What This Course is About: How economists think about the way individuals and firms make decisions (and what may be wrong with the ways economists think about this). If you pay attention you will learn some things that are useful for making your own way in the world, and for trying to make the world a better place. I generally emphasize the latter, so if you find idealism distasteful you should perhaps sign up for a different lecture.

Economics as a discipline emphasizes that individuals generally pursue their own self interest, with beneficial results for society as a whole. But our larger culture is ambivalent–and often skeptical–of this claim. In lectures, we will use clips from music (popular and not-so-popular) and films to explore this issue. SUGGESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM YOU ARE WELCOME.

During the last year a number of accounting scandals have reduced public confidence in corporate management. We will address this theme, explaining the "bad-boy" tactics deployed by companies like Enron, Dynegy, and Worldcom. However, we will also use the history of the relatively well-behaved Coca-Cola company to illustrate some basic economic principles. Again, this is a theme that will be covered in lectures, not in text, so it’s another reason to COME TO CLASS.

Course Structure: You must be signed up for a discussion section as well as the lecture session of this course. Homework will be handed in at discussion section, and Teaching Assistants (TAs) will be grading your exams. Please learn your TA’s name and office hours.

Course Website: www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~folbre/econ103    

Here you will find an on-line version of the syllabus, copies of old exams, answers to homework, frequently asked questions, supplementary readings, occasional lecture notes, announcements such as room numbers for evening exams, etc. In short, it is a crucial part of the course, and you should check it out right away. If you need help with web access please ask your TA for help.

You can find out more about your instructor at www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~folbre/folbre     

Text: Required: Available at the Textbook Annex, and soon-to-be on reserve at the W.E.B. DuBois library, Robert Frank and Ben Bernanke, Principles of Microeconomics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001). You should buy a copy.

Recommended: Nancy Folbre, The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values (New York: The New Press, 2001). You can get by without a copy. I don’t actually assign any readings from it, but many of my lectures will draw from it.

Evaluation: There will be one midterm in this course, scheduled during class on March 12, right before spring break. Vacation plans, however interesting or exotic, do not constitute legitimate grounds for missing this exam. Your grade on the midterm will count 25%. There will also be a cumulative final exam which will count as 35% of your grade. Eight homework assignments, to be handed in to your TA, will account for 40%. Actually, there are nine assignments, so you can either skip one or do all nine to get some extra credit.

These assignments will not be graded in detail. Rather, your teaching assistant will give you points based on your effort and participation. Answer keys will be made available so you can check the details yourself. These homework assignments are lengthy, and you should work on them on a daily basis rather than trying to complete them the night before. Attendance at discussion sections will substantially improve your efficiency in this process.

I view homework as a training regimen that is analogous to lifting weights. It’s not a lot of fun, but it will make you stronger. Your reward will come on the exams. If you have done the homework, you should feel comfortable with the exams and perform well on them.

Note: you may substitute a designated discussion group presentation (described below and mentioned in the syllabus) for ONE of these homework assignments. These presentations are generally more interesting, but require more initiative and planning than homework. Your teaching assistant will need to schedule them, so please sign up in advance.

Class Attendance: Attendance in both lecture and discussion section is important. About fifteen minutes of each lecture is devoted to review of basic concepts, fifteen minutes to graphs or problems, and fifteen minutes discussing material that is not covered in the book (often with a case study or current events emphasis). Multimedia materials such as video clips or slide shows are presented frequently; you are responsible for this material on exams. You usually have some choice, so you are not killed if you miss a class. But you do pay a cost.

Teaching Assistants: Your teaching assistant will run your weekly discussion section, grade your exams, and evaluate your participation and attendance. Learn your TA’s name and how to get in touch with him or her. Information about how to contact your TA will be posted on the course website as soon as it is available.

Note: Sometimes the scheduling of discussion sections calls for some rearrangement of the due dates. Sections can discuss this with the teaching assistant, who has final authority over when homework assignments are due. If you have a conflict with the final exam date, contact the instructor well in advance.