Complete Course Schedule

(subject to change!)

Note that some of the readings below link to restricted access websites such as JSTOR. Whitman folks should be able to access these from any computer on campus, or from any computer off campus once properly configured with the Whitman proxy server.

Week 1 (starts Monday, August 30)

Tuesday: Introductions, Chapter 1 of Quantum Micro (Decision Theory). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): The big picture. Read (and comment on in Blackboard--see log-in instructions below--by 8am Thursday):

• Leonard E. Read, "I, Pencil", The Freeman, December 1958.
• Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons", Science, New Series, Vol. 162, Issue 3859 (Dec. 13, 1968), pp. 1243-1248. Hardcopies available at the Penrose reserve desk.

Logging on to Blackboard

1. Go to the Blackboard webpage.
2. Log in using your ID (your email name, e.g. bushgw for George W Bush) and your email password. Those of you having trouble logging in to Blackboard should try clicking on the "Forgot My Password" button, and then entering your name and email address in option #2 at the next screen.
3. You should now be in the Blackboard system. In the "search for classes" box, type in "Econ 107". Hopefully this will bring up a search window that correctly lists our class.
4. Click the "Enroll" button on the right hand side (not the class name!) and then confirm this by clicking "Submit" in the next window.
5. You should now be in the Blackboard area for Econ 107. Click on "Discussion Board" on the left hand side.
6. Problems? Read the WCTS help page. If that doesn't help, or if you have suggestions for improving these instructions, send me an email.

Week 2 (starts Monday, September 6)

Monday: Chapter 2 of Quantum Micro (Optimization and Risk). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters. For an interesting article about the mathematics of lotteries and whether or not it's stupid to play, read Jordan Ellenberg, Is Powerball a Mug's Game?, Slate, August 31, 2001. (The mathematical workout that he mentions is not available on the Slate page, but Jordan emailed it to me and you can get it here.

Tuesday: Chapter 3 of Quantum Micro (Optimization over Time). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Environmental issues. Read (and comment on in Blackboard by 8am Thursday):

• Excerpt from John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning, Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things (Seattle: Northwest Environment Watch, 1997). Click on the "excerpt" link on the right hand side of the above webpage. I have also placed a number of copies of the book on reserve in the library; it's small and very readable and has neat pictures. PS. This is not required, but if you're interested: also available on reserve in the library (and in full text on the N.E.W. website) is a book I had the good fortune to co-author with Alan Durning: Tax Shift: How to Help the Economy, Improve the Environment, and Get the Tax Man off Our Backs (Seattle: Northwest Environment Watch, 1998).
• "Plenty of Gloom", The Economist, December 18, 1997. You may not be able to access this link; if you have problems, this article is also available in the Course Documents page on Blackboard. PS. This is not required, but for more along the same lines, Penrose has a copy of The Skeptical Environmentalist : Measuring the Real State of the World, by Bjorn Lomborg (2001). This book caused a lot of controversy, as a Google search will no doubt reveal.

Week 3 (starts Monday, September 13)

Monday: Chapter 4 of Quantum Micro (More Optimization over Time). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Tuesday: Chapter 5 of Quantum Micro (Transition: Arbitrage). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Games. There is no reading or writing assignment, but you might consider bringing a few dollars to class.

• Exam 1 (on Part 1 of Quantum Micro) will be handed out at the end of class today; it is due at the beginning of class on Monday. Here is the cheat sheet with relevant formulas and exam info, and here is the answer key to the end-of-chapter problems.

Week 4 (starts Monday, September 20)

Monday: Chapter 6 of Quantum Micro (Cake-Cutting). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

• Exam 1 is due at the beginning of class today. The answer key will be posted by noon today.

Tuesday: Chapter 7 of Quantum Micro (Economics and Social Welfare). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Free trade. Read (and comment on in Blackboard by 8am Thursday):

• Lawrence Summers, "Memo", January 12, 1991. This internal memo was written when Summers was chief economist of the World Bank. The link above goes to a website that is not exactly unbiased, but the content of the memo is corroborated in The Economist, "Let them eat pollution", Feb. 8, 1992. See also, if you're interested, The Economist, "Pollution and the poor: why 'clean development' at any price is a curse on the third world", Feb. 15, 1992. Both of these are optional readings that are on reserve in the library.
• Michael Finkel, "Complications", The New York Times Magazine, May 27, 2001. This article is available in the Course Documents page on Blackboard. I have also put a hard copy on reserve in the library in case you want to look at the pictures, or at the magazine cover page, which advertises the article as "This Little Kidney Went to Market".

Week 5 (starts Monday, September 27)

Monday: Chapter 8 of Quantum Micro (Sequential Move Games). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Tuesday: Chapter 9 of Quantum Micro (Simultaneous Move Games). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

• If you're looking for an extra credit project, or for more stuff on game theory, check out this supplemental chapter on iterated dominance and Nash equilibrium. You can do some problems for extra credit. If you're looking for calculus-based problems, there are some of those too, but you don't have to do them if you don't want to.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Cost-benefit analysis. Read (and comment on in Blackboard by 8am Thursday):

• Tom and Ray Magliozzi, "Drive Now, Talk Later: Car Talk Declares War", March 2002. There's a lot on this site, so just wander around to your heart's content. Some of the links (notably the one about economist Robert Hahn) are broken, but if you're interested you can follow these links to Hahn's original article and to Click and Clack's letter to the NY Times.
• Steven E. Landsburg, "Click, Clack, and Car Talk", Slate, January 30, 2002. If you're interested, the cost-benefit analysis he references is here.
• This is not a required reading, but those of you looking for a more philosophical back-and-forth (or an extra-credit project) can find the following at the Penrose reserve desk: Steven Kelman, "Cost-Benefit Analysis: An Ethical Critique (with replies)", in Robert N. Stavins, ed., Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings, 4th edition (Norton, 2000).

Week 6 (starts Monday, October 4)

Monday: Chapter 10 of Quantum Micro (Application: Auctions). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Tuesday: Chapter 11 of Quantum Micro (Application: Marine Affairs) and Chapter 12 of Quantum Micro (Transition: Game Theory v. Price Theory). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Education/testing. There is no reading assignment because all of you should be experts on issues surrounding education and testing. So: spend some time thinking about testing and the incentives it creates and whether those incentives lead to good outcomes or bad outcomes and how you would reform the education system...and then comment in Blackboard by 8am Thursday.

Week 7 (starts Monday, October 11)

Monday: No class (mid-semester break)

Tuesday: No class (mid-semester break)

• Wednesday (October 13) is the last day to withdraw from classes or the College without record.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Supply and demand. We'll do a double oral auction experiment. There is no reading or writing assignment.

Week 8 (starts Monday, October 18)

Monday: Chapter 13 of Quantum Micro (Supply and Demand: The Basics). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

• Exam 2 (on Part 2 of Quantum Micro) will be handed out at the end of class today; it is due at the beginning of class on Thursday. Here is the cheat sheet with relevant formulas and exam info.

Tuesday: Chapter 14 of Quantum Micro (Taxes). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Voting, Part One. Today we have classroom debates featuring campus representatives from the Democratic Party and/or the Green Party and/or the Republican Party! I asked them to choose a topic related to economics (broadly interpreted), and they came up with tax cuts/deficits, global warming, and health care, respectively. Since there will be time for class discussion on all three issues, you might want to read what you can about them. What you definitely want to do (because it is your writing assignment for the week) is contribute (on Blackboard by 8am Thursday) a relevant fact with a citation from a primary source.

• A relevant fact means an actual statistic, such as the size of the deficit, the U.S. share of world carbon emissions, or the number of Americans without health insurance.
• A citation includes title, author, date of publication, website location, and/or other information that will allow me to double-check your fact if I were so inclined.
• A primary source means a book or article or other official report from the government (e.g., the Congressional Budget Office), a think tank (e.g., the Cato Institute), a study commission (e.g., the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a scholar, etc. A primary source does not mean the New York Times or The Economist, although you can certainly troll for facts there and then trace them back to their primary source.

• Exam 2 is due at the beginning of class today. The answer key will be posted by noon today.

Week 9 (starts Monday, October 25)

Monday: Chapter 14 of Quantum Micro (Taxes) and Chapter 15 (Elasticities). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Tuesday: Chapter 14 of Quantum Micro (Taxes) and Chapter 15 (Elasticities). Here is the handout from today's class and the answer key for the handout. Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Voting, Part Two. Comment thoughtfully on one or more of the following questions in Blackboard by 8am Thursday: Do you vote? Why or why not? How do you (or how would you) decide who to vote for? Do you think voting for a third-party candidate (e.g., Ralph Nader) is "throwing your vote away"? What do you think about strategic voting (e.g., registering as a member of the other party and voting in primaries for far-left or far-right candidates so that that party will nominate a far-out candidate who will get trounced in the general election)?

Week 10 (starts Monday, November 1)

Monday: Chapter 16 of Quantum Micro (Supply and Demand: Some Details). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Tuesday: Chapter 17 of Quantum Micro (Margins). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

Thursday (Fun Day!): To be determined

Week 11 (starts Monday, November 8)

Monday: Chapter 18 of Quantum Micro (Transition: Welfare Economics). Click here for the answer key to the problems at to the end of this (and all other) chapters.

• Today (Monday, November 8) is the last day to withdraw from classes or the College with W grades; today is also the close of the P-D-F registration period.

Tuesday: In-class work day. I will not have any prepared material, but will be available to answer questions &etc.

Thursday (Fun Day!): Paper consumption at Whitman. This week is Paper Conservation Awareness Week at Whitman, sponsored by a group of students who would like Whitman to use less paper and buy more recycled paper. Your assignment is to read this Paper Manifesto and then post, on Blackboard by 8am Thursday, your thoughts on paper use at Whitman and what (if anything) should be done about it. I'd like you to think in particular about how this situation relates to things we've discussed in class, and (although you don't have to post about this) I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about the merits of using economic instruments (i.e., charging for printing) to reduce paper use.

• Exam 3 (on Part 3 of Quantum Micro) will be handed out at the end of class today; it is due at the beginning of class on Monday. Here is the cheat sheet with relevant formulas and exam info.

Week 12 (starts Monday, November 15)

Monday: Macro: Mankiw, Chapters 15 and 16

• Exam 3 is due at the beginning of class today. The answer key will be posted by noon today.

Tuesday: Macro: Mankiw, Chapters 17 and 18

Thursday (Fun Day!): Government budgets. Read (and comment on in Blackboard by 8am Thursday) the tables in Appendix A of Quantum Micro (pp. 151-155). You can also do your own digging into government budget issues on the web. Your post can be a comment or a question or a fact/assertion/speculation. You don't need a citation or anything--just some evidence that you've spent a few minutes looking at this information and thinking about it.

Week 13 (starts Monday, November 22)

No class (Thanksgiving break)

Week 14 (starts Monday, November 29)

Monday: Macro: Mankiw, Chapters 19 and 20

Tuesday: Macro: Mankiw, Chapters 21 and 22

Thursday (Fun Day!): Social Security. Read (and comment on in Blackboard by 8am Thursday):

• Social Security Administration, FAQs about Social Security's future. And, for some more light-hearted propaganda, check out the fantabulous Social Security kid's page.
• Optionally, you can get more serious info from the summary of the 2004 annual report from the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees. (Note that we'll be talking about Medicare next week.)
• Optionally, you may also be interested in surfing the web and finding other opinions; for example, many analysts do not believe that the Social Security Trust Fund actually exists (whatever that means).

• Today we will also do class evaluations.

Week 15 (starts Monday, December 6)

Monday: Macro: Mankiw, Chapter 23

Tuesday: Macro: Mankiw, Chapter 24

Thursday (Fun Day!): Medicare. Read (and comment on in Blackboard by 8am Thursday):

• Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, 2004 annual report (summary).
• Optionally, you may also be interested in surfing the web and finding other opinions about Medicare and whether and how it might need to be "fixed".

Week 16 (starts Monday, December 13)

Final exams: my reading of the final exam schedule indicates that the 9am section has its final exam from 2-4pm on Tuesday, December 14, and that the 11am section has its final exam from 9-11am on Friday, December 17. You are welcome to attend either final exam period. The final exam and its answer key will be posted after the exam.

The final exam will be open Mankiw, meaning that you can bring and use your copy of Mankiw and/or use the copy that I will have available for general use. (Note that you are not allowed to write inappropriate notes in your Mankiw text...) The macro questions on the final (i.e., the questions about Mankiw) will be best studied for by reading through the Mankiw chapters and looking at the end-of-chapter problems.