LEWIS-CLARK STATE COLLEGE ECON 202-01: Principles/ Theory of Microeconomics Fall 2017 ACW, Room 136 Monday and Wednesday 10:30AM - 11:45AM Instructor: Billy Lemus, M.A. Office: TJH 107 Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:00PM 3:30PM Tuesday and Thursday 11:00AM 12:00PM and by appointment E-mail: blemus@lcsc.edu Phone: 208-792-2793 General Education Competency Area Social and Behavioral Ways of Knowing Course Materials Hubbard, R.G. & A.P. O Brien (2015). Economics, 5 th edition, Pearson. Minimum Technology Requirements Students will need access to Microsoft Word, or similar software. Students can download a free version of Microsoft Office (which includes Word) by visiting the Microsoft Office webpage. Minimum Technical Skills Expected Student will need to be able to draw simple graphs using Microsoft Word or Excel (I will include a document outlining how to create graphs on Microsoft word on Blackboard). Course Description This course will cover the basic theories and applications of Microeconomics. After taking this course, students should be able to analyze real-world economic activity using the microeconomic framework. Among other things, the students will: Analyze the concepts of scarcity of resources and opportunity costs. Explore demand and supply curves and the market price system. Examine consumer behavior and utility functions. Review the goal of the firm and production decisions in both the short and long run. Compare the perfectly competitive market with its alternatives. Use microeconomics to analyze real world events and public policy. Tips for succeeding in this class The best way to do well in the class is to spend a significant amount of time reviewing your notes and readings, and practicing problems. The material in this class builds on itself and it is important that you understand a topic before you move on to the next. You should also:
Read the chapters before coming to class and be prepared to discuss them. Attend class. Lectures will reinforce what you ve read in the chapters and will help you understand the material better. Ask questions in class. Chances are, someone else has the same question you do. Ask for help. I am here to help. I will respond to emails quickly and am available during office hours, so do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am here to help you succeed in the course. Take notes. Note taking is another great tool for reinforcing what you ve read and heard in lecture. Read the newspaper, read online articles, and keep up with what is going on with the national and global economy. Use the quizzes to help you gauge your level of comprehension. If you have a hard time with a quiz it is a good indication that you should study that topic more. Grading Your grade in the class will be dependent on your performance in the following course components: Quizzes: Quizzes will be available on Blackboard as soon as we start the chapter and are worth 10 points each. To earn the full ten points, you are required to 1) complete the quiz online by 11:59PM on the day before we start a new chapter (up to five points possible), and 2) complete the same quiz in class with a group (up to five points possible). The dates for in-class quizzes are on the course schedule below. Quizzes should be used as an indicator of your understanding of the concepts of the previous chapter. If you do not do well, please see me during office hours or go over the material again. Your two (2) lowest quiz scores will be dropped. Therefore, there will be no make-up quizzes provided. Assignments: Homework assignments are worth 10 points each. The deadline for submitting the assignments is 11:59PM on the dates indicated on the course schedule. No late HW will be accepted. Homework will be turned in via Blackboard. If time allows, we can go over some of the more challenging problems in class. Final Project: You will participate in an in-class debate on the topic of increasing the minimum wage. Project specifics will be available later in the semester. This is a group project and will be worth 100 points. Groups will be assigned later in the semester. Exams: You will have three (3) exams worth a total of 75 points each. Exams will not be explicitly cumulative, but they will presuppose an understanding of earlier material. Exams cannot be madeup. If you have a legitimate reason for not being able to take the exam on the dates they are scheduled, I may be able work with you, but you MUST let me know beforehand. The third exam will be administered according to the time and date included in the course schedule below.
Point Breakdown Grade Component Points Possible Quizzes (18% of grade) 100 Assignments (22% of grade) 120 Final Project (18% of grade) 100 Exams (41% of grade) 225 TOTAL 545 Grading Scale Grade % A 93-100 A- 90-92 B+ 87-89 B 83-86 B- 80-82 C+ 77-79 C 73-76 C- 70-72 D+ 67-69 D 60-66 F 0-59 Drops The instructor is not responsible for dropping enrolled students. Students are obligated to officially withdraw even if they have not attended classes. Students who fail to officially withdraw are subject to a failing grade in the course.
Tentative Course Schedule: Week 1 Aug 21 Course Intro Syllabus Unit 1: Economic Foundations Chapter 1: Economics: Foundations and Model Week 2 Aug 28 Chapter 1 Quiz Chapter 2: Trade-offs, Comparative Advantage and the Market System Chapter 1 HW due Week 3 Sep 4 Holiday No class Week 4 Sep 11 Chapter 3 (cont) Week 5 Sep 18 Chapter 4 (cont) Week 6 Sep 25 Exam #1 Week 7 Oct 2 Chapter 5 (cont) Week 8 Oct 9 Chapter 6 (cont) Week 9 Oct 16 Chapter 7 (cont) Aug 23 Chapter 1 (cont) Aug 30 Chapter 2 (cont) Sep 6 Chapter 2 Quiz Chapter 3: Where Prices Come From: The Interaction of Demand and Supply Chapter 2 HW due Sep 13 Chapter 3 Quiz Chapter 4: Economic Efficiency, Government Price Settings, and Taxes Chapter 3 HW due Sep 20 Chapter 4 Quiz Review Chapter 4 HW due Sep 27 Unit 2: Markets in Action Chapter 5: Externalities, Environmental Policy, and Public Goods Oct 4 Chapter 5 Quiz Chapter 6: Elasticity: The Responsiveness of Demand and Supply Chapter 5 HW due Oct 11 Chapter 6 Quiz Chapter 7: The Economics of Health Care Chapter 6 HW due Oct 18 Chapter 7 Quiz Unit 3: Microeconomic Chapter 10: Consumer Choice and Behavioral Economics Chapter 7 HW due
Week 10 Oct 23 Chapter 10 (cont) Week 11 Oct 30 Exam #2 Week 12 Nov 6 Chapter 11 (cont) Week 13 Nov 13 Chapter 12 (cont) Fall Break November 20-24 Week 14 Nov 27 Chapter 13 (cont) Week 15 Dec 4 Chapter 15 Quiz Review Chapter 15 HW due Week 16 Dec 11 Final 10:30AM Oct 25 Chapter 10 Quiz Review Chapter 10 HW due Nov 1 Chapter 11: Technology, Production, and Costs Nov 8 Chapter 11 Quiz Unit 4: Market Structure and Firm Strategy Chapter 12: Firms in Perfectly Competitive Markets Chapter 11 HW due Nov 15 Chapter 12 Quiz Chapter 13: Monopolistic Competition Chapter 12 HW due Nov 29 Chapter 13 Quiz Chapter 15: Monopoly and Antitrust Policy Chapter 13 HW due Dec 6 DEBATE Dec 13 No class
Econ 202 Component Hours A. Accounting (ACT) 0 B. Marketing (MKT) 5 C. Finance (FIN) 1 D. Management 1. Management Principles (MGT) 3 2. Organizational Behavior (OB) 0 3. Human Resource Management (HRM) 0 4. Operations Management (OM) 0 Total Management 3 E. Economic/Social/Legal Environment 1. Legal Environment of Business (LAW) 0 2. Economics (ECN) 35 3. Business Ethics (ETH) 0 Total Economic/Social/Legal Environment 35 F. Decision-Support Tools 1. Information Systems (IS) 0 2. Quantitative Methods/Statistics (QM) 0 Total Decision-Support Tools 0 G. Global Dimensions of Business (GLOB) 1 H. Integrative Experience (INT) 0 Total Contact Hours 45