ECONOMICS 100A: MICROECONOMICS, Part A Spring 2009, Center Hall 101, T-TH 11:00-12:30 Lecturer: Dr. Melissa Famulari Office: Econ 221 e-mail: [email protected] Office Hrs: Wed 9-12:00 noon Graduate Teaching Assistants: (1) David Eil [email protected] Office: Sequoyah Hall 238 Office Hrs: Tues, Wed 3:30-5:00 (2) Jacob Johnson [email protected] Office: Sequoyah Hall 236 Office Hrs: Friday 10-12:00 noon . (2) Young Joon Park [email protected] Office: Sequoyah Hall 232 Office Hrs: Wednesday 1-3:00pm . (2) Charles Sprenger [email protected] Office: Sequoyah Hall 207 Office Hrs: Monday 3:30-4:30 & Thursday 2-4:00pm Undergraduate Teaching Assistants: (1) Israel Malkin [email protected] Office: Sequoyah Hall 139 Office Hours: Thursday 9-11:00am (2) Jennifer Chen [email protected] Office: Sequoyah Hall 139 Office Hrs: Mon, Wed 11-12 noon Prerequisites: Econ 1 and either Math 10C or Math 20C. Assessment: There will be one OUT OF CLASS midterm exams on Friday, April 17th from 5:00-6:20 in PETER 110 and one in-class exam on Thursday, May 14th each of which is worth 25% of your grade. The final exam is cumulative and is worth 50% of your grade. The final is on Tuesday, June 9th from 11:30-2:30 pm. Course Objectives: As the first of the microeconomic sequence, Econ 100A is designed to teach you how to set up, solve and analyze optimization models and apply these mathematical models to the theory of the consumer (commodity demand, labor supply and consumption/savings decisions). Finally we will examine the fundamentals of decision making under risk and uncertainty. Course Materials: Required Textbook and Reading: (1) Perloff, Jeffrey M. (2007) Microeconomics: Theory and Applications with Calculus, Pearson/Addison-Wesley. (2) Machina, Mark (2006) “Math Handout” Additional Readings: Other calculus-based intermediate textbooks that you could use to supplement Perloff include Walter Nicholson’s, Microeconomic Theory, Hal R. Varian’s, IntermediateMicroeconomics and Binger and Hoffman’s, Microeconomics with Calculus. One free option is an online introductory textbook written by Preston McAfee of Caltech http://www.introecon.com/. The level of this book is between Econ 1 and Econ 100A. It is very interesting, free, and you may find it useful Mathematics Tutorial for Economists: Written by Martin Osborne at the University of Toronto http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/osborne/MathTutorial/index.html, Chapters 1-6 of this will help you review the calculus tools that you learned in Math 10ABC or 20ABC that are the most important for this course. WebCT: This is where you access the syllabus, class handouts, a discussion board, your grades, homework assignments, etc. I have also posted previous quarter’s 100A exams to give you some additional practice. I will not be posting answers to the old exams. Weekly Homework: I will post homework assignments on WebCT each week by Friday. During your discussion session (see below) the TA’s will help you work on the homework assignment for that week. I will post the homework answer key one week after the problem set is assigned. Mandatory Discussion Sessions: These mandatory sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 6-6:50 in Center 214 and from 7-7:50 in Center 106. The sessions are conducted by your TAs who will answer your questions regarding my lectures, the readings or the assigned problems sets for the week. Additional practice problems will be gone over. Administrative Issues: (1) If you have a documented disability, please bring your documentation and come to talk to me as soon as possible so that I can make suitable accommodations for you. If you believe that you have a disability and desire accommodation, please register with the Office for Students with Disabilities, Building 202 University Center as soon as possible. For information on the steps for academic accommodation, please see http://www-senate.ucsd.edu/manual/appendices/app3.htm. (2) Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty will earn a failing grade for the course. In addition to this academic sanction that I will impose, the Council of Deans of Student Affairs will also impose a disciplinary penalty. For a review of UCSD policy, please see http://www-senate.ucsd.edu/manual/appendices/app2.htm. (3) You will only need a pen or pencil for exams. Since I make copies of your exams, feel free to use a pencil. Exams are closed book and you may not use notes. Exams are completely electronic-free: no calculators, headphones, cell phones, etc. are to be used during an exam. (4) If you arrive late to an exam, I will allow you to take the exam in the time that remains as long as no one has turned in his/ her exam and left the room. Once a classmate has turned in his/her exam, you will earn a zero on the test if you arrive late. (5) If there is a mistake adding up the points on your exam, then bring it to my attention within one week of the exam being returned and I will correct it. If you believe an exam has not been graded properly, you may request a regrade within one week of the exam being returned. I will regrade your entire exam. The regraded score will be your grade for the exam. You may not ask for another regrade or go back to your first grade.Week Text, Math Handout Topic (1) 3/31 Chapter 1 & 2 Calculus Appendix, A.1-A.3 Chapter 3: 60-74 I. Introduction II. Consumer Preferences: A. Axioms of Rational Choice B. Utility Functions C. Level curves of utility function: Indifference Curves D. Marginal Rate of Substitution (2) 4/7 Chapter 3: 74-75, Calculus Appendix, A.4-A.6 Machina Handout III. Common Utility Functions: Cobb-Douglas, Perfect Complements (Leontief), Perfect Substitutes, CES IV. The Budget Constraint V. Mathematical Review of Optimization (3) 4/14 Chapter 3: 75-89 VI. Utility Maximization and Demand Functions Midterm 1: Friday, April 17 5-6:20pm, Peter 110 (4) 4/21 Chapter 4: 93-110 VII. Comparative Statics of Demand A. Income changes B. Price changes (income and substitution effects) (5) 4/28 Chapter 4: 111-126 VII. Comparative Statics of Demand (continued) C. Compensated price changes and compensated demand functions. D. Slutsky Equation (6) 5/5 Chapter 5: 130-152 E. Demand Relationships among goods F.