Economics 203: Honors Microeconomic Principles
Fall
Semester, 2008
Monday-Wednesday, 11:00-12:15 - Stephens 300
Towson University
Purpose / Description / Attendance and
Preparation / Online logistics
Grading / Requirements / Academic integrity / Course outline
Instructor: Howard Baetjer, Jr., Lecturer, Department of Economics
Office: Stephens 123H
Phone: Office: (410)-704-2585
Home:
(410)-435-2664 (No calls after 9:00 p.m.)
Email: hbaetjer@towson.edu
Website: http://pages.towson.edu/baetjer/
Office hours: Monday
3:45-5:15, Thursday 11:00-12:30, and by appointment
Required Texts:
- James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, and Russell S. Sobel, and David A. Macpherson, Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice, 11th edition, Orlando, Florida: Harcourt College Publishers (2006). Please note that our publisher has printed for us a special version of this text containing only the chapters assigned in this course, and including the corresponding Coursebook chapters also. This text is referred to in this syllabus as "GSSM."
- Coursebook to Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice. The assigned chapters from this Coursebook are bundled into the special text available for this course at the university bookstore.
- Instructional material on Aplia.com (described below)
- The Invisible Heart, by Russell Roberts. This is a romance (yes, it's true) that teaches a lot of good economics.
- The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, by Pietra Rivoli.
Additional readings will be distributed in class or made available through our Blackboard and Aplia sites.
Recommended Reading:
Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt. In my opinion, this is the single best book with which to begin studying economics.
The Choice, A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism, by Russell Roberts. This is a novel, and easy read, excellent.
The Wall Street Journal. A great way to keep up with current economic news and to improve your ability to apply economic theory to the real world.
Other Resources -- The textbook website: http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&flag=student&product_isbn_issn=9780324320367&discipline_number=413. This website has interactive quizzes, flashcards, and key terms. Some of you might find it worth a look. The Economics Department’s Web Site: The economics department has an excellent web site. Its internet address is http://www.towson.edu/econ/. In particular, note the "Resources" entry, which contains links to a wide variety of economic data and news sources. You will not need to use such data in the course, but if you'd like to look something up, you can probably find it here.
Purpose of the Course: The course has two purposes. The main goal is to help students appreciate the immense value of the market economy to mankind. Outside of a relatively free market economy, most people live poorly. Within a relatively free economy, most people live well, and their lot improves dramatically as time passes. The main goal of the course, then, is to help students understand why and how economic freedom fosters human well-being. The related, second goal of this course is for students to learn the economic way of thinking and begin to use it to make sense of the social world.
This honors course follows the pattern of my Econ 201 course, but it requires both additional reading and additional writing in the online discussion. Lectures will go more deeply into the assigned topics than is possible in Econ 201, and class discussions are generally richer and more flexible, with more student participation than is normal in Econ 201. Honors students can expect to develop their writing and reasoning skills in this course and to practice applying the concepts they learn in the course to public policy issues of the day.
Course Description: Economics has been aptly described as "the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life." That is our topic for the term. More particularly, this is a course in microeconomics, also called "price theory." We will study the behavior of individual people and organizations, in both the private and public sectors, as they make their decisions and interact with one another. An essential part of human interaction through markets is the price system. Prices -- prices set freely on the market -- are precious. We'll study how prices are determined and how ever-changing prices allow the world's people to coordinate our activities very well, even though we are all pursuing different goals and nobody is in charge.
We will also discuss the role of the essential underlying institutions of the market economy: private property and freedom of contract.
Class time will be spent on roughly equal amounts of lecturing by the instructor, small group problem solving and discussions, and whole-group discussions. In class, if you don't understand (or if you disagree with) a particular point, speak up so that we can discuss it, or email me or see me about it.
Course Catalog Description, and Goals and Objectives Common to All Econ 201 Sections:
Course Catalog Description: Economic reasoning of individual choice in household and market decisions. Behavior of firms in competitive and noncompetitive markets, functioning of labor and capital markets, role of the entrepreneur and effects of government policies. GenEd II.C.2.
Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Economics 201/203, which satisfies the Category II.C.2 (Western Heritage: Social and Behavioral Sciences) General Education Requirement, builds on the logic of individual choice, using concepts like value and cost, to promote understanding of social institutions that arise from perceptions of mutual gain. These institutions include domestic and international markets for goods and resources, nonmarket arrangements like families and clubs, and political processes.
Although microeconomics is applicable even to non-Western cultures like isolated tribes, historically the science emerged to explain the undesigned coordination achieved by the extensive markets that result from Western political and philosophical heritage. Its most important role is still to provide a framework for understanding and critically assessing the markets that largely characterize Western civilization.
Learning Objectives: After successful completion of Microeconomic Principles, you will be able to (1) demonstrate an understanding of the factors that determine demand and supply, (2) demonstrate an understanding of the factors that cause a change in quantity demanded or supplied versus a change in demand or supply, (3) illustrate, by properly interpreting standard economic graphs, how markets (interactions of demand and supply) determine prices and the way in which resources are used, (4) understand and be able to explain the significance of the concept of “opportunity cost,” and (5) illustrate the use of the concept of “comparative advantage” and how it serves as the foundation for international trade.
Program Learning Goals: Achievement of one or more of the following College of Business and Economics “Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes” will be assessed in this course: “Use problem-solving techniques” (KSA 2a), “Use adaptable, flexible thinking” (KSA 2b), and/or “Know, apply, and integrate the content in one's major” (KSA 5a). A short in-class quiz, covering the KSAs from this list that are to be assessed this semester, will be administered to the class late in the semester.
Some Applicable University Policies:
Writing quality: Students are expected to write at a college level. Those who cannot should learn to do so. I recommend the university's Writing Lab.
Students with disabilities: If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact me at the beginning of the semester and when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Please verify your eligibility through the Office of Disability Support Services (AD 232).
Repeating the course: According to University policy, all students may repeat any course once. If repeating, you are advised to inform the instructor. For a third attempt, the student must obtain prior written approval from the Academic Standards Committee. If students enroll for a third attempt without permission, they do so at their own risk.
Withdrawing from the course: Please note that the last day to drop the course is noted in the online Academic Calendar. Students who drop on or before this date will receive a "W" on their official transcript. Those who drop afterwards must receive a regular letter grade.
Attendance and Preparation: Students are expected to have studied all assigned readings by the class meeting for which they are assigned, and be prepared to discuss those readings. Prepare carefully. Doing so will greatly increase the amount you learn.
Students are expected to attend every class meeting. I take roll at every class. If for some good reason you must miss a class, I appreciate the courtesy of your letting me know why at your first reasonable convenience (preferably before the class you miss).
Though I earnestly want you to attend every class, attendance does not count toward your grade; no credit is given for perfect attendance, and no deduction is made for never showing up. Attendance counts only indirectly in that by regular attendance you learn more and therefore score better than you otherwise would on the exams (not to mention the unannounced in-class quizzes).
Online logistics: This course makes use of two different online systems, the course Blackboard site at learnonline.towson.edu and Aplia.com. Use of these is a course requirement. All students must get started in these right away:
Blackboard: We will make regular use of Blackboard, a web-based system for facilitating academic course delivery. Students in this honors section will use two Blackboard sites, both the site for my Econ 201 classes and the site for Econ 203 (honors) alone. (I apologize in advance for this little bit of hassle, but using two sites greatly simplifies my logistics.) For everything common to both my regular (201) and honors (203) courses I will use the Econ 201 site. That includes online assignments, most announcements, copies of a few PowerPoint presentations, etc. Anything particular to honors I will use the Econ 203 site. That includes primarily the online discussions and honors-only announcements.
As soon as possible, please enroll in both courses' Blackboard sites. When you enroll please:
- capitalize your names in the conventional way so that our class roster shows up in alphabetical order,
- record your email address accurately, because I will use Blackboard's email facility to notify you to look for new announcements about assignments.
- check the accuracy of your email address by sending a test message to yourself from within the Blackboard system: if you can reach yourself that way, then I can reach you; if you can't, then correct your email address on Blackboard and try again.
To enroll, follow the instructions on the internet at http://www.towson.edu/learnonline/Documents/Version8/Stu_Enroll_Student.pdf. Once you have logged in, please read my "Announcements" and explore the system. Note that in "Student Tools" there is a student manual that describes the system. Check "Announcements" frequently throughout the term for additional web-based reading assignments, schedule adjustments, etc.
Aplia: We will use the online service Aplia.com, in lieu of a workbook. Aplia has made a deal with our textbook publisher to bundle Aplia access with our specially-printed textbook at a reduced price. Look for the Aplia information shrink-wrapped in with your textbook and enroll on Aplia as soon as possible. You may pay Aplia later, so don't delay enrolling.
The Aplia offerings I have chosen for you include tutorials, readings, practice problems sets, and graded problem sets. The graded problem sets on Aplia (there are more than twenty scheduled) are the assignments on which your online quiz grade is based, and the exercises and tutorials on Aplia are an excellent way to deepen your understanding of economics. Absolutely as soon as possible, register for this course's corresponding course on Aplia, even if you cannot pay yet. Enroll in Aplia now, even if you have not bought your textbook-and-Aplia bundle yet, because you have a three week grace period in which to pay for Aplia, while your first graded assignments on Aplia are due just a day or two after the first class meeting. Check the schedule on Aplia immediately for details.
To get started in Aplia, please do the following:
1. Connect to http://www.aplia.com.
2. On the sign in page, click
the "System Configuration Test"; this takes just a few seconds and
provides detailed information on how to update your system if necessary.
3. Return to the Sign In page
and click the "New Student" button under "New Users."
4. You will then be asked to
enter your course key. The course key for this course is as follows:
9285-A9GB-CJ4Q.
5. From there on follow Aplia's
instructions.
You will need to register in Aplia only once. After the registration process is complete, you will not need to enter the course key again. For technical problems or problems signing in, please contact Aplia by sending e-mail to support@aplia.com, or by clicking the Aplia Support link at the top right and bottom right of any Aplia page.
Grading Procedures: Grades for this course will be based on
students’ scores on (1) online quizzes on the assigned readings (2) occasional
in-class quizzes and writing assignments, both in-class and out-of-class, (3)
two hourly examinations, and (4) a cumulative final examination.
|
Online quizzes |
10% |
Grades are based exclusively on these quizzes, papers, and exams. No extra credit work is assigned or accepted. Final grades are determined strictly by the numbers, with no curve. I do my best to determine all final grades without knowing what students have earned what grades.
The grading scale is as follows:
|
93
- 100 |
A
|
Grades
in the A range are awarded only for excellent work, work that
shows mastery of the subject. Grades in the B range indicate good work, work that shows significant grasp of the subject. Grades in the C range indicate satisfactory work. We all know what D and F mean. |
Course Requirements: Online quizzes: You will take these on Aplia.com. These quizzes are meant to motivate you to prepare well for class and to check that you have done the assigned reading. Accordingly, the deadlines for many of these quizzes fall before the classes in which we will go over the corresponding readings.
Every online quiz counts the same toward the course grade, no matter how many questions it might have. At the end of the term, your online quiz grade will be your online quiz average; it counts for eleven percent of the course grade. Because sometimes unavoidable problems arise (computer problems, network problems, illness, car problems, deaths in the family, late enrollment in the course etc.), in calculating this grade I will drop your four lowest scores. This gives you four "free passes" to cover unavoidable emergencies that prevent you from taking the online quizzes by their deadlines. Note that sometimes more than one quiz will be due on the same day. Accordingly allow for possible emergencies by completing some of those quizzes in advance of the deadline.
In-class quizzes and short papers done at home: In-class quizzes will be explained when I give them. Assignments for short papers done at home will be posted in the "Assignments" section of the course Blackboard site. On all, please try to remember to put your name only on the bottom of the back of the last page. (This is so that I don't know who you are as I grade your work. Not knowing who has written a paper helps me avoid any unconscious bias.)
Expect pop quizzes in class any time. Their purpose is to motivate you to study all reading assignments carefully as well as to check your understanding.
All take-home quizzes and papers should meet the following requirements:
Writing quality: Papers must be clearly written and use correct grammar and
spelling. They should be organized, edited, and proofread. Grammar, punctuation, spelling and the like count for half the
paper's grade.
Hard copy submission: Papers must be paper--hard copy. Do
not submit by email.
Lateness: Do not submit late papers by email, nor email me a copy to
show me that you have drafted it; only hard copy counts. Please deliver
any late papers to my faculty mailbox or the slot on my office door as soon as
you can. Please write the day and time of delivery on the paper. You will
be penalized 5% per 24-hour period (including weekend days),
beginning at class time the day the paper is due, except in extraordinary
circumstances. (Minor illnesses, printer problems, car problems, etc. are
not extraordinary circumstances.)
Format:
·
Print
from a word processor or type; double-space; format neatly.
·
Use
a normal-sized font.
·
Staple
multiple sheets together.
Late or missed quizzes or exams: Quizzes and exams must be taken at their scheduled times except in extraordinary circumstances, with the instructor's specific permission. If some emergency prevents you from taking a quiz or exam on schedule, you must present a written (email is okay) explanation of the problem before the quiz or exam, or as soon as possible afterwards, so that we can make alternative arrangements.
Requirements for honors section only
Online discussion: Every week, everyone must contribute to online discussions. You may discuss any of the ideas raised in the course. These discussions will be located on the Discussion Board of our Blackboard site. Each discussion group, identified by its members' names, will have its own discussion forum for each week.
The purpose of these online discussions is to give you the opportunity to discuss course ideas with one another more extensively than we will have time to do in class. Our class work will leave little time for you to express your own opinions, to explore implications of the ideas, to disagree, etc. The Online Discussions are your main chance to do this kind of thing. I want discussion here, interaction, lively back-and-forth exploration of ideas with the two or three or four of you energetically involved in each discussion. I do not want you to write long, stodgy, boring isolated posts that give your group members nothing to react to. These discussions are meant to be a team effort to gain a richer understanding of the course ideas by speaking and listening carefully to one another about them.
Your grade will be determined by the quality and quantity of your contribution to these online discussions.
·
Everyone
is required to contribute to at least two different threads every week.
(My rule of thumb for grading: at least two good contributions are
required for a C, at least three for a B, at least four for an A. In
unusual circumstances where a long comment is appropriate, that long one can
count for two shorter ones. )
·
Contributions
must relate to the ideas we are considering in the course.
·
In
order to keep the discussions going throughout the week and avoid having
everything posted at the last minute, everyone is required to contribute on at
least once by class time Monday.
The official deadline for contributions in any online discussion forum is class
time Monday of the following week.
(I only enforce this deadline on students who are habitually late or missing,
so if you get behind, catch up as soon as possible.)
·
The
minimum satisfactory contribution is two hundred words per week. (Figure
a typed, double-spaced page to be about 250 words.) (My rule of thumb for
grading: at least two hundred good words are required for a C, at least
three hundred for a B, at least four hundred for an A.)
·
No
online discussion grades will be dropped. Missing assignments will
receive no credit. If you get delayed in doing for some reason, catch up
as soon as possible.
·
No
online discussions are required in the weeks of October
20, November 3, and November 17. Instead, work on your short
essays on Travels of a T-Shirt in those weeks. Online discussions
in the weeks of October 27 and November 10 will be based
on the essays you submit those weeks (see below for more information on these
essays).
·
This
requirement ends after the week of November 10,
to give you more time to begin studying for exams.
Note that because you will write so much in these discussions, I will not be able to evaluate it all closely. I will grade it by skimming it all and carefully reading portions at random. Note also that sheer hard work--a lot of thoughtful give and take with your group mates each week--will guarantee you a high grade on this part of the course.
As for content, I like to have you stay close to the ideas in the course readings, especially The Invisible Heart and Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Are the author's arguments sound and persuasive? What are the implications of the argument for economic policy? Does something in the book relate to something in your own experience or in history, or to some issue in the presidential election campaigns? What backing for one of the book's positions, or challenge to it, can you offer? I encourage short quotations, with page numbers, from the readings. My favorite discussions, those which get the most credit, are those in which the participants really dig into an important question raised in the readings, state their different questions about or positions on it clearly, listen carefully to others' positions, and together develop a richer understanding.
While these online discussions comprise a lot of writing, it should be fairly easy writing that you can do quickly. As honors students you are thoughtful enough people to have some substantive reactions to the course ideas and your classmates' comments on them every week: just write up those reactions.
In order to help you learn both how to participate in these online discussions and what guidelines and conventions we will use, I have set up a simple exercise as the very first discussion forum in our Discussion Board. Once you have set up your account and enrolled in the course, please go to the Discussion Board and do the first exercise.
Short essays on Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy
One of the main skills we want our students to develop is the ability to apply what they learn--to perceive connections between related ideas, to see how a concept applies to real world phenomena, to challenge something they read or hear based on ideas they have learned. This term I will ask you to do that kind of thing in three short essays, each to count only four points on the term grade, based on economist Pietra Rivoli's fascinating 2005 book, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. The details of the assignments for each of the three essays will be announced later in the term.
The papers are due at class time Monday October 27, November 10, and November 24. In each week just before those papers are due, no online discussion will be required; instead, work on your papers. In addition to submitting a hard copy of the paper to me on the date it is due, please also post your paper as your first contribution to the online discussions of that week. Please write your name only on the bottom of the back of the last page.
Academic Integrity: This should go without saying, but let us say it anyway: Be honest. Present as your own work only your own work. Your character development is far more important than your grade. Practice integrity in your actions and you will build it in yourself.
I encourage you to work together. We all learn from talking over ideas with others. So feel free to work on problems together and to have classmates read your written work and make comments on it. BUT any work you submit must be your own. This requirement applies notably to take-home papers: feel free to talk the questions over with others all you want, but let the answers you submit be your own words. Others' contributions to your thinking should be identified as such.
I will deal severely with any sloppiness in this respect.
Anyone who cheats will fail the course.
Cell phones and laptops: Use good judgment with these. Make sure you don't disturb your classmates. I request that cell phones be turned to silent or off during tests, because the just-barely-audible drone of phones set to "vibrate" can be very distracting. Feel free to use a laptop during class to take notes, but please use it only for work in this course.
Recommendations for how to succeed (learn a lot and get a good grade) in this course: Do #1 right now and #2 - #7 in sequence every week. Do #8 as necessary.
The readings for each week are given in the table below. In addition to these readings, additional handouts and web readings will be assigned from time to time, and tutorials and practice problem sets on Aplia will be assigned frequently. See the course Blackboard site for announcements about these. "GSSM" stands for our textbook, by Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel, and Macpherson.
Week of
Reading and Writing Assignments
Sep.1
Syllabus; "I, Pencil" (handouts)
Sep. 8
Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel, and Macpherson (GSSM), Chapter 1, "The Economic Approach," and Chapter 2, "Some Tools of the Economist;" Roberts, The Invisible Heart, chapters 1-4
Sep. 15
Online readings by Dwight Lee on marginal thinking; Roberts, The Invisible Heart, chapters 5-7.
Sep. 22
GSSM, Chapter 3, "Supply, Demand, and the Market Process;" Roberts, The Invisible Heart, chapters 8-11
Sep. 29
GSSM, Chapter 3, "Supply, Demand, and the Market Process," thoroughly study it again. Roberts, The Invisible Heart, chapters 12-15.
First hourly test, Wednesday, October 1. Please bring a pencil.Oct. 6
Study closely one more time GSSM pp. 78-80. Roberts, The Invisible Heart, chapters 16-17.
for Wednesday, October 8, Do online reading and short paper assignment on Fred I. Kent's "Letter to His Grandson." Also read GSSM, Chapter 14, "Investment, the Capital Market, and the Wealth of Nations," pp. 294-6, 304-9; also review carefully GSSM pp. 42-48.
for Wednesday, March 5,Oct. 13
Aplia online experiment Sunday night, Oct. 12, 9:00 p.m.
GSSM, Chapter 4, "Supply and Demand: Applications and Extensions," pp. 83-94. Roberts, The Invisible Heart, chapters 18-21.Oct. 20
Aplia online experiment Sunday night, Oct. 19, 9:00 p.m.
GSSM, Chapter 4, "Supply and Demand: Applications and Extensions," pp. 94-105.
for Wednesday, October 22, do short paper on Holcombe's "The Drug Problem" assigned on Blackboard (in Assignments).Oct. 27
GSSM, Chapter 5, "The Economic Role of Government" and Chapter 6, "The Economics of Collective Decision Making." Short essay on Travels of a T-Shirt due.
Nov. 3
Second hourly test, Monday, November 3. Please bring a pencil.
for Wednesday, Nov. 5, do online reading and short paper assignment on Cox and Alm's "Time Well Spent."Nov. 10
GSSM, Special Topic 9, "How Does Government Regulation Affect Your Life?"; Special Topic 10, "Natural Resources and the Future"; and Special Topic 11, "Economics and the Environment." Short essay on Travels of a T-Shirt due.
Nov. 17
GSSM, Chapter 16, "Gaining from International Trade."
for Wednesday, April 16, do online reading and short paper assignment on Frederic Bastiat's "A Petition."Nov. 24
Do online reading and short paper assignment on "Something Else," by Frederic Bastiat. Short essay on Travels of a T-Shirt due.
no class November 26, Happy ThanksgivingDec. 1
Do online reading and short paper assignment on Glenn Garvin's "View From the Garment Factory."
for Wednesday, December 3, GSSM, Special Topic 3, "The Economics of Social Security"Dec. 8
Review; practice questions in class
Dec. 15
Review; final lecture in class
Final Exam, Thursday, December 18, 12:30-2:30. Please bring a pencil, and please double-check me on this date and time against the university calendar.