BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Department of Economics (Fall 2013)

CAS EC101 AA Introductory Microeconomic Analysis
Office: Rm. 418 Dept. of Econ., 270 Bay State Road
Office Hours: MWF 12:15-1:45

Professor Todd Idson

Email: tidson@bu.edu
Phone: 617-353-2742

Course Description: Economics is the study of how society deals with the problem of allocating
scarce resources across competing uses. Every economic system must answer a few central
questions, e.g. what goods to produce, how much of each good to produce, in what way should
they be produced, and who gets the goods. Should we solve these problems through some form
of centralized planning or might the welfare of the population be better served by allowing
consumers and producers to interact in markets as a way to determine the allocation of resources
and distribution of income, and if the latter what role does government have to play? In this
course you will learn the basic microeconomics principles that economists use to address these
questions. We will focus on how individual decision makers in the economy, i.e. consumers,
households, firms, and government, make choices and the consequences of these decisions for
social welfare. Throughout the course the microeconomic principles presented will be applied to
a wide range of real-world policy questions.
Before continuing with this course you must be duly warned that my goal is to train you to think
like an economist. While the clarity of your thought processes will be greatly enhanced, you do
run the risk of greatly annoying your friends and family, and quite possibly faculty from other
disciplines (I speak from extensive personal experience).
Course Web Site: All course documents and announcements will be posted on the course site, on
learn.bu.edu.
Text: Principles of Microeconomics, Gregory Mankiw, Thomson South-Western, 7th edition. I
have also placed a few copies on two-hour reserve at Mulgar library, in addition to a Study Guide
for the text.
Office Hours and Appointments: If you have a course or work conflict with the scheduled time
for my office hours please do not hesitate to contact me and well find another time to meet
(email is the best way to make this request so that I can check my schedule).
Discussion Sections: These weekly sessions are an integral part of the course. They are run by a
teaching fellow, and advanced graduate students in the economics Ph.D. program at BU. During
these meeting your TF will go over the assigned problem sets and possibly also go through select
exam questions. Discussion sections will start the FIRST week of classes and will cover the
material in the appendix to chapter 2 in Mankiw, so please read this material before your session.
Your first problem set will be due the following week. Contact information for the TFs will be
posted in the document TF Information under Course Documents. If you need to change your
discussion section, please contact Mr. Daryl Graves (degraves@bu.edu) in the economics
department and he will attempt to assist you. Please note that we need to balance the size of the

sections, so that changes will only be made if there is a course conflict or a documented work
conflict, and if space is available.
Principles Center: Starting three years ago the economics department implemented a new way to
provide Teaching Fellow assistance to students in the EC101/2 Principles sequence. We
established a Principles Center located in the basement of the economics department (where
most of the TFs have their offices) in room B17, 264 Bay State Road. The idea behind the center
is to provide a place where EC101/2 students can go to pretty much anytime during the day M-F
to get help with introductory economics. The staffing schedule is posted under Course
Documents and outside of the Center. The Principles Center will be staffed with no more than 2
TFs using the room at any time. The room has a large whiteboard, a large central table, a couch
and a number of very uncomfortable looking chairs (to help you stay awake). I advise you that it
is best to see the TF running your discussion section, or in the alternative another TF for our
lecture. Please note that if you do stop in to see a TF who does not teach your discussion section,
the TF may ask you to wait until s/he first sees students from their sections. Finally, while
EC101 students may ask EC102 TFs questions (and visa versa), I advise against this as they may
not be as close to the material.
Problem Sets: There will be 10-12 problem sets for this course (they will be posted on the
course site under Assignments in the Problem Sets folder). While you are not required to hand
in the problem sets, understanding the problems will substantially assist you in learning the
course materials and performing well on the exams. I strongly suggest that you form small study
groups to work on the problems. Problems will we be covered in discussion sections and full
solutions will also be posted on the course website the week after they are submitted.
Articles: All articles listed on the syllabus (plus any additional interesting articles published
during the semester) are posted on the course website, under Course Documents.
Exams: All exams will be based on multiple choice questions, with questions drawn from the
text, lectures, and problem sets (including the assigned articles). In other words, all material
associated with the course may appear on exams, including lecture material that is not in the text,
so students should maintain a good set of class notes.
Makeup exams: There will be no makeup exams for the two midterms. If you miss a midterm
due to a documented medical emergency, then the points for that midterm will be added to your
final exam. Also, please note that under no circumstances will the final exam or midterms be
administered on a different date than scheduled because of travel plans or family events (if,
though, there is a family medical crisis, you should contact me about this immediately so that
arrangements may be made). Any changes to an announced exam date, time, or place will be
announced in class and posted on the course website (it is the responsibility of the student to be
aware of these changes). If a student misses the final due to a documented illness I must be
contacted on the day of the exam and every effort must be made to take the makeup final exam
as soon as possible (furthermore, no other exams may be taken before the makeup exam for this
course is taken, unless you first secure my approval to do so). If a student returns home without
first contacting me, no makeup will be given and s/he will receive a zero on the final exam.

Grades: Course grades will be based on two midterm exams (25 points each), which are not
cumulative, and a cumulative final exam (50 points) which may include any material covered in
the course during the entire semester and does not necessarily focus predominantly on the
material from the last third of the course. If a students scores higher on the final exam than on a
midterm, that midterm grade will only count for 10 points and the final exam will count for the
additional points. Your final grade will be based on a curve reflecting the Final Course Score,
with the median score receiving a grade of B-. I will not, therefore, assign letter grades to your
midterm exam scores, but since the score distribution and the associated median score will be
posted for each midterm exam you can have a reasonably good idea how well you are doing in
the course. For example, the course score for four different hypothetical students would be:
Midterm1
Student #1:
Student #2:
Student #3
Student #4

Midterm #2

70
70
70
90

85
85
85
70

Final Exam
90
60
80
85

Final Course Score

.1(70) + .1(85) + .8(90)
.25(80) + .25(85) + .5(60)
.1(70) + .25(85) + .65(80)
.25(90) + .1(70) + .65(85)

Attendance: Students are expected to attend lectures and discussion sections. If you miss class
you are responsible for getting lecture notes from your classmates. The structure of knowledge
in economics is strongly hierarchic in that each successive lecture tends to build on prior material
in a rather systematic fashion. As such it is very easy to fall behind if you miss a class and do
not study the missed material before the subsequent lecture.
Class Preparation and Participation: The best way to learn the material (in addition to solving
problems) is to read the assigned chapters before the lecture, to ask questions during the lecture,
and then to look over the chapter again and your notes after the lecture.
Important Administrative Dates:

Wednesday, 9/3 - instruction begins

Monday, 10/13 classes suspended
Tuesday, 10/14 substitute Monday schedule
Wed. 11/26-11/30 Thanksgiving Recess
Wednesday 12/10 - last lecture

Student Athletes: If you must miss an exam due to participation in a BU athletic event, I will
need a letter from the athletic department at least two weeks before the event, and will add these
points to your final exam.
Students with Documented Disabilities: If you have a disability that necessitates extra time for
exams, or any other accommodations, you will need to give me a note from the BU office of
Disabilities Services at least two weeks before the first midterm so that I can make arrangements.
Educational Resource Center (ERC): The Boston University ERC provides peer tutoring
services. It is located at 1 University Road (the Sargent Gym Building), Suite 150. The phone
number is 3-7077, and the URL for their site is http://www.bu.edu/erc.

Policy on Cheating: Cheating on exams or quizzes will result in a zero grade for the exam or
quiz (and this grade will count in the final course grade calculation regardless of the grade on the
final) and will be reported to the Deans office. In this regard it is important to remind everyone
that students are responsible to know and understand the provisions of the CAS Academic
Conduct Code (copies are available in room CAS 105).

Course Outline and Approximate Schedule

(1) Text: An Introduction to Economics - chapters 1 & 2 (9/3 & 9/5)
(2) Text: Interdependence and Gains from Trade - chapter 3 (9/8 & 9/10)
(3) Text: The Market Forces of Supply and Demand chapter 4 (9/12 & 9/15 & 9/17)
Article: Your Career Matters: A Dearth of Economics Doctorates Leads to Royal Recruiting
Battles
(4) Text: Elasticity and Its Application - chapter 5 (9/19 & 9/22 & 9/24)
Article: American Consumers Get MilkedAgain
(5) Text: Supply, Demand and Government Policies - chapter 6 (9/26 & 9/28 & 10/1)
Articles: Collapsing Cairo
(6) Text: The Efficiency of Markets - chapter 7 (10/3 & 10/6)
Articles: Scalping
(7) Text: The Cost of Taxation - chapter 8 (10/8 & 10/10)
***** MIDTERM EXAM #1: (chapters 1-6) Tuesday 10/14 *****
(8) Text: Application of S/D Analysis to International Trade - chapter 9 (10/15 & 10/17)
(9) Text: Externalities - chapter 10 (10/20 - 10/24)
Articles: A Stealth Campaign by the Gun Lobby Helps Shooting Ranges Win Protections
Netherlands Meter Plan Links Gas Pedals to Wallets
(10) Text: Public Goods and Common Resources chapter 11 (10/27 & 10/29)
Articles: Kidney Exchanges
(11) Text: Costs of Production - chapter 13 (10/31 - 11/5)
(12) Text: Firms in Competitive Markets - chapter 14 (11/7 - 11/12)
***** MIDTERM EXAM #2: (chapters 7-11, 13) Monday 11/17 *****

(13) Text: Monopoly - chapter 15 (11/14 & 11/19 & 11/21)

(14) Text: Oligopoly - chapter 17 (11/24 & 12/21)
(15) Text: Monopolistic Competition - chapter 16 (11/22 & 12/1)
(16) Text: Factor Markets - chapter 18 (12/3 & 12/5)
** Wrap-up and Review: 12/8-12/10 **

**** FINAL EXAM: Monday December 15, 12:00-2:00 ****