Principles of Microeconomics
Instructor: Jonathan Aaron Cook
Email: jacook@uci.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays 3:30 to 4:30pm in A 241 (and by appointment)
Midterm #1: February 27
Midterm #2: April 9
Final Exam: May 14 (usual class time)
Goal of Course
Students will gain an understanding of issues that are commonly discussed in political election,
including minimum wage and international trade. Students will be able to predict how changes in
costs or demand will affect prices. Students will also learn terms commonly used in publications
like Time and The Economist, for example “inelastic demand,” “signal,” and “moral hazard.”
Aplia and Textbook
Aplia Online – homework package, includes electronic version of N. Gregory Mankiw’s Principles
of Microeconomics.
Grading
Homeworks 20%
Midterms 25% each
Final Exam 30%
How to Succeed
If you want to succeed in this course you must attend every lecture. Reading the book is not a
perfect substitute for attending lectures. You should also spend time doing the Aplia homework
assignments. These weekly homeworks are designed to give you a chance to review the material
so that you don’t get behind.
I also strongly encourage you to attend my office hours. Students who receive a low score on
the first midterm will be required to attend my office hours and work on practice problems.
The most successful students will read the relevant chapters in the textbook before class.
Academic Honor Code
Cheating in any form is completely unacceptable. Students are not permitted to talk during
exams, use cheat sheets, or use cell phones. The minimum punishment for cheating is failing
the assignment and being reported to the university. Cheating in any form will usually result
in the student failing the course.
More Detailed Course Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Define and explain the fundamental economic problem of scarcity and its consequences –
choice, cost, and economizing.
1
2. Use a production possibilities diagram to show and explain the concepts of limits, choice,
cost, efficiency, and economic growth.
3. Construct a supply and demand model and use it to explain how prices are determined in
markets.
4. Employ supply and demand diagrams to evaluate the consequences of legally imposed
prices (ceiling and floor prices).
5. Calculate the elasticity coefficient for supply or demand in a market and interpret the
result.
6. Differentiate the alternative definitions of profit, implicit and explicit costs; and use them
to calculate profit given the appropriate data.
7. Apply the law of diminishing returns to show, calculate, and explain costs in the short
run.
8. Define, explain and evaluate the different market structures.
9. Determine a firm’s profit maximizing (or loss minimizing) quantity and the price given
cost and revenue data, for each of the market types.
10. Critically evaluate the efficiency differences between purely competitive industries and
monopolies.
2
Outline
of Course
(This outline is tentative and may change)
Week
Date
Reading
Assignment
One
One
Two
Two
Three
Three
Four
Four
Five
Five
Six
Six
Seven
Seven
Eight
Eight
Nine
Nine
Ten
Ten
Eleven
Eleven
Twelve
Twelve
Thirteen
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Eighteen
Jan 9
Jan 11
Jan 16
Jan 18
Jan 23
Jan 25
Jan 30
Feb 1
Feb 6
Feb 8
Feb 13
Feb 15
Feb 20
Feb 22
Feb 27
Feb 29
March 5
March 7
March 12
March 14
March 19
March 21
March 26
March 28
April 2
April 4
April 9
April 11
April 16
April 18
April 23
April 25
April 30
May 2
May 7
May 9
Introduction, Chapter 1
Chapters 1, 2
Sign up for Aplia
Aplia homework
No class
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
3
4 (Supply, Demand)
4 (Equilibrium)
5
6
7
8
8
9
Aplia homework
Aplia homework
In-class quiz, Aplia homework
Aplia homework
Aplia homework
Aplia homework, Study
No class
Review
study
Midterm #1
Introduction to “Utility”
Chapter 21 (Preferences, Optimization)
Chapter 13
Aplia homework
No class
No class
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Aplia homework
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Aplia homework
Chapter 17
Review
Aplia homework, Study
Midterm #2
Chapter 10
Aplia homework
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Aplia homework
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Aplia homework
Chapter 20
Chapter 22 (Asymmetric Information)
Aplia homework
Chapter 22 (Asymmetric Information)
Review
Study
Final Exam on May 14
3
How to access your Aplia course
Cook,ECON 1- Prin of Micro 6e, Spring 2012
Instructor: Jonathan Aaron Cook
Start Date: 01/09/2012
Course Key: QCRQ-THYH-RL8S
Registration
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and courses.
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when prompted: QCRQ-THYH-RL8S. Continue to follow the on-screen instructions.
Payment
Online: Purchase access to your course (including the digital textbook) from the CengageBrain website.
Bookstore: Purchase access to Aplia from your bookstore. Check with the bookstore to find out what they
offer for your course.
After paying, you will have the option to purchase a physical book at a discounted price. If you choose to
pay later, you can use Aplia without paying until 11:59 PM on 01/29/2012.