Intermediate Microeconomics
Fall 2000 GMU Syllabus

Economics 306, Section 1, meets 9:30- 10:20am, Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, during Fall 2000, in room Enterprise 175.

Instructor: Robin D. Hanson, Asst. Professor, Economics (rhanson@gmu.edu, http://robinhanson.com)
Office Hours: 10:30-11:30 MWF (after class). Also, I'm usually in at 10b Carow Hall. Call ahead (703-993-2326) if you want to be sure.
Catalog Entry:

306 Intermediate Microeconomics (3:3:0). Prerequisites: ECON 103 and 104, and MATH 108 or 113. Basic factors of price and distribution theory, including analysis of demand, costs of production and supply relationships, and price and output determination under various market structures.
This course has been designated a "writing intensive course." Assignments will therefore be graded on writing quality in addition to content.

Required Text:

Edgar K. Browning, Mark A. Zupan, Microeconomic Theory and Applications, Sixth Edition ISBN 0-471-36442-8, 1999 (There is also a related optional study guide for this text.)
Major Dates: Paper due Friday Nov. 3, revised version due Friday Dec. 8, midterm in class Friday Oct. 20, final is Monday Dec. 18, 7:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Grade Weights: Your final grade will be a weighted average of Class Discussion (5%), Homework (15%), Paper (20%), Midterm Exam (20%), and Final Exam (40%).
Exam Policy: Exams are in class and closed book, but you can use one standard size (8.5"x11") piece of paper with notes. Exam problems will be similar to homework problems, except that on the final one problem will be on some boxed application from the text.
Homework Policy: Homework is due each week on Monday in class. You can discuss homework with others in general terms, but each person should do their own specific work.
Paper: Your paper should be less than 1000 words on some topic of "Fanciful Economics." You might describe how economics would differ in a fantasy world like that of Harry Potter or Bilbo Baggins, or on a space colony, or in a primitive tribe. You might describe how our world would be changed by a Star Trek "transporter," a cheap universal "duplicator", interstellar commerce, or by advanced artificial intelligence. You might describe the economic consequences if the world economy doubled every year, rather than every fifteen years as it does now. (Why did I pick these topics? Because it is hard to look them up; you'll need to think (I hope).)

Schedule
Week Homework Due Chapters Topics Note
28 Aug None 1 Introduction
4 Sep 1.10,1.11a-c 2 Supply and Demand Holiday Monday
11 Sep 2.13,2.17 3,4.4,4.5 Consumer Choice, Market Demand
18 Sep 3.16,3.20,4.25 5 Consumer Choice Applications
25 Sep 5.7,5.10 6,7 Production
2 Oct 6.1,6.20,7.16 8 Competitive Profit Maximization
9 Oct 8.16,8.17 9 Competitive Applications Holiday Monday
16 Oct 9.6,9.9,9.11 10 Monopoly Midterm Friday
23 Oct 10.11,10.17,10.23 11 Price Discrimination
30 Oct 11.10,11.12,11.13 13.4-13.7 Information Paper Due Friday
6 Nov 13.10,13.14 16 Wages, Rent, Interest, Profit
13 Nov 16.8,16.10,16.17 17 Input Applications
20 Nov 17.7,17.10 18 Efficiency Holiday Friday
27 Nov 18.14,18.24 19 Public Goods, Externalities
4 Dec 19.1,19.19 None Fanciful Economics, Review Revised Paper Due Friday
Final is Monday, Dec. 18, 7:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

Links at http://robinhanson.com/EC306-1F00.html