam, dated the day of the test/exam or earlier. Any other forms of doctor s note, especially one stating simply that The student was seen in my office are not acceptable. Students who miss a test and do not submit a completed Registrar s Office Attending Physician s Statement receive a grade of zero. If you miss a term test and have an acceptable Registrar s Office Attending Physician s Statement, you will be allowed to write a make-up test on Thursday, 24 November 2016 during normal class time. The make-up test will cover the material on both term tests. The make-up test is only for students who miss a term test and provide acceptable documentation. If you miss Test 1 and are granted permission to write the Make-Up Test, you must still write Test 2. If you miss Test 1, write the Make-Up test, and skip Test 2, you will receive a zero for Test 2. If you miss only Test 2 and are granted permission to write the Make-Up Test, the Make-Up Test will count only for Test 2. No student is ever allowed to write a make-up test in order to improve a score from an original test. Deferred Final Exam Policy Deferred Standing for the final exam will be considered only under the following circumstances: MEDICAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Exams missed due to medical circumstances must be supported by a York Attending Physician s Statement filled out completely by a medical doctor or licensed psychologist/counselor, dated on or before the final exam date. The statement must include: Full name, mailing address, telephone number of the physician. The nature of the illness and its duration (i.e., specific dates covered). An indication of whether the illness and/or medication prescribed would have SERIOUSLY affected the student s ability to study and perform over the period in question. The physician s office may be contacted to verify that the statement was actually completed by the physician. NON-MEDICAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Exams missed due to non-medical circumstances must be supported by appropriate documentation, i.e., death certificates, obituary notice, automobile accident reports, airline/bus ticket receipt for emergency travel (with the date of booking on the ticket), etc. Airline/train/bus ticket/receipts for emergency travel must indicate destination, departure, and return dates. Having to work at the time of the exam or non-emergency travel are not valid excuses for missing an exam. Students must fill out the University Deferred Standing Agreement form at AP/ECON 1900 A 2

3 The completed deferred form with supporting documentation must be submitted to the Economics Department in 1144 Vari Hall within 10 business days of the final exam. Submitting the form does NOT guarantee that you will be granted permission to write the deferred exam. Only submissions that meet all requirements will be granted permission. Students whose submissions are not granted will receive a zero for their final exam score. Op-Ed Writing Assignment One of the goals of this course is to help you understand and apply basic economic concepts to daily life. Part of your role as an informed citizen involves making sound arguments about economic issues that matter to you and communicating these arguments effectively to others. This assignment will give you practice developing a convincing written argument about an economic issue for a general audience. Choose an article, editorial or opinion piece in a recent (published since 1 September 2016) online publication that addresses an economic issue that interests you. The economic issue can be Canadian or international. In response, write your own commentary taking a position on the issue, supporting your position by making an argument based on sound economic reasoning. Your commentary should be words, which is 1-2 pages typed, double-spaced. I will provide detailed instructions in October, including procedures for reviewing your classmates assignments through and submitting through turnitin.com. Course Website and MyEconLab ECON 1900 does not use Moodle. You can access the course website and MyEconLab at You will need a valid Pearson access code that either came with your purchased textbook bundle, bookstore access card, or bought online. Use that access code to get to the AP/ECON 1900 (Cohen) website (the ID for this course is cohen54983) by following the instructions below. How To Enroll in ECON 1900 Website and MyEconLab Go to Under Register, select Student; then select OK! Register now Enter your Instructor s Course ID: cohen54983, and Continue Enter your existing Pearson account username and password to Sign In. You have an account if you have used a Pearson product, for example: MyMathLab, MyITLab, MyPsychLab, MySpanishLab or Mastering, such as MasteringBiology. If you don t have an account, select Create and complete the required fields. Enter the address you use most, and also use that address as your username; Choose a password; Where it asks for First Name, enter whatever name you generally use, but if it is different from the first name on your York card, ALSO enter in parentheses your first name exactly as it appears on your York card for example, Arthur (Ziyue); Enter your Last Name exactly as it appears on your York card; Complete the rest of the page. Select an access option. Use the access code that came with your textbook or that you bought separately from the bookstore. Buy access using a credit card or PayPal account. If available, get 14 days temporary access. (The link is near the bottom of the screen.) AP/ECON 1900 A 3

4 To return to the course website, log into as a returning user with the username/password you just created. The course website will be available by Thursday 8 September Technical Support Detailed instructions on navigating the course are available from the? link at the top right of every webpage. Once in Help & Support, click on Student Help. The Technical Help tab on the main course menu also contains 24/7 contact information for Pearson. Go to which has live chat (best). If you have technical problems, I cannot help. Contact Pearson. Course Work There will be two 75 minute lectures per week. Please turn off all cell phones before entering the lecture hall. I would appreciate it if you would not text in class I find it very hard to concentrate and deliver good lectures when I face texting students ignoring me. Lecture notes (in the form of PowerPoint slides) will be available by midnight the night before class on the course website ( You should print out the lecture notes and bring them to class, as the pace of lectures will presume you have the notes in front of you. You should login to the website at least twice a week to stay current with course information. The term tests and final exam consist of true/false (T/F) and multiple choice (MC) questions. There will not be short answer problems (SAP). These will be similar to the questions in the MyEconLab and Study Guide Assignments on the course outline for each textbook chapter. Previous term tests, exams and answer guides are posted online so you have an idea what to expect (without the SAP). If you want additional practice, there are also Optional Assignments for MyEconLab and the Study Guide listed for each chapter on the course website. None of these assignments will be graded and will not directly affect your grade. However, the importance of doing the assigned questions cannot be overemphasized. Next to attending and understanding the lectures, working out the answers to the assigned questions is the most important preparation for the term tests and exam. You will not do well if you cannot answer the assigned questions. The term tests and exam will also cover news stories and other non-textbook material covered in lecture. One danger of a course where you do not have written, graded assignments is that you fall behind in your reading and studying. In most university courses, but in Economics in particular, falling behind is a recipe for disaster, as last minute cramming does not work. The failure rate on first term tests in Economics is typically high because students do not take this advice. To help prevent this outcome, there are online quizzes throughout the term that must be completed by specific dates. The first quiz, Quiz Zero, appears on the course website and is designed to ensure that you are familiar with all of the rules of this course. All of the answers to the questions in Quiz Zero may be found in this course outline. You may take Quiz Zero as many times as necessary until you get all questions right. While you will not receive any marks towards your final course grade, you will not be able to access the graded quizzes until you complete Quiz Zero with a perfect score. Once your complete Quiz Zero with a perfect score, the excuse of "I didn't know that rule for make-ups / missed quizzes / test times / appeals, etc" will, of course, not apply to you. Quiz Zero will also help you get familiar with MyEconLab. Many of the graded quiz questions are taken from MyEconLab Study Plan Questions and Sample Tests, so doing those ungraded questions will improve your performance on the graded quizzes.you will have at least 1 week to complete each of the 5 graded quizzes, and they can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection, anywhere in the world. Accordingly, I do not accept any excuses for missing a quiz. AP/ECON 1900 A 4

5 Read the How to Succeed page on the website for advice on studying if you want to increase your chances of earning a higher grade. Another tip is to be sure to attend lectures. One common mistake students make is to think that because the PowerPoint lecture notes are available online, there is no reason to attend lectures. The notes contain the main concepts, but do not contain the detailed explanations and examples that help you make sense of the concepts. The tests and exam focus less on recall of information, and more on application of concepts to different situations. That is also why working the practice problems in the Assignments and old tests is important. The lecture schedule on page 7 indicates, for each week, the textbook chapters you should be reading and the MyEconLab and textbook Refresh Question Assignments. I may not always finish a topic on the listed date, in which case I will continue lecturing on that topic at the start of the next class, before moving on to the listed topic for that date. Quiz dates are also listed on the lecture schedule. Workload A typical 3 credit course requires 100 hours of your time. The table below identifies how I expect those 100 hours will be allocated. While you do not receive direct marks for reading and for doing Refresh, Study Guide and MEL problems, those activities will affect your Quiz, Test, and Exam marks. The time estimates for the Tests and Exam are in addition to the regular 3 hours/week of reading, Study Guide, and MEL practice. Activity Hours Class Time 2.5 hours/week 30 Textbook 2 hours/week (& Study Guide) 24 MEL Practice 1 hour/week 12 Quizzes 5 Term Tests 10 Final Exam 13 Op-Ed 6 TOTAL 100 hours Important Dates September 21, 2016 November 9, 2015 Last date to enrol without permission of instructor Last date to drop without receiving a grade or Withdrawal (W) on transcript Academic Honesty Students should note that copying, plagiarizing, or other forms of academic misconduct will not be tolerated. That includes using a calculator on a test or exam. Any student caught engaging in such activities will be subject to academic discipline ranging from a mark of zero on the assignment, test or examination to dismissal from the university. Any student abetting or otherwise assisting in such misconduct will also be subject to academic penalties. Cheating and plagiarism are serious offences, which carry severe penalties. All students are expected to make themselves familiar with the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty, which is at AP/ECON 1900 A 5

6 Tutorials And Teaching Assistant There are no tutorials for this course. The teaching assistant will hold regular office hours, which will be announced later in September. Let s Go If you don t learn a lot of Economics, or find this course interesting or enjoyable, then I m not doing my job. I love teaching this course, and consider it my responsibility to help you to do well. Learning Economics means working hard (on average, 5 hours per week on Economics alone). You are responsible for engaging with the material and with me and your fellow students in class. But if you are willing to put in the time, I will do everything I can to help you succeed. If you have questions in lecture, ask them. If you see media stories about Economics that interest you, send them to me. If you have suggestions for improving the course, please let me know. What you will get out of this course, as what you will get out of your University experience in general, depends entirely on what you put into it. AP/ECON 1900 A 6

7 LECTURE SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS AP/ECON 1900 WEEK OF TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENTS MEL & TEXTBOOK REFRESH ASSIGNMENTS QUIZZES Sept. 13 Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, Trade, and Models Micro Ch. 1 Get to know MEL; Do Quiz Zero Quiz Zero available Ch. 1: MEL Study Plan Sept. 20 The Law of Demand Micro Ch. 2 Ch. 2: MEL Study Plan Sept. 27 The Law of Supply Micro Ch. 3 Ch. 3: MEL Study Plan Quiz 01 (Chs 1-2), 3 October Oct. 4 Demand and Supply Micro Ch. 4 Ch. 4: MEL Study Plan Oct. 11 Elasticity Micro Ch. 5 Ch. 5: MEL Study Plan Quiz 02 (Chs 3-5) 15 October TEST 1 Tuesday 18 October Oct. 18 Government Policy Choices Micro Ch. 6 Ch. 6: MEL Study Plan Oct. 25 Opportunity Costs, Economic Profits/Losses, Miracle of Markets Micro Ch. 7 Ch. 7: MEL Study Plan Quiz 03 (Chs 6-7) 29 October Nov. 1 Pricing Power: Monopoly to Competition and In Between Micro Ch. 8 Ch. 8: MEL Study Plan Nov. 8 Pricing for Profits: Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost Micro Ch. 9 [skip Appendix Ch. 9] Ch. 9: MEL Study Plan Quiz 04 (Chs 8-9) 12 November TEST 2 Tuesday 15 November Nov. 15 Nov. 22 When Markets Fail: Natural Monopoly, Gaming, Competition, and Government Externalities, Carbon Taxes, Free Riders and Public Goods; Micro Ch. 10 Ch. 10: MEL Study Plan Micro Ch. 11 Ch. 11: MEL Study Plan Nov. 29 Inputs, Income & Inequality Micro Ch. 12 Ch. 12: MEL Study Plan Quiz 05 (Chs 10-12) 3 December FINAL EXAM DECEMBER 7 22, 2016 AP/ECON 1900 A 7