Assignments for PARKES' Principles of Microeconomics class at UNI
Week XVI
May 3, 2005 Tuesday at 10:00 to 11:50 am (the Section 2, 11 am MWF class)
***
Wednesday evening class FINAL EXAM at 5 pm
on Wednesday May 4, 2005.
Week XV
April 25, 2005: Factor Markets Continued, Problem 16.6 is due at the beginning of class.
Continue factor demand and supply discussion.
Value of the Marginal Product, Equilibrium wage and wage taking.
April 27, 2005: An individual's supply curve
Backward bending supply curve for labor
April 29, 2005: REVIEW FOR THE FINAL!
Review for the final exam.
Week XIV
April 18, 2005: Monopolistic Competitor continued
Short-run profit for a monopolistic competitor.
Short-run loss for a monopolistic competitor.
Do Exercises 15.1 and 15.2 in the Checkpoints within the chapter.
April 20, 2005: Oligopoly - Advertising Homework Due (10 points)
The Prisoner's Dilemma
A Nash
Equilibrium
April 22, 2005: Factor Markets
Factor (Input) demand and supply discussion.
Value of the Marginal Product, Equilibrium wage and wage taking.
Week XIII
April 11, 2005: Preview for the Test
Finish any material not covered on Monopolies
April 13, 2005: Test III - Chapters 12 - 14
April 15, 2005: Review the test - Discuss the Mutual Fund Prospectus (5 pts)
A basic introduction to Monopolistic Competition
Long-run for a Monopolistic Competitor
Assignment Due Wednesday, April 20: An opinion piece on advertising for 5 points. Does advertising manipulate people's tastes or provide information to make better choices? Support your view!! - which must be at least 2 more sentences (total of at least four sentences). For 5 more points - find and copy (or submit the original) of an ad that manipulates and an ad that only informs readers choices in purchasing a product.
Week XII
April 4, 2005: Monopoly
Introduction to Monopoly - No close substitutes and barriers to entry
Do Exercise 14.1 in the Checkpoints within the chapter.
Stocks, Bonds & Mutual Funds continued - Personal Saving & IC
April 6, 2005: Efficiency - Monopoly and Competition compared
Short-run profit for a monopolist.
Short-run loss for a monopolist.
Do Exercise 14.2 in the Checkpoints within the chapter.
Dead weight loss, consumer surplus and producer surplus revisited for Monopolies.
Rent seeking behavior
Stocks Assignment DUE - Ticker Profile
April 8, 2005: NO Class Find a copy of a Mutual Fund Prospectus for Friday, April 15, 2005
Week XI
March 28, 2005: Short run supply curve.
Total, average and marginal revenue and economic profit.
Short-run profit for a perfectly competitive firm.
Short-run loss for a perfectly competitive firm.
Do Exercises 13.1 and 13.2 in the Checkpoints within the chapter.
Rent, food, car payments & insurance - to buy a house or not to buy?!? Personal Saving & IC
March 30, 2005: Long-run in a perfectly competitive market - Increasing Cost Industry Case
Perfect Competition in the long-run: Free entry and exit, the assumptions and conclusions.
For the Web page assignment due the Wednesday, April 4 go to CBS Marketwatch.com, put in the "ticker" symbol for your company, click enter and then go to the profile page - make sure that the description of the company fully prints or a point will be deducted.
Savings?!? How much and where to put it!!! PSIC
April 1, 2005: NO April FOOLS! We do have class! Long-run in a perfectly competitive market
Decreasing and Constant Cost Industries
Stocks, Bonds & Mutual Funds - Personal Saving & IC
Week X
March 21, 2005: Gas prices around the world!
Chapter 12: Introduction: Cost curves: short-run Marginal, Average Variable, Average Fixed and Average Total Cost curves
The relationship between cost curves and product curves.
Problems 7 and 8 at the end of Chapter 12.
Begin analysis of Personal Saving, Investment and Consumption
March 23, 2005: Oil Reserves
The relationship between cost curves and product curves.
Problems 7 and 8 at the end of Chapter 12 continued.
Taxing Concerns - Personal Saving, Investment and Consumption
March 25, 2005:
Long run cost curves, economies and diseconomies of scale, constant returns to scale.
Industry structure: 4 types, Perfect Competition defined.
Long-Run Equilibrium for a Perfectly Competitive Firm
Taxes and Personal Saving, Investment and Consumption
March 14 - 18, 2005 SPRING BREAK - ENJOY!
Week IX
March 7, 2005: Review for Test 2
Chapter 10: Finish Chapter 10.
Chapter 12: Productivity - total, marginal and average
Review for Test II.
March 9, 2005: TEST II - Chapters 7 through 11
March 11, 2005: Review the test and begin the Firm's Production
Review the test - Quiz on the firms productivity
Russia and Korea send dollar plummeting Dollar Has Weekly Decline
Week VIII
February 28, 2005: Exercise 8.1 DUE, 5 pts.
Chapter 8: tax incidence and elasticity continued, social security and some equity (fairness) issues.
Review Exercise 11.1 - another example of deriving the demand curve from indifference curves.
Review Exercise 8.1 - the implications from an excise (or sales) tax.
March 2, 2005:
Chapter 9: Externalities: production versus consumption externalities - positive and negative.
Coase Theorem, social costs versus private costs, property rights and government intervention.
Knowledge - private versus social benefits and government intervention.
March 4, 2005: END OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEMESTER!
Chapter 10: Four types of goods: Private goods, Public goods, Common Resources, and Natural Monopolies
Analysis of goods and resources comes from the extent to which they are excludable and rival.
Free rider problem, provision of public goods, and the tragedy of the commons (p. 244) will be discussed.
Week VII
February 21, 2005:
The appendix to Chapter 11, Indifference Curves, Marginal Rate of Substitution, diminishing MRS
Deriving the demand curve for water for Tina
Example from previous test, the consumer's equilibrium with peanuts and popcorn, deriving the demand curve for popcorn.
February 23, 2005: PAPER ASSIGNMENT IS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
Assignment for next class: Do problems 3 and 4 in the appendix to Ch. 11: Derive Marc's demand for CDs from his budget constraint and indifference curves.
CHALLENGE THE ASSUMPTIONS: Bring an example of where less is preferred to more - extra credit
Finish Chapter 7 (production quotas), OPEC as an example.
February 25, 2005:
Chapter 8: tax incidence and elasticity (potential future quiz), social security and some equity (fairness) issues.
Do Exercise 8.1 for next class, 5 pts.
Week VI
February 14, 2005: Motley Fool printouts are due today!
Chapter 11: Finish marginal utility theory including deriving Tina's demand curve for water and consumer equilibrium.
Exercises 1 and 2 on page 276 are highly recommended as well as Exercises 3-7 on page 276.
Appendix to Chapter 11: Axioms of Consumer Theory.
February 16, 2005: One page "list" from Assignment III is due today!
Finish consumer theory - quiz on Marginal Utility and Consumer Equilibrium.
February 18, 2005:
Appendix to Chapter 11: An Indifference curve approach.
Week V
February 7, 2005: Quiz after the test, as always! Miller redux!
Chapter 7: Complete our investigation of rent ceilings and minimum wage by looking at consumer and producer surplus.
Production quota discussion as well.
February 9, 2005: Exercise problem 7.2 is due for 5 points. Assignment III handed out - due Wednesday, February 16th AND February 23rd for 30 points.
Begin consumer theory - self-interest, budgeting, buying habits and preferences. How did all of the classes answer the questions? How do you see yourself vis-a-vis the classes? Does that matter (keeping up with the Jones')? The Budget Calculator at the Motley Fool can be found here. We will begin discussion of Chapter 11 on Consumer Choice and Demand.
The paper should be in 12 point Times New Roman font with 1" borders on each side and double spaced.
February 11, 2005:
Chapter 11 continued: Marginal utility theory and consumer equilibrium.
Exercises 1 and 2 on page 276 are highly recommended.
Week IV
January 31, 2005: Review Day
Chapter 6: An introduction to consumer and producer surplus as well as the efficiency/inefficiency of markets. You will also note how marginal benefits, demand and consumer surplus are related and similarly, marginal cost, supply and producer surplus. Numerous definitions are included in the chapter.
Chapter 7: Complete our investigation of price ceilings and floors by looking at consumer and producer surplus.
February 2, 2005: GROUND HOG DAY! Evening section - Test I: Chapters 1, 2, 4-7
REVIEW for the TEST - MWF!
After the test for the Wednesday night section: Finish Chapter 7, price ceilings and floors including consumer and producer surplus impacts. Chapter 8: Intro to tax incidence including the consumer and producer surplus impacts.
February 4, 2005: MWF @ 11am Section - Test I: Chapters 1, 2, 4-7
Week III
January 24, 2005: Elasticity continued and Problem Set II handed out, due January 28
Total revenue's relationship to price elasticity of demand as well as cross price elasticity and income elasticity will be covered allowing you to complete the problem set.
January 26, 2005: (Wed night class) Problem Set II is due
Computations, elasticity along a linear demand curve and examples of elasticities complete the chapter.
January 28, 2005: MWF: Problem Set II is due
Elasticity discussion continued.
Week II
January 17, 2005: MLK DAY - No Class, Celebrate Peace
January 19, 2005: (Wed class) Problem Set I will be worked on in class and P. Set II handed out
Finish Chapter 4 - Supply determinants, equilibrium, surplus and shortages in markets.
Chapter 7: Government influences in the market on prices and quantities.
January 21, 2005: MWF: Pr I is due
Chapter 5: Price elasticity of demand, midpoint formula and discussion of inelastic versus elastic demand curves.
The four influences on price elasticity of demand and why to compute elasticity will be covered.
Week I
January 10, 2005: FIRST DAY - Syllabus and Introduction
January 14, 2005: Wed: Problem Set I will be handed out, to be worked on in class on January 19
Chapter 1, Introduction
January 16, 2005: MWF: Problem Set I will be handed out, due January 21
Continuation of our review: Ch. 4 - Supply and Demand determinants
P-P-P-PINT and P-P-PEST mnemonic.
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Last Update: April 29, 2005
By Andrew L. H. Parkes, Ph. D.