Course
Description

Basic theory and economic analysis of prices, markets, production, wages, interest, rent, and profits. Analysis of how the free enterprise system determines what, how, and for whom to produce.

Methods of Course Instruction

All course content is presented on the World Wide Web; e-mail within the Blackboard and Aplia Web sites is used for the submission of all assignments. Multiple choice questions are graded instantaneously on the Blackboard web site. You will receive feedback on which questions you got "right" and "wrong" but not the right answers to the questions you got wrong. You are expected to reread the assigned chapter(s) and online notes pertaining to the subject matter for these questions so you can learn what you didn't know when answering these questions. The instructor's evaluation and comments on essay questions are also made on the Blackboard web site. Aplia assignments are graded instantaneously within Aplia. The grades for Aplia are exported to Blackboard.

Microeconomics analyses the decision making of economic units such as households or firms. It shows how consumers, producers, resource owners, and other units in society would behave if they were maximizing their own benefit from their activities. Microeconomics also aggregates the activity of individuals into a market demand or supply category, and then predicts how their interaction would produce an equilibrium price and quantity exchanged under different types of market circumstances. By doing this, we learn to predict equilibrium price and quantity in the market and how the free enterprise system uses prices to determine what, how, and for whom to produce and how the system itself adapts to change.

This course is divided into three parts. The first part introduces some general principles of economics, discusses models, and sets the foundation for further analysis by investigating how prices are established through supply and demand. Part 2 begins with a more in-depth view of supply and demand and examines the price-quantity relationship for the firm and its profitability under various market structures. Part 3 examines the resource rather than the product markets, continues the price-quantity analysis in the firm's acquisition of factors of production and concludes with a brief presentation of the economic interrelationships among nations.

Materials

Required

McConnell, Campbell R & Brue, Stanley L. Macroeconomics, 17th edition. New York; McGraw-Hill Book Company, 2008. ISBN: 0073273082 (paperback)

OR

McConnell, Campbell R & Brue, Stanley L. Economics: Principles, Problems and Policies, 17th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 2008. ISBN: 139780073126630 (hardcover)

Additional or Optional Materials
Some multiple choice and essay questions from the following manual are used in this course:

Walstad, William B and Bingham, Robert C. Study Guide to Accompany Microeconomics, 17th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 2008. ISBN: 139780073273129 (paperback)

Special Offer from the Wall Street Journal (Optional) With their print and online subscription, students may bring their ideas to class so everyone will be on the same page. The online edition, WSJ.com, allows access to archives, alerts, newsletters, and more for research and follow up. If you subscribe, you will receive the print and the online Journal for 10 Weeks. Go to WJS.com to subscribe. NOTE: The hardcopy books for this course are in stock at College Bookstore, 740.594.3505. You can get an ebook text at: http://textbooks.uso.edu, where a 10% discount is available for Ohio Students.

Note: The books for the course are in stock at College Bookstore, (740) 594-3505. Click here for online ordering.

Exams
Requirements

Three (3) exams (2 midterms and a final exam)- Proctoring required

How are exams to be taken:
Traditionally. 

Dates of exams:
The first two exams (midterms) are to be taken on the weekend of the 3rd and 6th weeks, respectively. The final is to be taken during the 10th week.