Intermediate Microeconomics
Spring 2005 GMU Syllabus
Economics 306, Section 5, meets 10:30-11:45am, Tuesday and Thursday, in room Robinson A 250, and Section 6, meets 12:00-1:15pm, TuTh, in room Robinson A 105
Instructor: Robin D. Hanson, Asst. Professor, Economics (rhanson@gmu.edu, http://robinhanson.com)
Office Hours: 1:30-3:00 MW (after class). Also, I'm usually in at 10A 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.
Reccomended Texts: (None are required.)
Edgar K. Browning, Mark A. Zupan, Microeconomics: Theory & Applications, 8th Edition, Wiley, ISBN: 0-471-67871-6, 2004 (There should be a related optional study guide for this text.) Sample price $64.
David D. Friedman, Hidden Order, The Economics of Everyday Life, Harper Collins, ISBN: 0-887-30885-6, 1997. Sample price $15.
Major Dates: Midterm exam in class March 24. Paper due May 5.
For class that meets at 10:30am, final is Thursday May 12, 10:30 a.m.
- 1:15 p.m. For class that meets at noon, final is Tuesday May 17,
10:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Grade Weights: Your final grade will be a weighted average of Class Discussion (5%), Homework (15%), Paper (20%), and two exams (30% each).
Exams: The Final exam covers the entire course. All exams are in
class and closed book, but you can use one standard size (8.5"x11")
piece of paper with notes. Exam problems are similar to homework
problems.
Homework Policy: Homework for each week is due the following Tuesday. You can turn in a paper copy during class or send an email to colleen.haight@gmail.com.
(Colleen is the class homework grader.) Homework will be returned on
Thursday and reviewed then. Homework turned in on Wednesday or before
10:30am Thursday recieves 3/4 credit. Later homework gets no credit.
You can discuss homework with others in general terms, but each person
should do their own specific work. Before you turn homework in, I will
also only discuss it with you in general terms. (The schedule below
links to the homework for each week.)
Fanciful Economics Paper: Make whatever assumptions you want
about the basic features of some alternative world, but then use the
economics concepts from this class to write about the economics of that
world. You might describe the economics of Santa Claus or the Easter
Bunny, how economics would differ on a space colony, or in a fantasy
world like that of Harry Potter or Bilbo Baggins. You might describe
how our world would be changed by a Star Trek "transporter," a cheap
universal "duplicator", interstellar commerce, by intelligent robots,
or by the world economy doubling in size every year. (Why did I pick
these topics? Because it is hard to look them up; you'll need to think,
I hope.) The following topics have been overdone and are now banned:
What if we had no money or a new money system, and what if people could
just fly.
Schedule
| Week | Micro Ch. | H.O. Ch. | Topics | Homework, Notes |
| Jan 25,27 | 1,2 | 1,2,4,5 | Supply & Demand | HW1 |
| Feb 1,3 | | | | No classes this week |
| Feb 8,10 | 2 | 6,7 | Regulation of Supply & Demand | HW2 |
| Feb 15,17 | | 14,15,20 | Welfare | HW3 |
| Feb 22,24 | 4 | 17 | Welfare in Supply & Demand | HW4 |
| Mar 1,3 | 20 | 18 | Externalities & Public Goods | HW5 |
| Mar 8,10 | | | Applications | No class Thursday |
| Mar 15,17 | | | Spring Break | |
| Mar 22,24 | | | Review, Midterm Exam | |
| Mar 29,31 | 16 | 12,13 | Time & Uncertainty | HW6 |
| Apr 5,7 | 7,8,9 | 1,9 | Production | HW7 |
| Apr 12,14 | 11,12 | 10 | Monopoly | HW8 |
| Apr 19,21 | 14 | 11 | Game Theory and Signaling | HW9 |
| Apr 26,28 | 3,5,6 | 3 | Indifference Curves | HW10 |
| May 3,5 | | 21 | Applications, Review | |
| May 12,17 | | | Final Exams (on all material) | |
