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ECONOMICS 231
INTRODUCTORY MICROECONOMIC THEORYAND SOCIAL ISSUES

 

 

Spring 2009
Instructor - Robert F. Mulligan 
mulligan@wcu.edu
 http://paws.wcu.edu/mulligan/

"Practical men, who believe themselves exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.  Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.” - John Maynard Keynes

Office hours -  MTWThF 1:00 - 3:00 PM or by appointment.  I am always happy to talk to students outside my scheduled hours.  Feel free to drop in without an appointment, but if you are coming from off campus, call first to make sure I will be available. I will not be available Mondays or Tuesdays before an exam. 

 

Office - Forsyth 224A, Phone - (828) 227-3329. 

Department of Accountancy, Finance, Information Systems, & Economics - Forsyth 121, Phone - (828) 227-3383. 

 

1. Required Text - Microeconomics, McConnell and Brue, 17th edition.

 

2. Course Objectives

"The world consists of facts, not of things." - Ludwig Wittgenstein

a. Develop an understanding of economic markets and how they function to transmit information, provide incentives to economic agents, allocate resources, and distribute income, and satisfy peoples’ wants.
b. Explore the different roles played by households, firms, and the government in the economy.
c. Analyze rational choice and the role of cost in agents' decision making.
d. Explore how ethics and value judgments enter into economic decisions.
e. Show how economic concepts apply to public as well as private choices.
          Economics is a behavioral science like psychology, and one of the social sciences. Understanding how consumer and producer behavior are influenced by certain events (changes in interest rates, changes in prices, new government regulations, etc.) is emphasized. While a certain amount of technical training is standard in economics programs at most colleges, the overall emphasis has always been on understanding behavioral implications of economic phenomena. 
          As a component of the foundations of business knowledge, economics contributes an understanding of how and why individuals, as consumers and as managers of private and public sector organizations, make choices about the allocation of scarce resources. Economics examines how competition in markets leads to efficient production of goods and services, and the consequences of government intervention in private markets. Students gain an understanding of effective decision-making by managers of firms and other organizations. 
          Your education in economics thus prepares you for employment in a wide variety of jobs, or serves as an excellent foundation from which to pursue law school or other advanced degree work. Employment for economics majors ranges from very technically-oriented work, including business analysis and forecasting, with private firms, foundations or trade associations, to policy-oriented work with public sector agencies or private firms.  Economists work as loan officers at banks, budget analysts and market research analysts in firms, insurance actuaries, policy analysts for government agencies and industry groups, and in many other specialties where technical knowledge about consumer behavior, firm behavior, and policy implications is called for. 
          Virtually every large corporation in America, and numerous medium-sized firms, employs economists to help make appropriate pricing decisions for its products, to help evaluate the impact of government regulations, and to forecast future demand and supply conditions within the industry.  Trade organizations representing all firms in an industry hire economists for the same reasons.  Public sector agencies at the federal, state and local levels hire economists to monitor performance of the economy, to assess the desirability and impact of regulations, and to contribute to ongoing discussions of policy formation. Nonprofit groups such as hospitals, community foundations, charitable organizations and schools employ economists as well.

 

3.  Suggested Study Strategy

Spend no less than fifteen-twenty minutes each weeknight reviewing, recopying, and reorganizing your notes, in addition to reading the assigned chapters of McConnell.  This adds up to about 5-8 hours of study time each month. Be committed to spending enough time each day to cover the material you need to, and to fully reviewing your notes and identifying areas requiring further work and things you need to ask me about.   Spread out this way, your study time will be much more productive than an equivalent amount of cramming before tests.   In addition to taking lecture notes in class, read, outline, and make notes on all assigned readings.  Take the chapter quizzes posted on the course website to test your understanding and identify problem areas which need further work.  Take all the applicable chapter quizzes to prepare for exams.  The more time you have spent on the course, the easier it will be to spend additional time studying, and the more productive additional study time will be for you.  Start this strategy the first day of class, because the sooner you start, the easier it will be to continue.

 

4.  Tutoring

The CAT Center provides free academic assistance to all students enrolled in ECON 231, 232, and QA 235.  If you enjoy collaborative learning (talking through course material with other students), or if you are concerned about your performance in this class, simply stop by the CAT Center or call 227-2273 or 227-2274.  The CAT Center also offers a series of interactive workshops that are designed to make you a more successful student in any course.  For a complete list of workshops and other information visit http://www.wcu.edu/catcenter/.   Students should go to the CAT Center website (www.wcu.edu/catcenter) to schedule tutoring appointments.  Appointments must be made 48 hours in advance using the on-line system, or students can call the CAT Center, 227-2274, to schedule appointments 24 hours in advance.

 

5. Course Policies & Organization

"Eighty percent of success is just showing up." - Woody Allen

 

a. Absence policy:

Class attendance is essential.  Attendance is important because: 
     1. Responsible adults display responsible behavior, and 
     2. Difficult concepts will be explained and administrative announcements will be made in class. 

 

"Be content with fruit, with flowers, with weeds, with thorns even, but gather them in the one garden you may call your own."
- Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac

 

b. Grades:  Out of a total of 1600 possible points: 

Test 1

100 points

Test 2

200 points

Test 3

300 points

Test 4

400 points

Test 5/Final Exam

500 points

Total:

1500 points

you will receive the following letter grade: 

Letter Grade

Minimum Required Percentage

A+

A

93%

90%

A-

87%

B+

83%

B

80%

B-

77%

C+

73%

C

70%

C-

67%

D+

63%

D

60%

D-

57%

F

0

Cheating will not be tolerated and will result in an automatic grade of F for the course. 

 

"Champions keep playing until they get it right." - Billie Jean King

 

c. Examination Policies:

     1. No make ups. 
     2. Cheating will result in an automatic grade of F for the course. 
     4. There will be five cumulative exams including a final exam given during the scheduled final exam period. If you do better on test 2 than test 1, your test 2 grade will count for both tests 1 and 2. 
     5.  If you do better on test 3 than test 1 or test 2, your test 3 grade will replace each of the earlier test grades it is higher than, etc. 
     6. Each test consists of  30 multiple-choice questions, plus 2-5 extra-credit questions.
     7.  Always bring a calculator on test days.  You will not be permitted to take exams in this course without a calculator. 

   

d. Withdrawal Policy:

     1. Students considering withdrawal prior to the withdrawal deadline should make an appointment to discuss withdrawal with the instructor. This is to give me the opportunity to advise you of your options and standing in the class. I do not attempt to stop students from withdrawing. 
     2. Ws will not be given after the appropriate deadline except for documented medical or legal reasons. See the WCU Undergraduate Catalog.

     3. Every semester a number of students receive Fs because they stop attending class and taking exams, but do not formally withdraw through the registrar. Don't let this happen to you.

 

6. Writing Assignment:

Your graded writing assignment is to create a resume-like homepage on the professional networking website LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com).  Register for a free, non-premium account.  At a minimum, list Western Carolina University as your school, from the year you enrolled, to the future year you expect to graduate.  Any other information is optional, but everything you include in your personal profile must be (a.) honest and factually correct, and (b.) must be presented in a mature, professional manner.  You may wish to include information on past and/or current employment, extra-curricular activities, etc.  If you post a picture, it must present a professional appearance.   When you are done and ready for your profile to be graded, invite me to add you as a contact.  My email address is mulligan@wcu.edu.  This assignment is due on Thursday, February 12, but you are welcome to complete it earlier.

 

7.  Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

Western Carolina University is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for students with documented disabilities.  Students who require disability services or reasonable accommodations must identify themselves as having a disability and provide current diagnostic documentation to Disability Services.  All information is confidential.  Please contact Disability Services for more information at (828) 227-2716 or 144 Killian Annex.

 

8.  Course calendar:

Read assigned chapters before the day they will be discussed in class.