ST. GREGORY’S UNIVERSITY

COURSE SYLLABUS for March-May 2001

COURSE

EC 2113 Microeconomics

TIME/LOCATION

Online course with orientation on March 12, 2001, 5:30 pm

INSTRUCTOR

Mayda Shorney, Ph.D., CPA

 

E-MAIL/Web Site

shorney@aol.com, http://intranet.sgc.edu/people/faculty/mshorney/

 

OFFICE/PHONES

Room 442a, 405 878-5159 (office), 405 214-6449 (home)

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION FROM OFFICIAL BULLETIN

Economic concepts are vital to understanding business decisions and individual choices.  This course provides students with a basic understanding of the elements of microeconomics, or economics within and between organizational units.  Major components include: economic growth, market structures, demand, supply, elasticity, pure competition, pure monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, production and demand, pricing and employment and current economic problems.

 

OBJECTIVES

1.       Understand the concepts of economic markets and the price system.

2.       Describe demand and supply and explain how they combine to produce equilibrium prices.

3.       Apply elasticity to demand and supply as well as to determinates of demand other than price.

4.       Understand production and cost theory from the perspective of short and long run supply analysis.

5.       Understand and describe perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.

6.       Understand how imperfect information affect consumers and producers.

7.       Know why government intervenes in business activity.

8.       Understand how resource prices are determined within different market structures.

9.       Understand the labor market in terms of how labor demand and supply determine equilibrium wages.

10.   Understand the role of time as regards the markets of capital, land, and entrepreneurial ability.

 

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Students are advised that cheating and plagiarism are not tolerated at St. Gregory’s University.  Students are expected to abide by the University's academic regulations and policy and are responsible for awareness of the University's definition of these activities. The consequences of violating the academic honesty standard may include a grade of "0" on the assignment/exam, a grade of "F" in the course, and, possibly, expulsion from the University.

 

REQUIRED TEXTS TO BE PURCHASED BY STUDENT

McConnell, Campbell R., and Stanley L. Brue, Microeconomics: Principles, Problems, and Policies, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 1999.  ISBN 0-07-289840-2.

 

INTERNET RESOURCES

Textbook Web-site

http://www.mhhe.com/economics/mcconnell/low_main.mhtml

Online Learning Center

http://www.mhhe.com/economics/mcconnell/student/olc/

See the front and back covers of your textbooks for a plethora of economics Web sites.

 

 

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT EVALUATION

Homework, due weekly

20%

Three exams are worth 15% of grade each, for a total of

45%

Discussion Thread via Internet

10%

Report, due by Midnight on May 10, 2001

25%

Total

100%

 

HOMEWORK

·         Complete one of the two Web-based Questions (italicized entries in the Homework column) and all the other questions assigned. 

·         Save the file with your last name and the chapter number as the file name, for example, Shorney Ch 01.  E-mail each chapter separately to the instructor. 

·         Always make sure you understand the Key Questions for each chapter; the answers for these questions are provided on the Web site.

 

EXAMINATIONS

·         If an exam question is left unattempted, that question’s value will be subtracted from the exam score.

·         If an exam is missed, your total points possible will be adjusted accordingly.

 

REPORTS

·         You are to choose a topic relevant to microeconomic theory, such as the affect of Bush’s tax plan on a specific industry, the affect of health care costs on your family or business, and write a report relating the material in the text to the real world.

·         The report is to have 1-inch margins, be in Times New Roman 12 font, and have a cover memo and supporting bibliography with at least 5 sources cited. 

 

COURSE OUTLINE

Date

Text

Site

Topic

Homework

03/12

 

 

Orientation and discussion of course

 

03/19

 

 

AN INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS AND THE ECONOMY

 

 

1

1

The Nature and Method of Economics

12, 13, 14

 

 

 

Appendix to Chapter 1: Graphs and Their Meaning

1

 

2

2

The Economizing Problem

8, 19, 20

 

3

3

Understanding Individual Markets: Demand and Supply

11, 16, 17

03/26

4

4

Pure Capitalism and the Market System

1, 13, 14

 

5

5

The Mixed Economy: Private and Public Sectors

16, 17, 18

 

6

6

The United States in the Global Economy

11, 14, 15

 

 

 

Exam 01, Chapters 1 - 6

 

04/02

 

 

MICROECONOMICS AND PRODUCT MARKETS

 

 

7

20

Demand and Supply: Elasticities and Applications

15, 16, 17

 

8

21

Consumer Behavior and Utility Maximization

10, 13, 14

 

9

22

The Costs of Production

5, 8, 12, 13

04/09

10

23

Pure Competition

1, 5, 9, 10

 

11

24

Pure Monopoly

3, 10, 13, 14

 

12

25

Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

1, 4, 13, 14

 

13

26

Technology, R&D, and Efficiency

1, 7, 14, 15

 

 

 

Exam 02, Chapters 7 - 13

 

04/16

 

 

MICROECONOMICS OF RESOURCE MARKETS

 

 

14

27

The Demand for Resources

1, 7, 8

 

15

28

Wage Determination

1, 10, 13, 14

 

16

29

Rent, Interest, and Profit

3, 5, 9, 13, 14

04/23

 

 

MICROECONOMICS OF GOVERNMENT

 

 

17

30

Government and Market Failure: Public Goods, Externalities, and Information Problems

6, 11, 15, 16

 

18

31

Public Choice Theory and Taxation

6, 8, 12, 13

 

19

32

Antitrust Policy, Regulation, and Industrial Policy

4, 9, 16, 17

 

 

 

Exam 03, Chapters 14 - 19

 

04/30

 

 

MICROECONOMIC ISSUES AND POLICIES

 

05/07

21

34

Income Inequality and Poverty

7, 12, 14, 15

 

22

35

The Economics of Health Care

14, 15, 18, 19

 

23

36

Labor-Market Issues: Unionism, Discrimination, Immigration

5, 13, 16, 17

 

24

37

International Trade

3, 9, 14, 15

 

25

38

Exchange Rates, The Balance of Payments, and Trade Deficits

4, 14, 15

05/10

 

 

Report Due by midnight