ECONOMICS 101
Introduction to Economics: Spring 2015
Bryan Room 122
TTh 9:30-10:45 AM
Instructor: Professor Ken Snowden
Office: Room 450 B&E
Office Hours: TTh 3:30-4:30PM
E-mail: snowden@uncg.edu
Course Description
Economics 101 is a one semester introduction to economics. It is open to all students who have
not completed Economics 201 or 202 or equivalent. The course is approved for GSB credit
(Social and Behavioral) within UNCG’s General Education requirements. It also can substitute
for ECO 201 (Principles of Microeconomics) for students who major or minor in economics.
For some of you this will be your first and last course in economics, while others will use this
course as a foundation for further study in the discipline. Our purpose this semester will be to
investigate the fundamental themes and issues that define the field, to become familiar with the
vocabulary and tools which economists use to examine these issues, and to understand how
economists contribute and influence major policy debates that affect us all.
GEC Learning Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, student will have met
the Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) for GEC credit in the GSB category:
GSB SLO 1: Based on empirical information, describe or explain individual behavior or social
conditions, contexts, or institutions. Links with GEC Learning Goal 4: Knowledge
of Social and Human Behavior (with a focus on social conditions).
GSB SLO 2: Using the theories of the social and behavioral sciences, analyze individual behavior
or social conditions, contexts, or institutions. Links with GEC Learning Goal 4:
Knowledge of Social and Human Behavior (with a focus on social conditions) and
Learning Goal 1: Foundational Skills (with a focus on critical thinking).
Course Learning Objectives: The course is organized around two themes—the examination of
individual decision-makers and markets (microeconomics), and the measurement and performance
of all markets within a country or region (macroeconomics). Upon successful completion of this
course, you should be able to:
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Demonstrate how scarcity forces trade-offs, how every choice has an opportunity cost,
and how different opportunity costs give rise to comparative advantages.
Apply knowledge of supply and demand, market equilibrium and elasticity to
demonstrate how price allocates scarce resources, goods and services.
Explain how markets reach efficient outcomes, why markets sometimes fail, and how
government intervention can impact markets.
Define and measure data that is used to describe and assess the economy’s
macroeconomic performance.
Explain the sources of economic growth, unemployment and inflation.
Assess the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on macroeconomic performance.
ECO 101/Page 2
Required Materials:
Textbook: Issues in Economics Today (7th Edition) by Robert C. Guell. 2015. McGraw-Hill
Education, New York.
Paperback: ISBN 978-0-07-802181-7.
eText: ISBN 978-0-07-764071-2. Available at CourseSmart.
You must have access to the 7th edition of the book to meet all the requirements of the
course. I have chosen this text because it contains a set of 8 chapters at the beginning of the text
that cover the concepts and “tools” that are used in microeconomics and macroeconomics, and
then 35 short chapters where these are applied to specific issues. We will be combine 6 of the
“tools” chapters (1-3 and 6-8) with 21 of the “applications” chapters. My plan is to first explore
microeconomics, and then macroeconomics. Consult the course schedule frequently to keep
track of the dates that we will discuss each chapter.
Economics is a discipline that you learn by doing. This means that you will not learn, and will
not be prepared for exams, if you only read the text, listen to lectures and review notes. In this
class you must also practice using the tools and concepts that we develop. With this in mind, an
attractive feature of the 7th edition of the text is the set of study questions and answers for each
chapter that is available at http://www.mhhe.com/guell7e. This is a “low tech” resource made up
of separate Word files for each chapter that contain study questions (multiple choice, true-false
and short answer problems). There is no online interface you use to answer these questions or
which provides feedback. Instead, you will need to view or download these files, work through
the questions at your own pace, and then check your answers against the solutions given at the
end of the Word file. This will take time and effort, but nothing will be more helpful, or prepare
you better, for quizzes, homework and exams than working on these problems.
Course Canvas page: A challenge this semester is that we will all be getting used to the new
Canvas interface that is replacing the old blackboard system. In this course we will be relying on
Canvas to keep attendance, to post lecture materials, as a grade center, as an interface for online,
out-of-class course quizzes, and to download and submit course homework.
Grading:
6 Course Quizzes:
3 Course Homeworks:
In-Class Examination I
In-Class Examination II
In-Class Examination III
10% of Course Grade
10% of Course Grade
25% of Course Grade
25% of Course Grade
30% of Course Grade
February 17, 2015.
March 31, 2015.
May 5, 2015 12-3PM.
Your course letter grade will be no lower that as indicated on the following scale:
90% and above:
80% and above:
70% and above:
60% and above:
A
B
C
D
Note that your grade could be higher than this scale—some students will earn a plus at the top of
these grade ranges while others could earn a minus (-) even though their average falls just below
these cutoffs (for example, and average of 79.7% might earn a course grade of B-).
ECO 101/Page 3
Required coursework:
Attend class and prepare before lecture: Official UNCG policy states that “regular class
attendance is a responsibility and a privilege of university education.” I agree completely and
would add that as a student I found that the most efficient way of learning was to be prepared for
class each day. To do so, I made sure to at least look over assigned reading before each class and
reviewed my notes from the previous class. I encourage you to try out this system in this course
and I expect you to attend and be prepared for every class period. I will keep track of your
commitment to the course and participation in lecture by taking attendance beginning in week 2,
but I will not enforce a formal attendance policy. Please note, however, that I do not accept any
late assignments and maintain a strict examination attendance policy (see below).
Course Quizzes (10% of course grade): Each of the six course quizzes will be composed of
between 10 and 20 multiple choice questions. You will take these quizzes through Canvas. The
quizzes are open note and open book and, in fact, many of the questions will be drawn from endof-chapter questions in the Guell text. These quizzes are intended to provide you with an
opportunity to actively use the concepts and tools in the course, and to make mistakes doing so
before you take exams. For the exercise to work, however, you must take the quiz seriously,
think through the questions on your own, and be willing to offer answers that could be wrong.
With this in mind, I have designed the quizzes as follows:
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you have 75 minutes to take and complete each quiz during a 24-hour window
at the end of the 24-hour window you will be given access to quiz grades and corrections
your course quiz grade will be lowered by 16% for every quiz you do not complete
if you take all six quizzes, your quiz grade will be at least 85%
your quiz grade will be the percentage of correct answers on all quiz questions if that is
greater than 85%
You may discuss the quiz with other students before, during and after taking each one.
Keep in mind, however, that you gain little by using someone else’s answers—you can
earn an 85% simply by guessing. The real benefit is to answer each question seriously on
your own so that you know what you understand and what material needs more study.
That process will pay large dividends on exams and long after the course is over.
Course Homework (10% of course grade): Not all material in the course can be asked or
evaluated in multiple choice questions. For that reason, each exam will have some short
discussion questions and some questions that require students to draw and explain a graph. The
three course homework assignments (one for each exam) are designed to help you practice with
these types of analysis and prepare you for similar exam questions. Each of the three homework
assignments will be posted on Canvas as Word files two weeks before they are due. You will
download these files, and upload your answers in a Word file by the due date. You may work
together on homework, but grading and incentives are the same as with quizzes—you will
receive an 85% by answering each question fully and greater than 85% if your answers are
complete and correct. You will lose 33% of your homework grade by failing to complete a
homework assignment completely and seriously. An answer sheet will be posted after the
homework is due and you are responsible for correcting your own problem set.
ECO 101/Page 4
Required coursework (continued):
In-Class Examinations (80% of Course Grade): Most of each in-class examination will be
comprised of multiple choice and true-false questions, but between 20% and 30% of the points
will based on short answer or graphs and explanation. The course is intrinsically cumulative in
content—once you learn the supply and demand model we will use it throughout the semester.
For this reason Exam III has a higher weight (30%) than the first two exams (25% each). I will
be explicit, however, about the material that will be covered on each exam.
There will be no make-ups for In-Class Examinations I and II. A student who misses either
midterm--and presents me with an approved excuse--will complete the missed exam as a takehome assignment (for 5% of the final grade), while the weights on the other exams will increase to
35% of the final grade (for the other midterm) and 40% of the final grade ( the final exam). A
student will fail any exam that is missed without an approved excuse.
Exams are all closed-book, closed-note, and closed-friend/neighbor. You may bring a calculator
to the exam, but all calculators must be non-programmable. Cell phones cannot be used as
calculators. You must bring a red scantron sheet purchased from the UNCG bookstore to each
exam.
Academic Integrity Policy: Students are expected to know and abide by the Honor Code in all
matters pertaining to this course. Violations of this code will be pursued in accordance with the
code. See UNCG’s academic integrity policy at: http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/complete/.
Faculty and Student Guidelines: Please familiarize yourself with the Bryan School’s Faculty
and Student Guidelines. These guidelines establish principles and expectations for the
administration, faculty, staff, and students of the Bryan School of Business and Economics. The
link for this document is: http://www.uncg.edu/bae/faculty_student_guidelines.pdf .
Additional Requests:
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I strongly encourage you to take notes with paper and pen/pencil. I believe this is the best
way to learn the material and is also beneficial for learning how to use graphs. If you
would like to use your laptop to take notes, you must get permission from me during the
first week of class and must sit in the first two rows. Otherwise, keep your laptop closed,
your tablet off, and both of out of sight.
Please make sure that all cell phones are shut off during lecture. If I see you texting I
reserve the right to ask you to leave the room.
When you begin to feel lost in lecture, BE PROACTIVE!! I am more than happy to
answer questions during lecture and other students are almost surely just as confused.
I have a simple rule—if you are distracting me, then you are distracting other students. I
cannot allow that and reserve the right to ask you to leave class.
Coming late to class and leaving early is sometimes unavoidable—do these as
infrequently and as quietly as possible.
ECO 101 – Course Schedule
Spring 2015
Week (Date)
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
6.
6.
7.
7.
8.
8.
9.
10.
10.
11.
11.
12.
12.
(01/13)
(01/15)
(01/20)
(01/22)
(01/27)
(01/29)
(02/03)
(02/05)
(02/10)
(2/11)
(02/12)
(02/17)
(02/19)
(02/24)
(02/26)
(03/03)
(03/05)
(03/10-03/12)
(03/17)
(03/19)
(03/24)
(03/25)
(03/26)
(03/31)
(04/02)
Topic
Professor Snowden
Reading in Guell/Assignment Due
Introduction
PPF & Circular Flow
Rich & Poor
Rich & Poor
Supply & Demand
Supply & Demand
Foreign Trade
Using S&D as a Tool
The Minimum Wage
Chapter 1 & Appendix, 1-17
Chapter 1 & Appendix, 1-17
Chapters 20 & 35
Chapters 20 & 35
Chapter 2/Quiz #1 due at 0800
Chapter 2
Chapter 17
Chapter 3
Chapter 31/Quiz #2 due at 0800
Homework #1 due at 0930
Farm Policy
Chapters 30
IN-CLASS EXAM I (25%) Chapters 1-3, 17, 20, 31-32, 35
Illegal Markets?
Chapter 21,
The Environment
Chapters 22
Education: K-12 & Higher Chapters 33, 34
Inequality
Chapter 29/Quiz #3 due at 0800
Job Discrimination
Chapter 28
SPRING BREAK
Talking about Macro
Chapter 6
Value of Time
Chapter 7
Federal Budget
Chs. 11, 12(149-57)/Quiz #4 due at 0800
Homework #2 due at 0930
Old Folks and You
Chs. 16, 24, 36
IN-CLASS EXAM II (25%) Chs. 6-7, 11-12, 16, 21-22, 24, 28-29, 34, 36
Aggregate S & D
Chapter 8
13. (04/07)
Aggregate S & D
13. (04/09)
14. (04/14)
14. (04/16)
15. (04/21)
(04/22)
15. (04/23)
Fiscal Policy
Monetary Policy
Monetary Policy
Great Recession
Chapter 8
Chapters 9, 12 (157-59)
Chapter 10/Quiz #5 due at 0800
Chapter 10
Chapter 14/
Homework #3 due at 0930
Recession: Japan&Eurozone Chapter 19/Quiz #6 due at 0800
Tuesday, May 5, 2015 12-3 PM EXAMINATION III (30%) Room 122
Chapters 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 19 PLUS Selected material from Examinations I and II