Should College athletes be paid

Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania
Department of Business Administration & Computer Science

Spring 2013

Title of the Course: Principles of Economics
Number of Course: Econ 101-03
Number of credits: 3
Prerequisites: Math proficiency test
Class Meets: M W 3:35 – 4:50 pm, 211 Raub Hall

Instructor: Dr. Ruben Berrios, [e-mail]
Office: Akeley Hall 120, telephone: [phone]
Office Hours: M 1:00 – 3:30, T 10:30 – 12:00, W 9:00 – 12:00, 1:00 – 3:00, TH 9:30 – 12, or by appointment

Course Description:
This is a one-semester course on the fundamental concepts of macro and microeconomic analysis. The course emphasizes the basic tools and concepts, which can be used in the firm’s management and decision-making process. These concepts build on standard economic analysis of the firm such as price decisions, cost, output, and revenue. These concepts are covered in relation to competitive, monopolistic, and oligopolistic market structures. The first half of the course deals with the macro issues and economic policy: inflation, unemployment, national income accounts, fiscal policy, monetary policy, and trade. The second part of the course examines consumer behavior, market structure, labor issues, income distribution, and policy differences.

Objectives of the Course:
1. The main objective of the course is to expose you to some of the main concepts of economics, how the discipline looks at the world, and how it applies its theories to solve relevant and current economic problems. By the completion of this course the student is expected to apply the basic economic tools and reasoning to analyze specific problems.
2. Economics is one of the academic disciplines that provide the intellectual foundations of business administration. This course is intended to be an introductory course that provides the essential tools to understand the working of the economy. This will serve as a foundation if you desire to take other courses in economics.
3. The concepts and methods help students understand the relationship between consumer behavior, behavior of the firms, and government policy.
4. Upon completion of the course the student should be able to interpret current economic and business news reported in the media. The student should be able to achieve the ability to reason and communicate past and current economic policy issues of relevance.

Methods of Instruction:
1. Readings from text and newspaper articles assigned by the instructor
2. Lectures and in-class discussions from the assigned readings
3. Exercises and homework, in-class quizzes, and written examinations.

Required reading: Text: Patrick J. Welch & Gerry F. Welch, Economics: Theory and Practice, 9th ed., Wiley, 2010.

Examinations: four exams. The fourth exam is the final, quizzes and/or homework are given on a weekly basis

Attendance policy: Attendance is required as established in the student handbook. Quizzes and homework are given out sometimes unannounced. There are no make-up homework/quizzes or exams. It is impossible to expect a good grade in this course if you do not attend class on a regular basis.

Basis for grade: Exam 1 20% Exam 2 20% Exam 3 20% Exam 4 20% Quizzes & 20% Assignments

Standards
Class participation is essential and will influence your final grade. Please be prepared for class. You should have read the assigned reading before class. A class calendar is provided below and we follow it on schedule. Please inform me in advance if you have to leave class before its scheduled ending. It is extremely disruptive when someone leaves during the lecture. Please refrain from doing that.

Try to do the homework yourself. You are permitted to work in groups, if you find that it helps you to learn, but after discussing the problems, write out the answers yourself. Don’t just copy the final homework problems from someone. This is not going to be helpful when you have to take the exams.

Economics is not an easy subject in which you can just memorize information and expect to do well. You need to understand it and be able to apply the theories. The textbook, homework, and lectures and class discussions, quizzes and even exams are designed to help you learn. They complement each other and you should not assume that if you attend class you do not need to read the textbook or vice versa. I will try to emphasize which are the most important ideas and parts of the text to read as we go along. A study guide for this textbook is available and you may want to purchase it if you think it can help you. The study guide is optional. I strongly suggest that if you have difficulties you should take advantage of my office hours. I try to be accessible as much as possible (see office hours above).

Clarifications will be made as we go for specific items not mentioned in the contents of this syllabus. The course calendar is subject to change.

Course rational

Econ 101 is part of the Business Program core curriculum and is generally taken by freshmen and sophomores. The course is also required and serves secondary education majors as well as those studying social sciences. The course provides the intellectual foundation for business administration. The concepts and methods you will learn in this course are crucial because economic theory underlies managerial accounting, finance, human resource management, marketing, and strategic management. You are expected to apply basic tools of economics to analyze economic and business problems.

Course Calendar

Week 1: January 28, 30
1. Introduction to the course
2. What is economics? Chapter 1.
3. Key principles: how people make decisions, interact, and how the economy works. Concepts: margin, efficiency, scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, macro vs. microeconomics.
4. Production possibilities frontier
5. Working with graphs (Appendix).

Week 2: February 4, 6
Chapter 2: Economic decision making and economic systems
1. Economic decisions
2. Market economy, mixed economy, planned economy
3. Circular flow model
4. The U.S. economic system

Week 3: February 11, 13
1. Supply and demand (chapter 3)
-Prices and markets
-Demand
-Supply
-The concept of market equilibrium
-Exercises will be reviewed in class. 2. Price elasticity

Week 4: February 18, 20
Problems of the macro economy (chapter 4).
1. Employment
2. Inflation
3. Production

Week 5: February 25, 27
First exam: Monday February 25. Covers chapters 1, 2, 3, 4.
Foundations of the macro economy (chapter 5)
1. Business cycles
2. The spending side
3. The multiplier effect

Week 6: March 4, 6
The role of government (chapter 6)
1. Fiscal policy
2. Tax reform
3. Fiscal deficit
4. The national debt

Week 7: March 11, 13
Money and financial institutions (chapter 7)
1. Definition of money and functions of money
2. Financial depository institutions
3. The Federal Reserve

Week 8: March 25, 27
1. Money creation and monetary policy (chapter 8)
2. Money creation
3. Monetary policy

Week 9: Exam 2: Monday, April 1. Covers chapters 5, 6, 7, 8
April 3rd: Macroeconomic views and models (chapter 9)
1. Classical
2. Keynesian
3. Variations of classical and Keynesian
4. Monetarist
5. Supply side economics

Week 10: April 8, 10
Microeconomics (chapter 10)
1. Household and businesses
2. Goals and decisions of households
3. Goals and decisions of business firms

Week 11: April 15, 17
Benefits, costs and maximization (chapter 11)
1. Costs and benefits
2. Maximizing satisfaction
3. Maximizing profit

Week 12: 22, 24
Cost and production (chapter 12)
1. Production basics
2. Types of costs
3. Law of diminishing returns

Week 13, Exam 3 is Monday April 29. It will cover chapters 9, 10, 11, 12
May 1st. Competition and market structure (chapter 13)
1. Pure competition
2. Monopoly
3. Monopolistic competition
4. oligopoly

Week 14: May 6 Government and markets (chapter 14)
1. Anti-trust legislation
2. Government regulations

May 8 (chapter 15)
Week 15: Labor markets, unions and distribution of income
1. Labor markets: supply and demand for labor
2. Labor unions and collective bargaining
3. Distribution of income

Week 16: May 8 (time permitting)
International trade. (chapter 16)
1. U.S. trade patterns
2. Comparative advantage
3. Trade policies: free trade vs. protectionist arguments

Final Exam will be held the week of May 13-17. Unless otherwise indicated by the administration, exact date, time, and location will be changed and announced ahead of time. Exam will cover chapters 13, 14, 15,16.