ECONOMICS 306 - 002
Intermediate Microeconomics
Shruti Rajagopalan
Email: srajago1@gmu.edu
Course Outline
Goals
The class organization assumes that you are familiar with introductory concepts
in economics. My goal is two-fold. First, to expose you to the “economic way of
thinking.” Second, to teach you the vocabulary and the tools used in
Microeconomic theory. I am assigning one book to fulfill each goal. Heyne,
Boettke and Prychitko follow the intuitive approach to economics and provide
tools to use the economic way of thinking in different aspects of life. Browning
and Zupan provides the conceptual foundation and traditional tools used in
Microeconomic Theory.
Class Location
Enterprise Hall Room # 275
Class Time
3 – 4:30 PM on Monday and Wednesday
Office Hours
I will be available at Enterprise Hall WS# 342 on Monday and Wednesday from
11:30 to 1:20 PM. You can also email me at srajago1@gmu.edu and schedule an
appointment.
Required Texts
Edgar K. Browning and Mark A. Zupan: Microeconomics: Price Theory and
Applications, John Wiley & Sons, 10th edition, 2009) [hereinafter B&Z].
Paul Heyne, Peter Boettke and David Prychitko: The Economic Way of Thinking,
Prentice Hall, 12th Edition 2010 [hereinafter H, B &P].
Recommended readings
Apart from the above texts, I shall discuss journal articles and book chapters
relevant to the topic in each class on Blackboard.
Blackboard
All homework assignments, lecture notes, recommended readings, grades and
announcements will be posted on Blackboard. Please check blackboard regularly
to keep up with the class at courses.gmu.edu
Attendance
I do not give any points for attendance or deduct points for failure to attend
class. However, almost half of your grade is determined by the class quizzes,
class participation, double oral auction class experiment and group assignments
in class. Lack of attendance will reflect in poor performance in these tasks.
1 Grading
10% Class Quizzes
I will give you multiple-choice question
quizzes during the semester. You should bring
a No. 2 pencil and a Scantron in each class.
20% Midterm
I expect you to know all topics covered till the
day of the midterm for the test.
20% Homework
I will assign 4 Problem Sets over the semester.
These will be simple mathematical and
graphical questions from the topics covered
mainly in B&Z.
30% Final Exam
The final exam is cumulative; I will include all
topics covered during the semester.
10% Group Assignments
Groups TBA.
5% Class Participation
The class is organized using the Socratic
method, and I expect you to read the assigned
reading and participate in class discussion.
5% Class Experiment
The participation in the double auction
experiment. Details on how to earn points will
be provided along with the instructions for the
experiment tentatively scheduled for Monday,
November 22nd.
Grading Scale
A+
97-100
A
93.1-96.9
A-
90-93
B+
87-89.9
B
83.1-86.9
B-
80-80.3
C+
C
CD+
D
DF
77-79.9
73.1-76.9
70-73.0
67-69.9
63.1-66.9
60-63
0-59.9
2 Tentative Semester Schedule
Date
Monday, August 30th
Wednesday, September 1st
Monday, September 6th
Wednesday, September 8th
Monday, September 13th
Wednesday, September 15th
Monday, September 20th
Wednesday, September 22nd
Monday, September 27th
Wednesday, September 29th
Monday, October 4th
Wednesday, October 6th
Tuesday, October 12th
Wednesday, October 13th
Monday, October 18th
Wednesday, October 20th
Monday, October 25th
Wednesday, October 27th
Monday, November 1st
Wednesday, November 3rd
Monday, November 8th
Wednesday, November 10th
Monday, November 15th
Wednesday, November 17th
Monday, November 22nd
Wednesday, November 24th
Monday, November 29th
Wednesday, December 1st
Monday, December 6th
Wednesday, December 8th
Monday, December 20th
Topic
Introductory Class
Supply & Demand
Labor Day No Class
Supply & Demand
Supply & Demand
Supply & Demand
Supply & Demand
Exchange
Consumer Choice
Consumer Choice
Consumer Choice
Consumer Choice
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Behavior
MIDTERM Exam
Exam Review
Production
Production
Costs
Costs
Pure Competition
Monopoly
Oligopoly and
Duopoly
Markets and
Government Policy
Class Experiment
Thanksgiving No
Class
Special Topics
Special Topics
Special Topics
Review
Final Exam
Reading Assignment
H, B &P Ch 1 and B&Z Ch1
B&Z Ch 2
B&Z Ch 2
H, B &P Ch 4
H, B &P Ch 6
B&Z Ch 2
H, B &P Ch 6 & B&Z Ch 2
B&Z Ch 3
B&Z Ch 3
B&Z Ch 4
B&Z Ch 4
B&Z Ch 5
B&Z Ch 5
B&Z Ch 7
B&Z Ch 7
B&Z Ch 8
B&Z Ch 8
B&Z Ch 9 & 10
B&Z Ch 11 &12
B&Z Ch 13
H, B &P Ch 9 & 11
Double Oral Auctions
NO CLASS
GROUP PRESENTATION
GROUP PRESENTATION
GROUP PRESENTATION
3 Other Important Information
Enrollment
Students are responsible for verifying their enrollment in this class. Schedule
adjustments should be made by the deadlines published in the Schedule of
Classes (Deadlines each semester are published in the Schedule of Classes
available from the Registrar's Website www.registrar.gmu.edu)
Some Important Dates
Last day to add: September 14
Last day to drop without tuition penalty: September 14
Last day to drop with 33% tuition penalty: September 21
Last day to drop with 67% tuition penalty: October 1
After the last day to drop a class, withdrawing from this class requires the
approval of the dean and is only allowed for nonacademic reasons.
Undergraduate students may choose to exercise a selective withdrawal. See the
Schedule
of
Classes
available
from
the
Registrar's
Website
www.registrar.gmu.edu for selective withdrawal procedures.
Academic Integrity
George Mason University has an Honor Code, which requires all members of
this community to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty and
integrity. Cheating, plagiarism, lying, and stealing are all prohibited. All
violations of the Honor Code will be reported to the Honor Committee. See
http://www.gmu.edu/academics/catalog/9798/honorcod.html
for
more
detailed information.
GMU Email Accounts
Students must activate their GMU email accounts to receive important
University information, including messages related to this class.
Office of Disability Services
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations,
please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services (http://ods.gmu.edu)
at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that
office.
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