Eco 101 Principles of Microeconomics Spring 2007

Section 830 MWF 11:30-12:25 Mahar 204

The Textbook

The required textbook for this course is

Introduction to Microeconomics, 2nd edition by Edwin G. Dolan.  Best Value Textbooks

I require a textbook because reading about this material is an essential part of learning it well.  Choosing not to buy/read the textbook results in a more limited understanding of the material and a limited ability to apply economic analysis to new situations.  This shortcoming will show up in my exams, which emphasize application NOT memorization.

Lecture Notes
NOTE: The lecture notes are an outline of class lectures and are not a substitute for regular attendance.
All lecture notes are PowerPoint presentation files.  You can dowload them on the school computers, which all have PowerPoint software to view and/or print them for class.  I recommend printing 3-6 slides per page.  (These are available printing options). If you do not have PowerPoint on the computer you use, you can download the open source equivalent to MS Office known as Open Office. This will allow you to view, print and edit the files.  

Intro to Eco 101: Course Policies
Chapter 1:   The Economic Way of Thinking
Appendix:  Working with Graphs
Chapter 2:   Supply and Demand
Chapter 3:   Supply, Demand and Elasticity (pages 67-79)
Chapter 4:   Economic Theory, Markets and Government  
Chapter 5:   Consumer Choice
Chapter 6:   Production and Cost
Chapter 7:   Perfect Competition
Chapter 8:   Monopoly
Chapter 9:   Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly
Chapter 10: Pricing in Resource Markets
Chapter 11: Markets for Capital and Natural Resources
Chapter 13: The Economics of Uncertainty

The Exam study guides 

As the exam approaches I will post a study guide to help you go through the material

exam 1 study guide
exam 2 study guide
exam 3 study guide
final exam study guide (note:  the final covers chapters 1-11, 13)
Jeopardy Final Exam Review, part I (PPT file)
Jeopardy Final Exam Review, part II  (PPT file)

Old Exams:  Spring 2006
Exam 1,  Exam 1 key
Exam 2,  Exam 2 key
Exam 3,  Exam 3 key
Final Exam (Word file emailed as attachment to your Oswego account, 5/7/2007)
Final Exam (an Adobe PDF document)

• NOTE:  There are six errors on the answer key for the final exam in the PDF document (#9 should be C, #10 should be C, #13 should be C, #26 should be C, #27 should be C, #30 should be C)

How can I find out my grades?

Both federal law and college policy prohibit the posting of grades, especially using any part of a student's social security number.  I will be emailing scores on exams and midterm and final point totals using email addresses provided by the registrar.  This means

• You must have an Oswego email account to get your grades, or you must see me in my office hours.  NO GRADES WILL BE GIVEN OVER THE PHONE! Information about getting an email account
• If you are using an email address other than you Oswego account, you can forward the email from your Oswego account to your preferred address.  Instructional Technologies provides this service for you.

  
  I will only email grades to your Oswego account because
   

• anti-spam utilities on other mail servers may reject my mass emails, but the oswego mail server will not
• alternative email addresses given to me often get sent back due to errors or a lapsed ISP subscription

In addition to emailing grades, I will also email other important information and announcements as they arise in the course.

Suggestion Box

Click here to drop a suggestion or comment in my electronic suggestion box. The form generates an anonymous email, so you are assured confidentiality.

Click here to read some of the suggestions/comments along with my responses.

Other useful resources

Amosweb.com  This site has many free study tools for economics students, including multiple choice quizzes on various topics.

ArgMax.com  This site is maintained by an economics professor at Amherst College, and offers of wealth of links to economics news, data, and analysis.

EconDebates Online is a site from Southwest College Publishing with information and links on many of the current debates in economics.  This site was created by Dr. John Kane of our own economics department.

Explorations in Supply and Demand
This is a self quizz on supply and demand by Kim Sosin.

Graph Tutorial
Out of Syracuse University, this provides a refresher for using and understanding graphs, an essential skill in this course.

Resources for Economists on the Internet. Edited by Dr. Bill Goffe, also of the SUNY Oswego economics department, this internationally renowned site lists 1,265 resources in 74 sections  and sub-sections available on the Internet of interest to academic and practicing economists, and those interested in economics. Almost all resources are also described.

The SUNY Oswego Economics Department web site has links to all of the faculty web pages, course descriptions, career information and a wealth of other economic sites.