EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY

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1 Course Syllabus Course Title Principles of Economics Course Schedule 1 March 11 June 2011 Instructor s Name Vladimir Hlasny Telephone Address vhlasny@gmail.com Alternate Contact Info Ewha Posco Bldg. Office 401 I am normally online from 10am~10pm daily (Korea Standard Time, UTC+9). If you need to contact me, please send me a message Availability through e-class, and I will respond as soon as possible, usually in the same day. For emergencies, please , or call me at my office number. Course Location/Times Online/Asynchronous Ewha Global Online Web Access to Class Students are required to use Internet Explorer 7 or higher as their primary web browser. Welcome to my online class, Principles of Economics! I like online courses because they are convenient for both students and instructors. If students are mature and self-motivated, or if they are simply better at studying on their own, there is no need to force them to wake up before dawn and commute to school. Online courses fit my lifestyle as well. I conduct most of my work on computer anyway, and I appreciate the flexibility in replying to s at random times during the day, rather than holding fixed office hours. I think that one-on-one communication by is efficient because I can answer each student s question thoroughly or informally, without boring or confusing other students. A little bit about me: I was born in Praha, the Czech Republic, but I left to study in the U.S. during high school. I ended up staying in the U.S. for almost eleven years, finishing my studies, traveling around, and working as an economic consultant. During my studies I spent several semesters visiting at Syllabus Page 1 [Course#]

2 other universities. The exposure to new environment and new people led me to appreciate student exchange. I also worked as a teaching assistant at my university, and because I assisted with online classes, I was able to keep my job even during my stays at other institutions. Eventually I started feeling that I needed a change of country and occupation, and in 2007 I accepted a professorship at Ewha. Here I have taught the offline version of Principles of Economics and other classes for three years. I also teach more advanced Economics courses, mostly in the areas of microeconomics and statistical methods. Perhaps I will see you in one of those classes? My family still lives in Praha, and I still consider Praha my permanent home, but I enjoy my life in Seoul very much and I hope to teach at Ewha for several more years. I hope this and other Ewha Global Online courses will offer you the same benefits that student exchange and online teaching offered me during my studies. I believe that college education is about more than memorization of written text, and I hope that your experience will be broad and rich. Vladimir Course Description: "Economics is on one side a study of wealth; and on the other, and more important side, a part of the study of man... Though its scope is always limited, though its work without the aid of common sense is vain, it enables common sense to go further in difficult problems than would otherwise be possible... The dominant aim of economics is to contribute to a solution of social problems." Alfred Marshall This course introduces economic principles and methods, and uses them to examine current economic events. We will study how markets work, what gets produced and how it is distributed among members of the society. We will study the determination of prices and wages. We will discuss market mechanisms and the role of government when market mechanisms fail. The first two thirds of the course will focus on microeconomics the factors affecting consumers demand, firms supply, interaction among market participants, and market equilibrium. The last third of the course will focus on macroeconomics the factors determining aggregate demand and supply, price level, unemployment, and investment. Course Objectives/Expected Outcomes: By the end of the course students should be able to answer questions such as: - How are prices and output levels determined in markets for goods and services, labor markets, and capital markets? - How do market failures affect the market solution? - Why is there international trade, and what factors determine the trade volume, prices, and gains from trade? - What does the government do right or wrong? Syllabus Page 2 [Course#]

3 - How does the industry structure affect the market solution? - How is economic growth created and sustained over time? - What are the determinants of unemployment and inflation? - What are the effects of government spending, taxation, and budget deficits? - Why is there always some unemployment? Required Readings: Principles of Economics, N. Gregory Mankiw, 4 th Edition, Thomson/South-Western Publishers, 2007, ISBN (Other editions may be used at the student s own risk!) PowerPoint slides summarizing key concepts from each topic will be posted online one week before the topic is covered. Additional required readings newspaper clippings, essays, or video and audio files will also be posted online frequently! It is the student s responsibility to check for them several times each week. All assigned readings may be covered on assignments and examinations. Suggested Readings: Additional interesting readings, videos or web-links will be posted online regularly, denoted as recommended or optional based on their importance and value as entertainment. These materials may be included in weekly assignments, but will not be covered on exams. Course Requirements and Expectations: Participation in Online Courses: A learner will be considered in attendance for a given week of online instruction if he or she submits to me all assignments for that week. Time spent online and viewing of course materials will not themselves be monitored. s and s: There will be weekly reflections or team discussions in which each student will be required to participate. topics or aims of team discussions will be posted online on Friday, and students will have to upload their final individual or team responses by Monday one week later. Participation of each student in a team discussion, as well as team outcome, will be evaluated. Sets: There will be approximately 6 numerical, definitional and applied assignments during the semester. They will test students understanding of reading material from recent weeks. Again, they will be posted online on Friday, and students will have to upload their answers by Monday one week later. Syllabus Page 3 [Course#]

4 Midterm Exam: A 75-minute closed-book exam during the University period will consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Final Exam: A non-comprehensive 75-minute closed-book exam during the University period. Academic Honesty If you are caught copying someone else s work, allowing another student to copy your work, or lying to me about administrative or academic matters, you will receive a zero on the assignment at the least. I encourage cooperation among students, formation of study groups or forums. When you work on an assignment, it is OK to ask me or other students general questions about an economic problem. It is NOT OK to ask what the answer is to a particular question. All assignments that you submit to me must be, in their entirety, your original work. Grading Requirements Points Participation 10% s & s 15% Sets 25% Midterm Exam 25% Final Exam 25% Total 100% Late assignments: Late assignments will be penalized with a 10% point deduction for each day late unless you have made prior arrangements with me. Deadlines will be defined as 11:59 p.m. Korea Standard Time (UTC+9). If you have any difficulty that may interfere with your successful completion of this course, talk to me about it right away, not several weeks later. I will not take into consideration what circumstances you were in before a past exam, or why you did not submit a problem set earlier in the semester. With a timely notice, we can find a mutually agreeable solution to any issues Approximate Grades: Your final grade will be a weighted average of your scores on the above items. A mix of absolute and relative grading will be used in order to accommodate the University policy, including the +/- modifiers. Typically, you could expect: % of Total Points in Class Grade A Syllabus Page 4 [Course#]

5 70-85 B C D 0-30 F Course Schedule Week # Topics To Read* To Do Key Dates 1 Ten Principles of Economics Thinking Like an Economist Ch. 1 Ch. 2 2 Interdependence and the Gains from Trade The Market Forces of Supply and Demand Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Violations of Law of Demand 3 Elasticity and Its Applications Ch. 5 Set 1 4 Supply, Demand, and Government Policies Consumers, Producers, and the Efficiency of Markets Ch. 6 Ch. 7 Regulation Set 1 due 5 Application: The Costs of Taxation Application: International Trade Ch. 8 Ch. 9 6 Externalities Public Goods and Common Resources Ch. 10 Tradable Pollution Permits Ch. 11 Set 2 Syllabus Page 5 [Course#]

6 Week # Topics To Read* To Do Key Dates 7 The Cost of Production Firms in Competitive Markets Ch. 13 Ch. 14 Set 3 Set 2 due 8 Monopoly 9 Oligopoly Monopolistic Competition Ch. 15 Price Discrimination Ch. 16 Types of Competition Ch. 17 Advertizing Prepare for the Midterm! Set 4 Set 3 due Midterm Exam 10 The Markets for the Factors of Production Measuring a Nation s Income Ch. 18 Ch. 23 Set 4 due 11 Measuring the Cost of Living Ch Production and Growth Saving, Investment and the Financial System Ch. 25 Production Function Ch. 26 Set 5 13 Unemployment Ch. 28 Unions and Monopsony Set 5 due 14 The Monetary System Money Growth and Inflation Ch. 29 Ch. 30 Set 6 Syllabus Page 6 [Course#]

7 Week # Topics To Read* To Do Key Dates 15 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply Ch. 33 Prepare for the Final! Set 6 due Final Exam * Summary PowerPoint slides, and additional required, recommended and optional readings will be posted online throughout the semester. It is the student s responsibility to check for them several times each week. Syllabus Page 7 [Course#]

8 Weekly Guidelines: Week One Goal: To Read: To Do: To Reflect: Deliverables: Syllabus Page 8 [Course#]

9 Weekly Guidelines: Week Two Goal: To Read: To Do: To Reflect: Deliverables: Syllabus Page 9 [Course#]