RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Department of Economics 53:135:500 ~ Managerial Economics ~ Spring 2016 Section 01: Th. 6:00 PM to 8:40 PM (Business & Science Building: BSB 109) Instructor: Office Hours: Email: Babu N. S. Dasari Tu. Th.2:00 3:00 PM (Armitage Hall - 317) babu.dasari@rutgers.edu (Email contact is strongly preferred; you must use your Rutgers email, and always mention course number & section in your email. During the week, I will normally respond within 48 hours. If I have not responded within 48 hours, please send a follow-up email) For Technical Assistance - ecollege, Contact: 1-877-778-8437 or 848-932-4702 For Technical Assistance PearsonMyLab.com, Contact: 1-800-677-6337 Course Objectives This course will give you an appreciation for both the power and limits of economic analysis. You will see that, in some areas, economics provides remarkable insights into the world around us. In other areas, economists do not know very much. This course will lay the groundwork for future courses in the business curriculum. The microeconomic section will operate at an intermediate course level. In the microeconomic section of this course you will learn about how markets operate and, at times, fail to operate. You will see how firms and consumers interact in different market structures. The macroeconomic section will operate at a high introductory level, In the macroeconomic section, you are introduced to the central economic problems of how economies promote stable, growing output while avoiding large scale unemployment and high inflation. You will then analyze macroeconomic policy tools and how they are used. Above all, after the coverage of each topic, real-life examples will be used to show students how each theorem can be applied to practical issues/situations. Prerequisites There are two prerequisites. First, students must have taken Economics 101, and Economics 102, or equivalent courses. Second, they must be fluent in basic algebra and comfortable with abstract argument. (Calculus will be used occasionally but will not be required.) Page 1 of 5
Textbook & Options Glen Hubbard and Anthony O Brien, Essentials of Economics, Prentice Hall(Pearson) 4th ed., 2015 (buy with access code to MyEconLab) 1) Buy hard textbook with package PearsonMyLab / MyEconLab. ISBN-9780133826708 2) Buy e-textbook with package PearsonMyLab / MyEconLab. ISBN-9780133827071 3) Buy access to MyEconLab / PearsonMylab by registering at pearsonmylab.com. ISBN- 9780133543438 4) Student Value Edition with Access Code: ISBN-9780133827071 Grading Your grade in the course will be determined as follows: Assessment Component Weight in percent Attendance 10% Online Homework 10% Discussion Forums (5) 15% (3% each) Article Analyses (3) 15% (5% each) Midterms (2) 30% (15 % each) Final Exam 20% There will be 2 midterms. Midterm 1 will be from Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4 comprising of 15% of your course grade. Midterm 2 will be from Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 comprising of 15% of your course grade. The final exam will be from Chapters 12, 13, 14 & 15 on Thursday, May 5, 2016 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Online Homework: The online homework is designed to help understand the basic and intermediate concepts of economics. You are strongly advised to read the respective chapters thoroughly from the textbook more than twice before attempting the online homework. There is a 10% weight given to your online homework. In order to do your online homework, you should gain access to MyEconLab / PearsonMyLab. Every online homework / assignment will be open for at least 7 days. After the due date you cannot access your online homework / assignment. In order to register to PearsonMyLab you need the following Course ID: dasari54527 Page 2 of 5
Article Analyses: You will turn in a two-page essay. The essay will contain at least three paragraphs. The first two paragraphs will summarize an article in the popular literature that reflects a topic. The third paragraph will show how economic theory applies to the article. I encourage the use of diagrams. Discussion Forums: In all, there are 5 discussion forums comprising of 15% of your course grade. In week 2, 4, 6, 10 and 13, there will be Discussion Forums. Your initial post has to be posted on the before Friday midnight of that respective week. Your initial post has to be in at least 300 words. The reaction post has to be posted on or before Sunday midnight of that respective week. Most importantly, article analyses, discussion forums and homework are time sensitive. Hence, students are advised to log in both ecollege and PearsonMyLab at least once in a day. Letter grades for the entire course will be assigned as follows: Grade Range Grade Range Grade Range A B + B 90 100 85 89.99 80 84.99 C + C D 75 79.99 70 74.99 60 69.99 F 0 59.99 Course Policies Missed Examinations and / Assignments There will be no make-up tests! If you miss a test, the test will be scored as a zero. Academic Violations I follow a policy of zero tolerance for violations of standards of academic conduct. Please refer to the following document on Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/files/documents/ai_policy_9_01_2011.pdf Disability Statement This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements for participation. Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services. Information about requesting accommodations can be found at: http://campuscenter.camden.rutgers.edu/disabled_services.html Page 3 of 5
COURSE OUTLINE * AND TEXT READING ASSIGNMENTS Week Subject Topic Assignment Due Date PearsonMyLab 11:59 PM, Jan 24 Wk. 1 (1/19 1/24) Registration Basic Concepts (Ch. 1) Class: 1/21 Get Started and 11:59 PM, Jan 31 Chapter 1 HW Trade-offs, Comparative Chapter 2 HW 11:59 PM, Feb 7 Advantage, and the Market Chapter 3 HW 11:59 PM, Feb 7 Wk. 2 (1/25 1/31) System (Ch.2); Interaction Class: 1/28 Initial Post: Friday (11:59 PM, Jan 29) midnight. of Demand and Supply (Ch. Discussion Forum 1 Reaction Post: Sunday (11:59 PM, Jan 31) midnight. 3) Wk. 3 (2/1 2/7) Class: 2/4 Market Efficiency and Market Failure (Ch. 4) Chapter 4 HW 11:59 PM, Feb 14 Article 1 Analysis 11:59 PM, Feb 7 Wk. 4 (2/8 2/14) Class: 2/11 Wk. 5 (2/15 2/21) Class: 2/18 Midterm 1 Review Discussion Forum 2 Midterm 1 from Chapters 1, 3, 4 & 5 Initial Post: Friday (11:59 PM, Feb 12) midnight. Reaction Post: Sunday (11:59 PM, Feb 14) midnight. Wk. 6 (2/22 2/28) Class: 2/25 Wk. 7 (2/29 3/6) Class: 3/3 Wk. 8 (3/7 3/13) Class: 3/10 Firms, the Stock Market, and Corporate Governance (Ch. 6); Consumer Choice and Elasticity (Ch. 7) Technology, Production and Costs (Ch. 8) Perfect Competition (Ch. 9) Chapter 6 HW 11:59 PM, March 6 Chapter 7 HW 11:59 PM, March 6 Discussion Forum 3 Initial Post: Friday (11:59 PM, Feb 26) midnight. Reaction Post: Sunday (11:59 PM, Feb 28) midnight. Chapter 8 HW 11:59 PM, March 13 Chapter 9 HW 11:59 PM, March 20 Article 2 Analysis 11:59 PM, March 13 Page 4 of 5
Week Subject Topic Assignment Due Date Wk. 9 (3/14 3/20) Spring Break Wk. 10 (3/21 Chapter 10 HW 11:59 PM, April 3 Monopoly (Chapter 10) 3/27) Initial Post: Friday (11:59 PM, March 25) midnight Midterm 2: Review Discussion Forum 4 Class: 3/24 Reaction Post: Sunday (11:59 PM, March 27) midnight Wk. 11 (3/28 4/3) Class: 3/31 Wk. 12 (4/4 4/10) Class: 4/7 Midterm 2 from Chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 Measuring Output (Ch. 12) Chapter 12 HW 11:59 PM, April 17 Wk. 13 (4/11 4/17) Class: 4/14 Wk. 14 (4/18 4/24) Class: 4/21 Unemployment and Inflation (Ch.13) Economic Growth, the Financial System and Business Cycles; Aggregate Demand and Supply Analysis (skim Ch. 14 & 15) Chapter 13 HW 11:59 PM, April 24 Discussion Forum 5 Initial Post: Friday (11:59 PM, April 15) midnight. Reaction Post: Sunday (11:59 PM, April 17) midnight. Chapter 14 HW 11:59 PM, May 1 Chapter 15 HW 11:59 PM, May 1 Article 3 Analysis 11:59 PM, April 24 Wk. 15 (4/25 5/1) Review: Final Exam Class: 4/28 Wk. 16 (5/2 5/8) Final Exam from Chapters Final: 5/5 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 & 18 *Course outline is subject to change Reading Days May 3 and 4 Final Exam May 7 through 11:59 PM May 8 Page 5 of 5