Econ 1 - UCSC Intro to Microeconomics - Nick Lovett

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Econ 1 - UCSC Intro to Microeconomics - Nick Lovett

Econ 1- Introduction to Microeconomics
Prof Nick Lovett - Class Syllabus (pdf)

Turning in Homework - Due Dates

Turn in at Curtis' section before the due date.
Or at the start of lecture on the due date.
Or, at the latest, email to Econ1HW@gmail.com by the due date and time.

Homework One ~ ~~due Friday July 6th by 1:00PM~~

Chapter 1 - 4 & 9 (Solutions)
Chapter 2 - 2, 3 & 15 (Solutions)
Chapter 2a - 1, 3, 5 & 7 (these won't be graded)
Chapter 3 - 4, 11, 12 & 17 (Solutions)
Chapter 4 - 7, 9 & 10 (Solutions)

Homework Two ~ ~~due Wednesday July 11 by 1:00PM~~

Homework Three ~ ~~due Wednesday July 18 by 1:00PM~~

Homework Four ~ due Wed July 25th by 1pm

Chapter 12 - 10 (perhaps 6, 8, 13, 14 & 15)
Chapter 13 - 13 (perhaps 4, 6, 10, 12)
Chapter 14 - 10 (perhaps 6, 7, 8, 11)
Chapter 15 - ...
Chapter 16 - 4 & 5 (perhaps 7, 10, 11, 12)

Lecture Notes ~ notes by Nick Lovett

*notes are not available by request of their author.

Lecture 1 Notes* - pdf - 6/25/2012 - Chapters 1 & 2. What is economics? Economic agents. Maximize utility under constraints. Efficiency. Equity. Economists do it with models.

Lecture 2 Notes* - pdf - 6/28/2012 Production possibility frontier (PPF). Chapter 3: Supply and demand curves. Shifts to these curves. Equilibrium. Bringing it all together, shifts to equilibrium price and quantity.

Lecture 3 Notes* - pdf - 6/29/2012 - Chapter 4: Consumer and Producer Surplus. Welfare economics. Free market vs. planned economy. Efficiency revisited.

Lecture 4 Notes* - pdf - 6/30/2012 - Market Interface. Price controls: price floor & price ceiling. Binding vs. non-binding controls. Graphing price controls. Dead-weight loss (DWL). Quota: quantity controls. Demand & supply price. Efficiency revisited.

Lecture 5 Notes* - pdf - 7/1/2012 - Chapter 6: Elasticity. Price elasticity (own price). Graphing this. Elastic vs. inelastic goods. Perfectly elastic and perfectly inelastic. Determinants of own price elasticity. Revenue test of elasticity. More graphs. Income elasticity (normal goods -- necessity vs. luxury goods). Cross-price elasticity (compliment vs. substitute vs. unrelated). Price elasticity of supply.

Lecture 6 Notes* - pdf - 7/8/2012 - Chapter 7: Taxes. Excise tax. Adding taxes to supply demand diagram. Calculating tax revenue and dead-weight loss. Tax incidence - relative elasticities. Small vs. broad tax base. The efficiency of a tax. Lump-sum taxes. Proportional, progressive and regressive taxes. Laffer curve. Taxes and equity. Subsidies - adding subsidies to supply demand diagram.

Lecture 7 Notes* - pdf - 7/9/2012 - Chapter 9: Making decisions. Marginal analysis. Marginal cost (constant, increasing, decreasing). Sunk cost.

Mid-Term Solutions* - pdf - 7/11/2012 - Questions and solution to Professor Lovett's Econ 1 Mid-Term.

Lecture 8 Notes* - pdf - 7/16/2012 - Chapter 10 & 11: The Rational Consumer. Utility. The two good world example: budget constraint, consumption bundles, utility function, and indifference curves. Marginal rate of substitution. The optimal consumption bundle. Different preferences imply different indifference curves. Perfect substitutes, perfect complements, Engel curve. Budget constraint and price changes, substitution and income effects.

Lecture 9 Notes* - pdf - 7/16/2012 - Chapter 12: Behind the Supply Curve: Inputs and Costs. Short-run. The production function. Diminishing marginal product of labor. Variable costs, fixed costs & total costs. Marginal costs. Average costs. Long Run, average costs and economies of scale.

Lecture 10 Notes* - pdf - 7/18/2012 - Chapter 13: Perfect Competition. Conditions for a perfectly competitive market. Firm behavior. Optimal output rule. Normal vs. economic profits. Economic losses. Individual firm level vs. the industry level. Long run. Efficiency.

Lecture 11 Notes* - pdf - 7/21/2012 - Chapter 14: Monopoly. Market power. The monopoly graphically. Reason why monopolies exist, barriers to entry, control of scare input, increasing returns to scale, technological superiority, network externalities, government imposed barriers. Monopolist profit maximization. Welfare and monopoly. Policies to prevent walfare lose due to monopoly.

Lecture 12 Notes* - pdf - 7/23/2012 - Chapter 15: Monopolistic Competition. Imperfect substitutes. Profit maximization for the monopolistically competitive firm. Monopolistic Competitive in the long-run.

Lecture 13 Notes* - pdf - 7/25/2012 - Chapter 15: Oligopoly. Increasing returns to scale. Few vs. many firms. Justice department. Oligopolist's behavior. Collusion. Cartel. Cournot model of Oligopoly. Bertrand model of Oligopoly.

*notes are not available by request of their author.

Office Hours

Nick's Office Hours

E2, Room 405G

Friday just before and after lecture.

Curtis' Office Hours

E2, Room 403 (map)
Thursday 1-2pm E2, Room 403 (or 491)

My Sections

Tuesday at 12:00 - 1:15pm

E2 Room 194

eduroam Campus wifi
EduRoam wireless internet set-up instructions.

Tentative Exam & Due Dates

~~Mid-Term - July 11~~

Papers due - July 23

Final - July 27

~same time, same place.

MSI Meeting Times

Mon & Wed, 12 - 1:00pm

ARC Center (map)

with Dayna vogy

Possible articles

Delaware as Corporate Tax Haven
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/business/how-delaware-thrives-as-a-corporate-tax-haven.html?ref=business
Gaokao (entrance examination), Supply and Demand for China's Spots in Universities
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/world/asia/burden-of-chinas-college-entrance-test-sets-off-wide-debate.html?_r=1&hpw
River Damming Pro's and Con's Trade-offs etc
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120627-dammed-if-you-do
Australian Carbon Tax
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18662560
States hoping to boost Tax Revenues via Gambling (Radio news story)
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/26/155751309/the-economics-of-gambling
Joseph Stiglitz on Growing Inequality (Radio Interview)
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/05/154345390/growing-economic-inequality-endangers-our-future
US Russia Tractor Trade
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/15/152707180/from-iowa-to-russia-tractors-build-economic-bridge
Who Killed Lard
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/02/03/146356117/who-killed-lard
Left-Over Women
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130833495
Skilled Factory Workers Hard to Find
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/skilled-factory-workers-hard-find
Master Lock Stays in Wisconsin
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/15/146907545/in-sourcing-reasons-click-for-master-lock
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/15/146944905/obama-hails-master-lock-for-bringing-jobs-home
Crime and Economics
http://chicagomaroon.com/2012/05/25/the-economics-of-crime-with-gary-becker/
Bolinas Water Meters
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/us/14bolinas.html
Healthcare Individual Mandate as Sin Tax
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame
_game/2012/07/the_health_care_individual_mandate
_is_a_sin_tax_not_a_penalty_.html
Rent Controlled Apartments and Shortages
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/realestate/rent-stabilized-apartments-ever-more-elusive.html
Minimum Wage Pay for Civil Servants (2 stories)
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/156416876/
scrantons-public-workers-pay-cut-to-minimum-wage
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/10/156509668/
scranton-workers-see-pay-slashed-to-minimum-wage
Opportunity Costs of Time
"Why Yuppies Worry More..."
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/why-only-yuppies-feel-busy-an-economic-theory/259534/
Mechanical Turk: "Capitalism’s Brave New World"
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/capitalism-s-brave-new-world_648222.html
Amazon: Delivery Time vs. Taxes
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/small_busines
s/2012/07/amazon_same_day_delivery_how_the_
e_commerce_giant_will_destroy_local_retail_.html

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