Instructor: David Longstreet
Office Hours: Upon Request (normally I will arrive 30 minutes prior to class and stay after class as needed)
Class Logistics: 6:00 p.m. – 9:20 p.m., Thursday night.
Contact Information: David@SoftwareMetrics.Com (this is my preferred mode of communication, I normally check email several times per day). You can call me also at
816.739.4058
I will be using a variety of media, besides a traditional textbook, this semester in hopes of making the class as interesting, informative and relevant as possible.
Text
• Microeconomics Theory & Applications 8th or 9 th
9780471679431)
Edition (ISBN:
Video
• PBS Video Series – Commanding Heights ( highly recommended you purchase the book and/or DVD series ). o http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/index.html
, this is a wonderful series which will introduce you macroeconomic issues and economic policy from 1900 to 2002. You can view the entire series online; purchase the DVD series at Amazon.Com,
PBS.org, or you can check it out from Mid-continent Library.
Podcasting & YouTube
• I am going to experiment and create podcasts of some of my lecture materials that you will be able to view on an ipod, iphone or other mp3 player. The same materials will be published on Youtube.
• PBS Video Series – Free to Choose o The power of the market
•
A Beautiful Mind – We will not watch the whole movie, but we will look at a few clips from the movie. John Nash, winner of the Nobel Prize in
Economics, questions the theories of Adam Smith and questioned the idea of competition. His theory is known as the Nash Equilibrium.
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Online Resources
• You will find links on the website
( www.SoftwareMetrics.Com/Economics )
•
Statistical Abstract of the United States
( http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-02.html
)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics ( www.bls.gov
)
•
I have created flash versions of many of my lectures, so you can review them to gain a better understanding of concepts discussed during class.
You will find these on my website
( http://www.softwaremetrics.com/Economics/animations.htm
)
•
Centesimus Annus, discusses economic systems associated morality and the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II
( http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf
_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus_en.html
)
Newspapers and Magazine
•
During the semester we will review several current newspaper and magazine articles.
Other recommend books
•
The Road to Serfdom – Fredrick Hayek
• The Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith
• Free to Choose – Milton Freedman
Your First Assignment (which you should do before our first class).
Send me an email ( David@SoftwareMetrics.Com
) and tell me the names of the people in the photographs.
Watch Chapter 1, 2 and 11 on the online video series Commanding Heights http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/index.html
This is totally optional. I would recommend you bring a red, black and blue pen with you to class (or get one of those multi-color pens we all wanted when we were young, but your parents would never buy you). It would be useful to have a straight edge with you also.
Did you know that nearly 1 million students take introductory economics each year? But what is Economics? Economics is the study of scarcity and how goods and services are allocated. Economists are generally concerned with how things are and not how things should be. Economists like to break problems into logical parts (or models), so they can be examined. We examine the parts one by one and then we put the parts back together again. Economists use models (neat looking graphs) to help explain economic events and economic trends. The bottom line is Economics uses models to explain behaviors.
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The two major areas of economics is microeconomic and macroeconomics.
Microeconomics , my area of specialty, deals with how firms, households make decisions. It is concerned about individual markets not all markets. Microeconomists study average cost, marginal costs, and total costs. I spend much of my time studying the software industry, which is only one industry of many in the world. In fact, I supply software industry data to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.
On the other hand, macroeconomics is the study of the national and world economy as a whole. Macroeconomists frequently add up all the industries with in a country. You will hear them talk about things like GNP, Unemployment, Trade Deficits, and
Government Policies.
Section 1 – Living Large (Macro Economic Theory)
What is the appropriate role of government? How large or how small should governments be? How are jobs created or destroyed? Who creates jobs?
• Hayek v. Keynes
•
The First Era of Globalization
•
Ayn Rand
• The US Economy at a Glance o Gross Domestic Product o Unemployment
• How are jobs created and destroyed
• Milton Friedman
•
Economics of the next millennium
Section 2 – Human Action
How and why do we make the choices we make? What are the market forces driving us to choose?
• Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Microeconomics
• Chapter 2 – Demand and Supply Curves
•
Chapter 3 – The Theory of Consumer Choice
• Chapter 4 – Individual Demand
• Chapter 5 – Consumer Choices
•
Chapter 6 – Exchange and Prices
Section 3 – Why I love profits!
How do organization choose what and how much to produce.
•
Chapter 7 – Production
• Chapter 8 – The cost of production
• Chapter 9 – Profit Maximization
•
Chapter 10 – Using the Competitive Model
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Section 4 – Using governments to protect markets.
Summary: What happens when a few control markets. How do they actually control markets?
• Chapter 11 Monopolies
•
Chapter 13 Monopolistic & Oligopoly Theory
This course is designed to provide students the essential tools necessary to understand and apply economic concepts. There two major course objectives. I am so excited to teach this course I can hardly wait. I find economics very interesting and exciting, but many (I am not sure why) find the study of economics boring. Each day you are bombarded with economic terms and economic “facts.” The ultimate course objective to apply basic economic facts to current economic situations. In other words make sense out of contemporary economic and business situations presented in newspapers, magazines, and television from the point of view of a student, businessperson, and consumer. Through out your college career (and life) you need to learn to think critically and systemically. That means you need to be able to break complex problems into smaller pieces so you can analyze them. The study of economics will help you learn how to think in a critical and systemic manner.
We will discuss many topics during the class periods. I like to teach economics in context. That means instead of just teaching theoretical graphs, I will use real world examples. Some of the topics we will discuss are listed below.
• Why scalpers can sell tickets at Arrowhead.
• Why are there so many websites in such a short period of time?
•
The Economics of Dating and why bars offer “ladies” night.
• Economics of online music (Limewire, Napster, Morpheous, so on and so forth)
• Open bar and the demand curve
•
The Value of A College Education
• Why do Health Care Costs Continue to Rise or Do they?
• Economics of illegal activities.
•
Why are prescription drugs so expensive or are they?
•
Economics of divorce (how standard of livings change after divorce)
• Why does the price of gasoline always rise before a holiday?
• What are the impacts of increasing the minimum wage?
•
Comparison of Private vs. Public in providing for the poor.
• Enron Stock Certificates and what happens when markets go crazy ( The Madness of Crowds )?
•
Why Private Universities excel compared to Public (Federal and State Funded)
Universities.
• Social Security is there enough money to go around?
•
Are School Vouchers a good idea?
•
Do tax cuts help or hurt the economy? What about tax increases?
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• Economic Principles behind the movie A Beautiful Mind (competition v. cooperation)
There will be a total of 1,000 points.
Exams (600 points)
There will be 3 exams worth 200 points each. Since economics is a cumulative subject, each exam will be comprehensive up to that point in time. Each exam will be cumulative.
Prior to each exam, I will provide a detail study outline. The outline will include definitions that you need to know, example problems, so on and so forth. You will be able to use your own notes on the exam. Notes can be as many pages as you like, but they must be handwritten. I will provide suggestions on how to prepare for the exam and how to prepare for exams in general.
Homework (100 points)
20 points for newspaper clippings that mentions economic terms, facts and figures for a maximum of 5 total newspaper clippings (for a maximum of 100 points). You can use any newspaper or magazine. We will discuss this during class.
Participation (100 points)
A big part of the classroom experience is sharing ideas and thoughts. It is important to be able to express and share your own individual ideas.
Reaction Paper (two papers – 200 points)
You will be required to read a short article and then write a short reaction paper to the article. Your reaction paper should be only a few paragraphs long. You will be required to take a position of agreement or disagreement and then defend your argument.
Your Grade
I will tally up all your points for all your exams, homework, and class participation divide by 1,000 points to obtain a percentage.
Item Total Points
Exams
Reaction Papers
Homework
Participation
600
200
100
100
I will convert the percentage to a letter grade as follows:
90 – 100% A
80 – 89% B
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70 – 79% C
60 – 69% D
Less than 60% is an F
Dishonesty & Cheating
Don’t Cheat.
Publishing and Speaking
I have published several books including Software Maintenance and Computers published by IEEE Computer Society. I have written and published numerous articles on software development and organizational behavior. I have presented papers at conferences in the USA, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. I am a member of the
Academy of Management and the American Economic Association.
Prior Teaching Experience
I have taught corporate seminars in Saudi Arabia, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain,
Singapore, Australia, and of course the USA.
Education
Bachelor of Science: Economics, Texas A&M University, 1983
MBA, Management, Avila University, 2002
Work
I have my own software consulting company. My clients include MasterCard
International, DirecTV, The Gap, Ministry of Finance of Italy, Sprint, Cingular and several others ( www.SoftwareMetrics.Com/client.htm
)
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