Economics 102: Fall 2000: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
Course web address: http://www.whitney.oxy.edu/classes/ec102

Welcome to Econ.102! Economics 101, Principles of Economics, introduced you to the "economic way of thinking." Hopefully, you discovered in that course that economics offers you a uniquely useful way to interpret individual decisionmaking and government policymaking. Economics 101 focused on the intuition and logic of the economic way of thinking; Economics 102 focuses on the formal analytical tools that help make the economic way of thinking more precise and more insightful.

You may have already noticed that, to make sense of a very complicated real world, economic analysis requires you to abstract and simplify, to build streamlined models which are often unrealistic in their simplicity, but nonetheless powerful in their insights and predictions. David Friedman (son of Milton), has observed that economic analysis is three-dimensional: it relies on words (verbal reasoning), diagrams and equations. In Economics 101, you emphasized words and diagrams. In Economics 102, we will emphasize diagrams and equations.

During the term, we will cover a lot of algebra, geometry and calculus. But the course is primarily an economics course. Every tool that we develop will have applications to economic issues: how consumers decide what to do with their income, how firms maximize their profits, how all the pieces fit together in individual markets and for the economy as a whole. Ideally, you will leave Economics 102 with a quantitative toolkit that will sharpen your critical thinking skills in general and prepare you in particular for more advanced economics courses.

    Readings and materials: Each of the following is required for the course:

• Economics 102, Analytical Foundations of Economics, Readings Packet, Fall 2000, Jim Whitney.
• Economics 102, Analytical Foundations of Economics, Workbook, Fall 2000, Jim Whitney.
• Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Economics. The Dryden Press (the required text for Economics 101, or an equivalent Principles text).
• A package of  3''x5" cards --be sure to bring some to each class.

You can purchase the Readings Packet and Workbook from me during the first two office hours of the semester. You may pay by cash, but a check made out to Occidental College is preferred (be sure to write your student ID number on your check).

Other course readings are available online. You will need to enter the following information to access these readings:
    User name: _______________    Password: _______________

    Course requirements: Your course grade will be distributed approximately as follows:

    Participation is measured as the percentage of in-class activities (labs, workshops, handouts, etc.) which you participate in. Note: you must complete all course assignments conscientiously in order to receive a passing grade for the course. You are also expected to abide by the other general policies which apply to the course. To read them over, select the "Policies" link on the course home page.

    Tips:

1. Try to find other students to work with. When doing your problem sets, try working through problems on your own first, then try to help each other out. Educational research consistently shows that students working together learn better than students working alone.
2. I invite and encourage you to come see me outside of class. No appointment is necessary to visit me in my office during regular office hours. If you wish to meet with me at other times, just call me or check with me at class time to set up an appointment.
3. Do not fall behind. Try to review each day's notes prior to the next class meeting, so that any problems can be addressed promptly.
4. The readings are meant to supplement the material covered in class. You should try to read the assigned material once before class and then study it carefully afterwards.

	VI. Multiple equations
Dates:	Nov.15-Dec.4
Readings:	Pindyck and Rubinfeld, selections from Chapter 9        Gwartney and Stroup, pp.231-239
Deadlines:	Dec.1: Problem Set 6 due Dec.4: QWiz Plus unit VI due