Syllabus
Fall2013 ECON 200F: Introduction to Microeconomics
Class Information
Meeting Time: TTH1:30-3:20
Meeting Location: Anderson Hall 008
Class website: https://catalyst.uw.edu/workspace/izumia/39837/
Instructor Information
Name: Atsuko Izumi
Office: Savery Hall F
Office hour: Tues 3:30-4:30
Fri 9:30-10:30
Email: izumia@uw.edu
Class Description
We are facing the decision of which goods to buy (or which not to buy) every day.
There are a lot of factors that affect your purchase decision; price, your valuation on
goods, earning from part time job, saving, and so force. At the same time, goods that
you see in the store also went thorough many decisions made by the firms. We will
analyze how consumers and producers make the decisions by using the economic
model, and how price and traded quantity of goods are determined in the market.
Also, we will analyze the role of the government in the market. Those analyses
allow us to examine whether our limited resources are allocated efficiently in the
economist’s viewpoint.
Goals
 Find something interesting about economics
 Learn wide range of microeconomic subjects and build foundation to apply
them to various fields
 Get familiar with economic terminologies and understand the concept of
economics as social science
 Be able to draw graphs to analyze economic topics
Required Course Material
N. Gregory Mankiw, “Principles of Microeconomics” 6th edition.
We will be using Aplia for online homework. You need to purchase Aplia, which is
bundled with the Mankiw’s book. You have options to get an e-Book or a hardcopy.
Visit following website to check available options. Instruction for Aplia registration
is in our class website.
Aplia Purchasing options: http://www.cengagebrain.com/micro/1-1GDUU4T
Aplia Registration website: http://login.cengagebrain.com/
Course Key: CS9R-VASP-4ZVY
Tentative Class Schedule
Time
Week 1
(Sep 26th)
Week 2
(Oct 1st & Oct 3rd)
Week 3
(Oct 8th & Oct 10th)
Week 4
(Oct 15th & Oct 17th)
Week 5
(Oct 22nd & Oct 24th)
Week 6
(Oct 29th & Oct 31st)
Week 7
(Nov 5th & Nov 7th)
Week 8
(Nov 12th & Nov 14th
Week 9
(Nov 19th & Nov 21st)
Week 10
(Nov 26th)
Week 11
(Dec 3rd & Dec 5th)
Leaning subjects
 Introduction
 10 Principles of economics
 Thinking like an economist & Gains
from trade
 Demand and supply
 Elasticity
 Government intervention
Midterm 1 (Oct 15th)
 Consumers, producers, and
efficiency of markets
 Cost of taxation
 International trade
 Externalities
 Public goods and common resources
Midterm 2 (Nov 5th)
 Cost of production
 Cost of production
 Firms in competitive market
 Monopoly
 Monopolistic competition
 Labor market
Project Due (Nov 26th in class)
 Review
 Final (Dec 5th)
Readings
Chap 1
Chap 2&
Chap 3
Chap 4
Chap 5
Chap 6
Chap 7
Chap 8
Chap 9
Chap 10
Chap11
Chap 13
Chap 13
Chap 14
Chap 15
Chap 16
Chap 18
This study plan is subject to change.
Tentative Exam Schedule
All exams will be given in the class. We will meet at the same classroom as regular
lecture. The final will be non-cumulative.
Midterm 1: Tuesday, Oct 15th
Midterm2: Tuesday, Nov 5th
Final: Thursday, Dec 5th
Grading Policy
Midterm & Final
Aplia homework
Project
Participation
Total
25% for each
10%
10%
5%
100%
Class Requirement
1. Aplia homework
You have Aplia homework every week, which is due on Monday for chapters that we
cover in the pervious week. First due of Aplia homework is on Mon, Oct 7th. Problem
set of chapter 1 is a practice question, so it will not be counted as your grade. Try
them to get used to Aplia system.
2. Project
You have one group project (3-4 members) in this class. I will give you a widely
debated economic topic by the end of October. Your group has to decide which
market to analyze and do a little survey on that market. After get knowledge about
the market, your group has to analyze how consumers and firms respond by using
the concepts and graphs that we learn in this class. Paper should include a short
summary of the market survey, and explanation of consumers and producers’
response, the government role, graphs, and assumptions that you are using for the
analysis.
Paper should be concise; 2-3 pages for the text and one page for graphs. This is due
on Tues, Nov 26th.
3. Participation
I will ask you to work through some questions during the class. It counts 5% of your
grade.