Econpmics - Principles of Microeconomics Lecture Notes

Principles of Microeconomics General Information Course Description This is an introductory course to microeconomic theory, covering its core concepts and tools such as supply and demand, elasticity, consumer and producer surplus, and so on. We will also discuss the application of these concepts to consumer and firm behaviour, and explore problems like monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly from microeconomic perspective. We will first take a brief look at the emergence of the current socio-economic system and understand its distinctive properties such as the guiding role of profits, division of labor and specialization, productivity increase and accumulation. Then, the method and vocabulary of microeconomic analysis will be gradually introduced from a pluralistic perspective, demonstrating to the students the fact that there are substantially different ways of approaching the same question. In every possible occasion, we will apply the emerging conceptual knowledge to real world examples in a critical manner so that students develop the skill of interpreting the world around them. By the end of the semester, students will not only be familiarized with core microeconomic concepts, but at the same time relate these analytical tools to the complex of social relations and systemic tendencies, upon which everyday economic interactions and problems arise. Learning Goals By the end of the semester, students will: • have a solid foundation for intermediate classes in economics • be equipped with basic microeconomic theories and concepts such as supply and demand, scarcity, theories of production and consumer behavior, and so forth • be able to understand current economic developments and interpret ongoing policy discussions • put the capitalist economy in historical perspective • be in a position to critically reflect on mainstream economic theory from both theoretical and methodological viewpoints. Course organization, requirements, and grading Grade Breakdown: The course grade will be an average of the following components with the corresponding weighs: Participation 10% Assignments 15% Quizzes 15% Midterm exam 30% Final exam 30% The midterm grade will be a weighted average of participation (10%), assignments (20%), the first two quizzes (20%), and the midterm exam (50%). The mapping between point and letter grades are as follows: 2 Grading scale A 95 - 100 A- 90 - 94.9 B+ 85 - 89.9 B 80 - 84.9 B- 75 - 79.9 C+ 70 - 74.9 C 65 - 69.9 C- 60 - 64.9 D+ 55 - 59.9 D 50 - 54.9 F Below 50 Attendance: If you plan to miss any classes for religious observance this semester, please let me know their dates by the end of the first week of the term. You will not be penalized for such absences, but I may require you to submit any work due for these classes in advance. In accordance with program policy: Please furnish me with a written explanation if you miss two consecutive classes. If you miss more than three classes, your class participation grade will fall - you will lose 10 percent per each absence over three. Missed classes cannot be made up for by extra assignments. Be aware that I will contact the Advising Office to make further inquiries should you miss four consecutive classes. You cannot pass the course if you miss six consecutive classes or more for any reason. Participation: Students are expected to be well prepared in order to understand the lectures, and more importantly, participate in discussions. Lectures will be interactive where students will constantly be encouraged to raise and answer questions, and actively engage with class content. It is strongly recommended that students take notes (computers and electronic devices are allowed). Our class discussions will go beyond the textbook from a critical perspective. Hence, attendance and taking notes is crucial. Each class session this semester will involve some combination of in-person and/or remote activities. Your Class Participation grade, which is worth 10% of your final grade, will be determined by both of the following metrics: 1) Timely completion of engagement criteria. For each class session, I will have engagement criteria that I expect you to fulfill by a specified deadline in order to be marked Present for attending that particular class session. 3 For live meetings, this implies joining the synchronous class meeting on Zoom. For asynchronous lectures, it means submitting answers to short questions at the beginning of the next live meeting, or submitting a short reflection on a recorded lecture, when demanded. For in-person meetings, physical presence is the criteria. Remote students will have to submit assignments during the weeks of in-person meetings. Failure to timely complete the engagement criteria would result in your being marked Absent for that class. (Please see Absence Policy below to see how absences will impact your grade.) I will let you know ahead of time what the engagement criteria are for each class session. 2) Quality of engagement criteria. In addition to recording whether or not you have completed the engagement criteria for a class by the specified deadline, I will also be assessing the quality of your performance on the engagement criteria. A student who completes all engagement criteria on time will still do poorly on the Class Participation component of the grade if, for instance, they are present at scheduled Zooms and in-person class meetings but never speak, get very few questions correct on submitted quizzes, and submit reflections/discussion posts that demonstrate limited familiarity with the reading. Assignments: The class will be divided into groups of 4-5 students by the end of the first week of the semester. Students will stick with these groups until the end, and work on assignments in groups. In weeks of in-person meetings, these groups will be asked to present a specific aspect of their assignment and lead the discussion in class. Remote students are exempt from this requirement, but they might have to submit longer written responses. Each assignment will clarify the expectations and arrangements related to it. There will be five assignments throughout the semester. Responses are to be submitted electronically in PDF format, hard copies are not accepted. Assignments will be very helpful in terms of getting prepared for the exams. Assignments and exams will comprise short questions checking your knowledge as well as open-ended questions and short essays. For every day the assignment is late after the deadline, 25 percent will be deducted from your assignment score. Quizzes: There will be four quizzes, consisting of multiple-choice questions. The quiz dates are: 2/18, 3/3, 4/5, 4/21. The dates are marked in the tentative course outline to be found below. The quizzes will be online and asychronous. They will become available on Classes at the announced dates, and students will be asked to submit their responses (via Classes) within 24 hours. Exams: Both exams will comprise shorter and longer open-ended questions, and a small number of 4 close-ended questions (true/false). There can possibly be few multiple-choice questions, and one or two short essay questions where you have to interpret a given case, policy question, or evaluate a theoretical approach. One of the two exams might be a take-home, while the other one will be published on Classes on the announced day, and students will submit their responses (via Classes) within a given period of time. A make-up exam will only be provided under extraordinary circumstances (of illness, and so forth). Written justification in case of absence on the exam date is required. If an emergency or a religious holiday prevents you from attending class the day of the exam, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Be aware that appointments such as a doctor’s appointment, a dentist’s appointment, a blood test, an XR test, etc. are not considered emergencies for those appointments can be rescheduled. Tentative Outline Note that this is a tentative outline, and it might be subject to changes depending on our progress. Beware that we will not discuss all aspects of the assigned readings in detail in class. What we focus in class gives you a hint about the more important and relevant aspects. Yet, students are responsible for reading all assigned sections, as well as additional readings when assigned. RS stands for remote students. C1 and C2 mean cohort one and two, respectively, and include only in-person students. Date 2/1/21 Readings 2/3/21 Ch. 2.1 - 2.5 Ch. 1.3 - 1.7 2/8/21 Ch. 2.6 - 2.11 Ch. 3.1 - 3.6 Topics Introduction, resources & requirements, syllabus Live Zoom meeting for all students (C1, C2, RS) Methodological discussion Capitalism in historical perspective Live Zoom meeting for all students (C1, C2, RS) Capitalism in historical perspective Opportunity costs, production function, and the feasible set C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom 5 2/10/21 2/17/21 2/18/21 2/22/21 2/24/21 3/1/21 3/3/21 3/8/21 Ch. 2.6 - 2.11 Ch. 3.1 - 3.6 Ch. 3.7 - 3.11 Ch. 18.4 - 18.7 First Quiz Ch. 18.4 - 18.7 Ch. 4.1 - 4.5 Ch. 4.6 - 4.13 Ch. 5.1 - 5.6 Ch. 5.7 - 5.13 Second Quiz Ch. 6.1 - 6.7 Capitalism in historical perspective Opportunity costs, production function, and the feasible set C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Income and substitution effects, understanding working hours C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Specialization, trade, and its winners and losers C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Specialization and trade, continued Social interactions, foundations of game theory, behavioral assumptions and the homo economicus C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Social preferences, social norms, rules of the game C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Power and institutions, the Pareto criterion, technically feasible allocations, allocations imposed by force C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Economically feasible allocations, politics, power and the surplus, C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom The firm, its owners and workers, and the labor discipline model C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom 6 3/10/21 Ch. 6.8 - 6.11 Co-ops, the employment contract as a principal-agent problem 3/15/21 Review Session C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Midterm review 3/17/21 3/22/21 Midterm Ch.7.1 - 7.5 Live Zoom meeting for all students (C1, C2, RS) Midterm exam Economies of scale, production costs, and profits 3/24/21 3/29/21 3/31/21 4/5/21 4/7/21 4/12/21 Ch. 7.5 - 7.8 C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Profit maximization, gains from trade, and price elasticity of demand Ch. 7.9 - 7.12 C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Competition and market power Ch. 8.1 - 8.5 C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Supply & demand, competitive equilibrium Ch. 8.7 - 8.10 Third Quiz Ch. 12.1 - 12.3 Ch. 12.4 - 12.6 C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Perfect competition and its critique C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Externalities and policy options C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Externalities and further policy options Public goodsand other sources of market failure C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom 7 4/14/21 4/21/21 Ch. 12.7 - 12.10 Other sources of market failure; the limits of markets C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Students watch the film The Corporation 5/10/21 No meeting Fourth Quiz Film discussion Live Zoom meeting for all students (C1, C2, RS) Readings will be Ecological breakdown and capitalism assigned Live Zoom meeting for all students (C1, C2, RS) Readings will be Ecological breakdown and capitalism assigned C1 meets in person for lecture C2 and RS join via Zoom Readings will be Ecological breakdown and capitalism assigned C2 meets in person for lecture C1 and RS join via Zoom Review session Final exam review TBA Final 4/26/21 4/28/21 5/3/21 5/5/21 Live Zoom meeting for all students (C1, C2, RS) Final exam: Topics covered since the midterm Important Notes Academic integrity: Plagiarism is the word-for-word reproduction of another writers work or ideas; paraphrasing without proper attribution also constitutes plagiarism. Neither will be tolerated in this class. Penalties for plagiarism range from a failing grade for a paper or a course to dismissal from the University. • Remote learning on online platforms includes a commitment NOT to: 1) record video or audio, 2) take screenshots, or 3) quote texts or chats from an online course without explicit consent from the instructor and fellow students. It forbids capturing, reposting, sharing, or distributing in any form other participants’ conversations, opinions, or course materials (including presentations, quizzes, and exams). 8 • Any violation of or attempt to circumvent a course, program, or university academic policy is considered a breach of academic integrity. Examples include, but are not limited to, cheating on an examination; attempting to gain an unfair advantage over other students on graded work; or facilitating any of these acts on the part of other students. • In addition, course materials such as syllabi, assignments, and test questions belong to the instructor and may not be reproduced or shared in any fashion without the instructors explicit written permission; failure to do so without written permission constitutes a punishable breach of academic integrity. The penalty for plagiarism and other violations of academic integrity in this class is failure in the assignment at stake. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Bias Response Line: The Bias Response Line provides a mechanism through which members of our community may share experiences and concerns regarding instances of bias, discrimination, or harassing behavior that occur within our community. The BRL is located in the Office of Equal Opportunity and will be monitored by experienced administrators. NYU students, faculty, administrators, and staff may report incidents to the BRL by calling 212-998-2277 or emailing bias.response@nyu.edu. Wellness Exchange: The Wellness Exchange is the University’s extensive health and mental health resources designed to address your needs. You can call a private hotline 212-443-9999, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which will put you in touch with a professional who can help to address day-to-day challenges as well as other health-related concerns. These might include: medical issues, academic stress, depression, sexual assault, anxiety, alcohol and other drug dependence, sexually transmitted infections, eating disorders... Virtual appointments and virtual drop-ins are both available. Student Accessibility: Students who believe that they may need accessibility accommodations in this class 9