Austin Community College

 

Principles of Microeconomics

ECON 2302

Section 40229

 

Lockhart High School

 

Instructor: Zachariah Abungah

 

Fall Semester 2009

                                                                                                                                               

 

 

Class Hours:   Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (MWF)  1:00 – 1:50 pm

 

Office Hours:  12:30 – 1:00 pm MWF. Students may also contact me by telephone or email for additional assistance.                 

 

Campus:         Lockhart HS    Office # Room 204 (Economics Class Room)                     

 

Telephone:      223-1790  Extension 26242.  Please leave your name and telephone number so that I can call you back.

 

Email:              zabungah@austincc.edu

 

                                                                                                                                               

 

Course Description:  Principles of Microeconomics deals with the interactions between individual households and business firms. The concepts of supply and demand will be studied; students will learn what these concepts mean, how they operate, and how prices are determined. Market structure, market failure and income distribution will also be considered.

 

Required Textbook:  The Micro-Economy Today (11th Edition), by Bradley R. Schiller.

 

Recommended Study Guide:  Study Guide Micro-Economy Today (11th Edition), by Bradley R. Schiller.

 

Instructional Methodology:  Instruction will be presented using lectures, textbooks, Internet, handouts, technology, group projects, and discussions.

 

Course Rationale:  This course is meant to give students insight into the dynamics of a market-based economy and how through its mechanism scarce resources are distributed. The theoretical and actual role of the government in this market system will be addressed. The knowledge gained in the course will make students better informed citizens and allow them to follow the debates over various economic events and policies reported in the news media. This course is also a foundation course that will prepare students to be successful in upper division finance, marketing, business administration, economics, government, and social work courses.    

 

Common Course Objectives/Student Outcomes as Established by the Economics Department:  Students who complete this course will be able to understand:

 

·         the basic concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost;

·         the forces of demand and supply and how they interact to determine an equilibrium price;

·         how and why equilibrium prices might change and their impact resource allocation;

·         the theory of consumer behavior;

·         the theory of the firm;

·         the theoretical market structures of perfect competition and monopoly.

 

Learning Objectives/Outcomes as Established by the Instructor:  See Review Questions handed out in class and Discussion Questions at the end of each chapter in the textbook relevant to this class.

 

Grading System:  Students will be graded/evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

 

·         four exams, including a non-cumulative final exam (up to a total of 160 points)

-twenty multiple choice questions on each exam (up to 30 points, i.e. 1.5 points for each question);

            -one essay-type question on each exam (up to 10 points);

·         three written-homework assignments (up to 30 points);

·         participation in class discussions, and/or group projects (up to 10 points).

 

The following scale will be used to distribute final letter grades:

 

                        Letter Grade                            Points                          Percent

 

                                    A                                  180-200                       90-100%

                                   

                                    B                                  160-179                       80- 89%

 

                                    C                                 140-159                       70-79%

 

                                    D                                 120-139                       60-69%

 

                                    F                                       <119                           <59%

 

Course Policies 

 

Attendance:  Students are expected to attend class regularly. Roll calls will be taken each day of class meeting. If a student misses a class, he/she will be responsible for the material covered or presented in class during such absence. Make-up exams will be given only with prior approval by notification of the instructor.

 

Withdrawal:  It is your responsibility to withdraw from this course if your personal situation, including failure to show progress requires you to do so. While I do not anticipate withdrawing students from the course, I reserve the right to do so, if the situation warrants such action

 

Scholastic Dishonesty:  Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and an unauthorized collaboration with another student or individual in preparing outside work. Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations, and homework.

 

Students with Disabilities:  Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Student with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester. 

 

Course Outline/Calendar

 

            DATE                          LECTURES, ASSIGNMENTS, EXAMS

 

            8/24—8/26                  BASIC CONCEPTS (CHAPTER 1):

 

            8/24                             A.         Introduction

           

            8/24                             B.         Core Issues

 

            8/26                             C.        Production Theory

 

            8/26                             D.        Appendix to Ch. 1: Graphs

           

            8/28—9/4                    MARKET ANALYSIS (CHAPTER 3):

 

            8/28 & 8/31                  A.         Demand Theory

 

            9/2                               B.         Supply Theory

                                               

            9/4                               C.        Market Equilibrium and Disequilibrium

           

9/7                                           No Class—Labor Day Holiday

 

            9/9—9/21                    DEMAND THEORIES (CHAPTER 5)

 

            9/9                               A.         Economic Theory of Demand

 

9/11                             B.         Utility Theory of Demand

 

            9/14                             C.        Elasticity of Demand and Price

 

            9/16                             D.        Income Elasticity of Demand

 

            9/18                             E.         Appendix to Ch. 5: Indifference Curves

 

            9/21                                         Homework Assignment 1

 

            9/23—10/21                THEORY OF THE FIRM (CHAPTERS 6-11):

 

            9/23 & 9/25                  A.         The Costs of Production (ch. 6)

 

            9/28                                         EXAM 1                                 

 

9/30, 10/2, & 10/5        B.         The Competitive Firm (ch.7)

 

            10/7, 10/9                    C.        Competitive Markets (ch. 8)

 

            10/12, 14, & 16            D.        Imperfect Markets (ch. 9 & 10)

                                                            --Monopoly and Oligopoly

 

            10/19                                       Homework Assignment 2               

                                               

            10/19 & 10/21              E.         Monopolistic Competition (ch. 11)

 

            10/23                                       EXAM 2         

 

            10/26—11/6                MARKET FAILURE AND GOVERNMENT                                                                          INTERVENTION (CHAPTER 9, 10, & 12):

 

            10/26                           A.         Market Structure

 

            10/28                           B.         Mergers and Acquisitions

 

            10/30 & 11/2                C.        Anti-trust Laws

 

            11/4-11/6                     D.        Regulation

           

            11/9—11/18                THEORY OF LABOR MARKETS AND LABOR UNIONS                                                  (CHAPTERS 15 & 16):

 

            11/9                             A.         Supply and Demand for Labor

 

            11/11                           B.         Labor Market Equilibrium

 

            11/13 &11/16               C.        Firm’s Hiring Decisions

 

            11/18                           D.        Impact of labor Unions on Labor Markets

           

            11/20                                       EXAM 3

 

            11/23—12/9                FINANCIAL MARKETS (CHAPTER 17)

 

            11/23                           A.         The Role of Financial Markets

 

 

 

            11/25—11/27                          Thanksgiving Holiday

           

            12/2 & 12/4                  B.         The present Value of Future Profits

           

            12/7                                         Homework Assignment 3 (Internet-Based)

 

            12/7                             C.        The Stock Market

 

            12/9                             D.        The Bond Market

 

            12/11                                       EXAM 4                                             

 

            12/11                           LAST DAY OF CLASS AND END OF SEMESTER