PRINCIPLES: MICROECONOMICS

Economics 52, Fall 2001


Last Revised - December 19, 2001 


ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS  

Professor Cecilia A Conrad
Department of Economics
Pomona College
Rm. 201 Carnegie
Ext. 7-2970
cconrad@pomona.edu

OFFICE HOURS: Mondays & Wednesdays, 1:30-3:30 pm
 
 
 
 
 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS.  SYLLABUS . PROJECTS .LECTURES. HOMEWORKS .











COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Five Homeworks + Class Participation. No Late Homeworks Will Be Accepted. Homeworks Graded Credit/No Credit. 5% of Total Grade.

Two Midterm Examinations. First Examination is October 5, 2001. Second Examination is November 2, 2001. Each Midterm is 15% of Total Grade.

The Economics Journal. Described at end of syllabus . 20% of Total Grade.

One Presentation.  Described at End of Syllabus . 10% of Total Grade

Comprehensive Final Examination. 35% of Total Grade.  Final Examination will be December 20, 2001 at 8:30 am.
 
 
 

THE SYLLABUS

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK: Mankiw, N Gregory, Principles of Microeconomics, Second Edition We will also read articles in The Economist on a weekly basis. Bulk subscriptions and student subscriptions are available through Professor Conrad. Back issues are available at Honnold. The full text of many articles can be accessed through Nexis-Lexis or, if you subscribe, through The Economist's web site:  http://www.economist.com

I. The Basic Economic Problem

Lecture One . September 5-7, 2001. Thinking Like An Economist. Mankiw, Chapters 1-3
Readings:  Krueger, Alan B., "Supply and Demand: An Economist Goes to the Super Bowl And he got to deduct it,"  The Milken Institute Review , Second Quarter 2001, pp. 22-29. http://www.milken-inst.org/review/2001qtr2/index.html

Lecture Two . September 10, 2001. Review of Basic Supply and Demand Analysis.
Readings: Mankiw, Chap.4

Lecture Three . September 12, 2001. Elasticity.
Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 5

Homework One. Due September 14, 2001.


II. Public Policy and Economics

Lecture Four. September 14-17, 2001. Government Intervention: Price Controls
Readings: Mankiw, Chap 6, pp. 112-127.
Conrad, Cecilia, "Economic Report: Does the Minimum Wage Work?" FOCUS MAGAZINE , June 1998. http://www.jointctr.org/focus/chron98.htm .

Lecture Five. September 19, 2001. Welfare Analysis
Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 7.

Lecture Six. September 21-24, 2001. Government Intervention: Taxes and Subsidies
Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 6, pp.128--135; Mankiw, Chap. 8.

Homework Two. Due Sep 26, 2001

Lecture Seven. September 26, 2001. International Trade.
Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 7.

Lecture Eight.  September 28, 2001.  Presentation:  Is Globalization a Force for Good or a Force for Evil?
"Second Thoughts About Globalization," The Economist, June 21, 1997, p. 82.

Lecture Nine.  October 1-October 3, 2001. Externalities
Readings: "Schools Brief: State and Market" The Economist . February 17, 1996, p.64.
                  Mankiw, Chaps 10.
Gruenshpecht, Howard, "Zero-Emission Vehicles: A Dirty Little Secret," Resources, Winter 2001, #142, pp. 7-10. http://www.rff.org/resources_archive/pdf_files/142_gruenspecht.pdf

First Midterm Examination -- October 5, 2001

Lecture Ten. October 8, 2001. Public Goods and Common Property Resources
Readings: Mankiw, Chaps 11.
 
 

 III.  The Theory of Consumer Behavior Lecture Eleven. October 10-19, 2001.  Theory of Consumer Choice
Readings: Mankiw, Chap.21.

Homework Three . Due October 19, 2001

Fall Recess -- October 22-23, 2001

Lecture Twelve.  October 24, 2001.  Labor Supply
 


IV.  Perfect Competitio

Lecture Thirteen. October 29-31, 2001. Production and Costs
Readings: Mankiw, Chap.13.

Homework Four: Due October 31, 2001

Second Midterm Examination -- November 2, 2001

Lecture Fifteen .  November 5-7, 2001 . Perfect Competition in the Long and Short Run

Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 14. 

Lecture Sixteen.  November 9, 2001 .  Competition in Factor Markets

Readings:  Mankiw, Chap. 18.

Lecture Seventeen.  November 12, 2001.  Presentation:  Why Does the Gender Gap Persist?

Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 18-19.

"Race, Sex and the Dismal Science," The Economist, June 6, 1998, p.76

Lecture Eighteen.  November 14, 2001 .  Presentation:  Is Child Labor Inefficient?

Readings:  "Kids Need Liquidity, Too,"  The Economist , September 16th, 2000, p. 86.


IV. Imperfect Competition Lecture Nineteen. November 16-19, 2001 . Price and Output Under Monopoly. Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 15.

Homework Five: Due November 16, 2001

Lecture Twenty. November 21, 2001 . Price and Output Under Oligopoly; Game Theory and Strategic Behavior.

Readings: Mankiw, Chap 16.

Surowiecki, James. "Price-Fixing for Dummies," The New Yorker , December 4, 2000, p. 40.

Labaton, Stephen, "The World Gets Tough on Price Fixers," The New York Times, Sunday, June 3, 2001, Sect. 3, p. 1.

THANKSGIVING BREAK - November 22-23, 2001


Lecture Twenty-One. November 26, 2001 .  Presentation: Are Price Caps the Cure for California's Electricity Problems?

Lecture Twenty-Two. November 28, 2001 Price and Output Under Monopolistic Competition. Product Variety.

Readings: Mankiw, Chap. 17.

Lecture Twenty-Three. December 3, 2001 .  Advertising and Imperfect Information.

NO CLASS NOVEMBER 30, 2001

Lecture Twenty-Four.  December  5, 2001.  Presentation.  Are Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights Good for Consumers?


V.  Special Topics

Lecture Twenty-Five. December 10, 2001 .  Presentation.  Should College Athletes Be Paid?

No Class December 7, 2001

 Lecture Twenty-Six. December 12, 2001 .  Economics and its Limitations


THE ECONOMICS JOURNAL
The article should encompass at least one of the following topics Due Date for First Submission Due Date for Final Submission
The market as an allocation mechanism; the pitfalls of attempting to repeal the laws of supply and demand; price controls; the effects of subsidies and taxes; the economic consequences of prohibition;  10/3/01
 12/7/01
Policy approaches to environmental problems; The microeconomic effects of tariffs, import restrictions or trade liberalization. Provision of Public Goods. Common Property Resource Problems 10/21/01 12/07/01
Illustrations of competitive adjustment to long run equilbrium.  Competition in factor markets.  Earning Differences.  Unions. 11/12/01 12/07/01
Illustrations of monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition. Regulation and deregulation. Antitrust policy.  Imperfect information.
 11/28/01 12/07/01

PROJECTS

Each student will participate in the development and delivery of an in-class presentation (might be a skit; a debate; a congressional hearing) on a microeconomic policy issue as outlined below. The student will write up a 3-5 page summary of the policy debate. The project grade will be based on the group presentation and the student’s individual write-up.

Presentation One,  September 28, 2001  

Is Globalization a Force for Evil or a Force for Good?

Suggested Readings:  "Second Thoughts About Globalization,"  The Economist, June 21, 1997.
Hansen-Kuhn, "Clinton, NAFTA and the Politics of U.S. Trade,"  NACLA Report on the Americas, V. 31, (Sept./Oct 1997) p. 22-6.
Lawrence, Robert Z. and Robert E. Litan, " Globaphobia: The Wrong Debate Over Trade Policy," Brookings Institute Policy Brief #24, September 1997. http://www.brook.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb024/pb24.htm
Vande Berg, Marsha, "NAFTA Is The Marriage Working?" The Milken Institute Review, Third Quarter 2000, pp.30-35. http://www.milken-inst.org/review/2000qtr3/index.htm


Presentation Two, November 12, 2001

Why Does the Gender Gap Persist?

Suggested Readings:  Mankiw, Chap. 18-19.
"Race, Sex and the Dismal Science," The Economist, June 6, 1998, p.76

Presentation Three, November 14, 2001

Is Child Labor Inefficient?

Suggested Readings:"Kids Need Liquidity, Too,"  The Economist , September 16th, 2000, p. 86.
Onishi, Normitsu, "The Bondage of Poverty that Produces Chocolate," The New York Times, Sunday, July 29, 2001, p. 1, cont on p. 6.

Presentation Four, November 26, 2001

Are Price Caps the Cure for California' s Electricity Problems?

Suggested Readings: Lynch, Michael and Adrian Moore, "Power Tripped." Reason, v.33 (June 2001) p. 32-41.

Rose, Judah, "Degregulation in the US Generator Sector: A Mid-Course Appraisal," Power Economics, October 31, 2000, p. 17.

Krugman, Paul, "Reckonings: Let Them Shovel," The New York Time s, April 15, 2001, Section 4, p. 11.

"Manifesto on the California Electricity Crisis," http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/news/california_electricity_crisis.html
 
*Joskow, Paul and Edward Kahn, "A Quantitative Analysis of Pricing Behavior in California's Wholesale Electricity Market During the Summer of 2000,"NBER Working paper #8157, www.nber.org .

Presentation Four, December 5, 2001

Are Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights Good for Consumers?

Suggested Readings: "Markets for New Ideas," The Economist, April 14, 2001, p. 72
"The Knowledge Monopolies: Patent Wars," The Economist, April 8, 2000, p. 75-76.
"A Patent Cure-All?" The Economist, June 15, 1996, p. 75.
"Special Report: Patents and the Poor," The Economist, June 23, 2001, p. 21-23.

* Indicates a technical reading.

Presentation Five, December 7, 2001

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Suggested Readings: Brown, Robert W.,  "An Estimate of the Rent Generated by a Premium College Football Player," Economic Inquiry, Vol. 31, #4 (October 1993): 671-84.
McKenzie, Richard B. and E. Thomas Sullivan, "Does the NCAA Exploit College Athletes? An Economics and Legal Reinterpretation," Antitrust Bulletin , vol. 32 (Summer 1997): 373-99.