Daily schedule

I. Introduction: Economics and "the economic way of thinking"
IIA. The Micro Economy: Market fundamentals: supply and demand
IIB. The Micro Economy: A closer look at microeconomic markets
III. The microeconomic role of government
IVA. The Macro Economy: Measuring macroeconomic performance
IVB. The Macro Economy: Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
V. The macroeconomic role of government
VI. The Global Economy

Note: Items marked with an asterisk (*) may not currently be available online.

Day 1:	Administration
Handouts:	Syllabus Extra credit option: the Cooperative Learning Lab (CLL) CLL schedule form CLL teams

Day 2:	I. Introduction: economics and the "economic way of thinking"
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 1, 2
Handouts:	He Said, She Said Poll Opportunity cost: examples Responding to incentives: examples

Day 3:	Application of opportunity cost: the Sullivan case
Readings:	"A Divorced Spouse's Professional Degree: Is It Community Property?"

Day 12:	III: The strengths and weaknesses of markets
Readings:	Friedman. "The Power of the Market" Blinder. "Economic Policy Can Be Hard-Headed--and Soft-Hearted"

Day 13:	IIIA1. Policy tools: Price controls
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapter 6 (111-121) "Diagrammatic Effect of a Price Control" "Santa Monica--Only the Elite Need Apply" "A New Lease on Life for Rent Control"
Handouts:	Price control scorecard Economic effects of price controls

Day 14:	IIIA2. Policy tools: Taxes and subsidies
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 6 (121-128), 8 Pindyck and Rubinfeld. "A Tax on Gasoline"
Handouts:	Economic effects of price controls: Recap Economic effects of taxes Group presentations/activities handout

Day 15:	IIIB. Market failure 1: Imperfect price signals (externalities, public goods, etc.)
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 10 (read), 11 (skim). (Note: In Ch.10, focus on the distinction between positive and negative externalities, but not the distinction between production and consumption externalities) "What Cost a Life? EPA Asks Tacoma" Blinder. "Cleaning Up the Environment: Sometimes Cheaper Is Better" "AQMD Board Creates First U.S. ‘Smog Market'" "How to Break Up Traffic Jams" "Living with the Car"

Day 16:	IIIC. Market failure 2: Imperfect competition (monopoly and oligopoly)
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 15(303-310,319-323), 16(337-341,345-359) "23 Colleges in East Adjust Aid to Avert Bidding for Students" "Rebirth of the Ivy Cartel" "A Supremely Unsettling Smorgasbord" "Market Forces and Discord Stymie Cartels" "Horror! Fine Caviar Now Could Became Cheap as Fish Eggs"
Handouts:	Market Power: Capturing Consumer Surplus The Oligopoly Game

Day 17:	IIID. Income distribution and redistribution
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 18, 19, 20 (skim 20) "Are Returns to College Education Likely to Decline in the '90s?"
Handouts:	Summary of Labor Markets Accounting for Wage Differentials Presentation worksheet assignment Presentation groups: 9:30 / Presentation groups: 11:30

Day 20:	Review
Day 21:	Midterm (Practice exams: Fall 1996; Fall 1997; Fall 1998)
Days 22-25:	Group presentations
Handouts:	Presentation worksheet assignment

Day 18:	IVA1. Output and growth
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 22, 24
Handouts:	Measuring Output

Day 19:	IVA2. Unemployment
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapter 26 (565-575) "Study Ranks Joblessness Top Factor in Gang Toll"
Handouts:	Employment and Unemployment: examples Employment and Unemployment: classification table

Days 26-27:	IVA3. Price levels and inflation
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 23, 28 (619-632) "On the twelfth day of Christmas, you'll pay $13,195.86"
Handouts:	Price Levels and Inflation

Day 31:	VA. Fiscal policy
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 12 (238-243), 32 (716-718)

Days 33,35:	VA. Money and monetary policy
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 25 (541-547), 27, 32 (709-716) "Bonds, Interest Rates, and Bond Prices"
Handout:	Fractional reserve banking

Day 34:	Quiz 2 (Practice exams: Fall 1996; Fall 1997; Fall 1998)

Day 36:	VC: Controversies over stabilization policy
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 25(547-561), 32(721-729), 34 Dornbusch. "You Can't Cut Taxes and Balance the Budget"
Handouts:	Controversies over stabilization policies

	VI. The Global Economy
Day 37:	VIA. Open-economy macroeconomics
Readings:	Text: Skim Chapters 29, 30 Levinson. "Economic policy: the old tools won't work"
Handouts:	Open economy macroeconomics

	VIB. Does trade protection make economic sense?
Day 38:	VIB1. Trade and its benefits
Handouts:	Trade According to Comparative Advantage Final exam questions

Day 39-40:	VIB2. The effects of trade protection
Readings:	Pindyck and Rubinfeld. "Import Quotas and Tariffs" Krugman. "What Do Undergrads Need To Know About Trade?"
Handouts:	Free Trade Versus Protection

Dates:	Aug.31-Sep.9
Topic:	I. Introduction: economics and the "economic way of thinking"
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 1, 2 Supplementary readings: Unit I: "A Divorced Spouse's Professional Degree: Is It Community Property?"
Deadlines:	Sep.4: Writing assignment 1 due: The Sullivan Case

Dates:	Sep.11-16
Topic:	II. The Micro Economy IIA. Market fundamentals: supply and demand
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapter 4 Supplementary readings: Unit IIA readings
Deadlines:	Sep.16-17,21-22: Cooperative Learning Lab 1 Sep.18: Problem Set 1 due (Answer key) Sep.25: Quiz 1* (Practice quizzes: Fall 1996; Fall 1997)

Day 4:	IIA. Market fundamentals: supply and demand
Readings:	Mankiw, Chapter 4

Day 5:	IIA1. Demand (D)and marginal benefit (MB)
Handouts:	Demand (D) and Marginal Benefit (MB) (9:30) Demand (D) and Marginal Benefit (MB) (11:30)

Day 6:	IIA2. Supply (S) and marginal cost (MC)
Readings:	Powell. "Back to the Draft: It's More Economical, and It's Right"
Handouts:	Supply (S) and Marginal Cost (MC)

Day 7:	IIA3. Equilibrium
Readings:	"Mink Farming Is Growing More Scarce as Costs Rise and Fur Demand Declines" "The Price of Beer Rises at a Heady Pace, But Americans Are Thirstier Than Ever" "Moonshiners in South Find Sales Are Down as Their Costs Go Up"
Handouts:	Supply and Demand: Recap Mink farming exercise worksheet

Dates:	Sep.18-25
Topic:	IIB. A closer look at microeconomic markets
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 7, 5 Supplementary readings: Unit IIB readings
Deadlines:	Sep.28-Oct.1: Cooperative Learning Lab 2 Oct.2: Problem Set 2 due (Answer key*)

Day 8:	IIB1. Competitive markets and social welfare
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapter 7 Taylor. Readings on consumer surplus Taylor. Readings on producer surplus Taylor. Readings on market efficiency "Why Calls Should Cost a Quarter" "Millions Enter Lottery for 40,000 Green Cards" "Body Organ Sales Discussed as Way to Increase Supply" Pindyck and Rubinfeld. "The Market for Human Kidneys"
Handouts:	Markets and social welfare

Day 9:	Finish social welfare; start price elasticity of demand
Handouts:	The Invisible Hand: How markets maximize social welfare Changes in Social Welfare
	IIB2. Price elasticity of demand
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapter 5 "Price Hike: Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You?" "Despite Fare Rise, Taxi Fleets Report New Losses Again"
Handouts:	Price elasticity of demand: Worksheet Price elasticity of demand: Consolidated results

Day 10:	Finish elasticity; cover costs and decisionmaking
Handouts:	Price elasticity of demand: Recap
	IIB3. A closer look at costs and decisionmaking
Readings:	Heyne. "Marginal Values and Economic Decisions"
Handouts:	A Closer Look at Costs The Power of the Market: Efficiency and Equity Issues

Day 11:	Quiz 1 (Practice quizzes: Fall 1996; Fall 1997; Fall 1998)

Dates:	Sep.28-Oct.9
Topic:	III. The microeconomic role of government
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 6, 8, 10, 11, 15 (303-310, 319-323), 16 (337-341, 345-359), 18, 19, 20 (skim 20) Supplementary readings: Unit III readings
Deadlines:	Oct.7: Writing assignment 2 due: The Consequences of Price Controls (sample papers: Paper1 and Paper2) Oct.14-15, 19-20: Cooperative Learning Lab 3 Oct.16: Problem Set 3 due (Answer key) Oct.21: Midterm* Oct.23-30: Group presentations: Microeconomic problems in the U.S. economy

Dates:	Oct.14-Nov.2
Topic:	IV. The Macro Economy IVA. Measuring macroeconomic performance: output, unemployment and inflation
Readings:	Mankiw: 22, 24, 26 (565-575), 23, 28 (619-632) Supplementary readings: Unit IVA readings
Deadlines:	Nov.4-5, 9-10: Cooperative Learning Lab 4 Nov.4: Writing assignment 3 due: group presentations (sample paper) Nov.6: Problem Set 4 due (Answer key*)
Web links

Dates:	Nov.6-13
Topic:	IVB. Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapter 31 Supplementary readings: Unit IVB readings
Deadlines:	Nov.13: Writing assignment 4 due: self-correction exercise Nov.16-19: Cooperative Learning Lab 5 Nov.17: Problem set 5 due, 9:00AM (Answer key) Nov.20: Quiz 2*

Day 28:	IVB1. Aggregate Demand (AD)
Readings:	Mankiw, Chapter 31, pp.681-690 Gwartney and Stroup. "Aggregate demand and aggregate supply"

Day 29:	IVB2. Aggregate Supply (AS)
Readings:	Mankiw, Chapter 31, pp.691-696 Baumol and Blinder. "The aggregate supply curve"
Handouts:	Self-correction mechanism workshop handouts

Day 30:	IVB3. Macroeconomic Equilibrium
Handouts:	Macroeconomic equilibrium: basic geometry The basic AD/AS Macro model: Recap
	IVB4. The economy's self-correcting mechanism
	Macroeconomic Shocks & the Self-Correction Mechanism: The Korean War Years

Day 32:	Self-correction mechanism workshop
Readings:	Mankiw, Chapter 31, pp.696-703
Handouts:	(1) Assignment; (2) Data Set; (3a) 9:30 presentation groups; (3b) 11:30 presentation groups Self-correction workshop: Key*

Dates:	Nov.16-25
Topics:	V. The macroeconomic role of government
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 12 (238-243), 32 (716-718), 25 (541-547), 27, 32 (709-716), 25(547-561), 32(721-729), 34 Supplementary readings: Unit V readings
Deadlines:

Dates:	Nov.30-Dec.7
Topic:	VI. The Global Economy
Readings:	Mankiw: Chapters 29, 30 (skim), 3, 9 Supplementary readings: Unit VI readings
Deadlines:	Dec.2-3, 7-8: Cooperative Learning Lab 6 Dec.4: Problem Set 6 due (Answer key*) Dec.7: Writing assignment 5 due: macroeconomics news article analysis