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Oklahoma City University
SYLLABUS
Essential Concepts in Macro & Microeconomics
Economics 5053
Spring, 2009
Mostafa Moini, Ph.D.
208-5357; [email protected]
Preliminary Notes
If you need an accommodation due to a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact
Student Health and Disability Service Office immediately at 521-5991 or 521-5090. Advance notice is required
for many accommodations.
Because I use Excel quite extensively in this course I recommend that students bring laptops to the class in
every session of the course so that they can reproduce the models I formulate during the lecture. While this is
not a requirement, it is something that virtually all students welcome because it makes the classroom work much
more productive.
eCollege
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This curse uses eCollege for (1) posting syllabus, supplementary materials, lecture notes, exam
preps, etc.; and for (2) student submission of assignments; (3) online exams; (4) student’s access to
her grade; (5) a variety of other activities.
Students must make sure that they can log into the course no later than the second session of the course. In case
of difficulties concerning eCollege contact:
Jennifer Raasch
(405) 208-5584
eCollege Help
(405) 208-6100
[email protected]
In case eCollege is temporarily down I will use my website to post announcements and lecture
materials: http://ocu-stars.okcu.edu/mmoini/
email
Limit your emails sent to me to necessary occasions only. Any question that is not strictly private
should be posted to “Virtual Office” in eCollege. You should first try to get answer to your question
from your study partner, group members, or other students in the class. Emails that do not originate
from your student account or eCollege account will be automatically sent to the junk mail directory.
Laptops in Class
Every student should bring a laptop to the class. There will be frequent online short quizzes aside from online
main tests. Students will be asked to complete the modes that I formulate in part during the class.
TEXT
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Total Cost: About $15.
Text: http://www.ingrimayne.com/econ/mainmenu.htm This text is freely available online.
Supplementary book 1: Modern Money Mechanics: A Workbook on Bank Reserves and
Deposit Expansion. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. (1998) Free. Under Doc Sharing.
Supplementary book 2:George Soros (20008). The New Paradigm for Financial
Markets ISBN: This can be ordered online:
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-58648-683-9
eBook:
ISBN 978-1-58648-648-6
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Additional supplementary course materials and learning aids will be posted on the
course’s ECollege site.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course has the dual purpose of review for those students with previous study and as an introductory course for
others. The subject matter will thus reflect major concepts found in traditional introduction to micro and macro
economic courses. Unlike traditional courses, however, emphasis will be on a number of selected topics that
research efforts indicate are often used by management in large American corporations. In addition, there are a
number of concepts that these efforts indicate are not used extensively, yet could be and perhaps, should be
understood by managers. For this reason, these topics will also be emphasized. As an additional objective of the
course, attempts will be made to integrate or relate these concepts to areas of business study such as management
and finance. For example, price elasticity of demand is a necessary tool for pricing and marketing plans.
Knowledge of diminishing returns is useful in cost calculations and decisions. In this way, it is believed that
abstract related to the “real world” of management decision making.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Selected Inventory of the primary concepts covered in this course:
Scarcity and the economic problem
Opportunity Cost
Production Possibilities Curve
Consumption Possibilities
The problem of the Commons
Games: Prisoner's Dilemma, Tit-for-Tat
Self-Interest
Small Groups
Coordination without Central Planning
Economics and Politics
Supply and Demand: A Process of Cooperation
Buyer and Seller Equilibrium
Shortages and Surpluses
The Model of Supply and Demand
Supply and Demand: Issues and Applications
Price Elasticity and Other Elasticities
Revenue and the Demand, Elasticity and Marginal Revenue
Price as a Rationer
Non-Price Rationing
Rationing and the Distribution of Income
Measuring the Distribution of Income
Prices: Incentives and Communication Device
Price Controls
Suppressing Market Information
Dollar Voting
Feedback and A Self-Correcting System
Why Business Organizations?
Screening and Signaling
Risk, Uncertainty, and Insurance
Quality and Price
Free Riders
Majority Rule and Economic Efficiency
Public and Private Interest, The Politics of Taxation
Rent Seeking
Inflation and Unemployment, Measuring Inflation
Gross Domestic Product
Leading Indicators
National Income Accounting
Uses and Sources of GDP
Say's Law
Real Business Cycles
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Banks, Intermediaries and the Role of the U.S. Government
Monetary Policy Instruments and Rates
Portfolio Choice
Speculators and Markets
Market for Foreign Exchange and Exchange Rate Regimes
Study Trios and Groups
Study Trios
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Each student joins two others, assigned by the professor, to form a study trio for the purpose Members
of a Study Trio (a) compare lecture notes to compete their lecture files portion of their Course
Portfolio; (b) do joint work on the assigned Problems and Questions at the end of the assigned chapters
from the text, (b) class discussion of the Problems and Key Terms; (c) study exam Preps together. (d)
prepare a single Course Portfolio for the trio. (e) Other.
Members of a Study Trio should sit next to each other in the class.
There will be several occasions for each Study Trio to use Excel to discuss previously assigned
problems in the class. Their performance will be evaluated individually and jointly.
Groups
Depending on the class size, two or three Study Trios will be assigned by the instructor to work together as a group to
carry out certain assignments during the course.
Course Portfolio
This should include:
 Excel files (only), containing:
1. The Concept/Chapters Reference File (a template called ConChpRf will be posted on eCollege,
Doc Sharing)
2. “cleaned up” and completed versions of lecture discussions, models, and problems discussed in
the class.
 Problems assigned to the student and her study partner.
 Exam Preps and student study records connected to them.
 Other documents that I request during the semester.
The materials should be organized as separate files for each chapter, each file having multiple sheets as
needed, named as ChX, X = 1, 2 , etc. These should be submitted to the student’s Dropbox (in
eCollege). The portfolios of the members of a trio should be practically identical.
The first sheet of ConChpRf should be called “Info” and should contain only the following, in the order
indicated: (See the file ConChpRf under Doc Sharing in ECollege)
Exam Preps should be placed as the last sheet of the last chapter of the chapters covered. For example, if
there is an exam Prep for chapters 1-3 you place the material in the file Ch3.
You should set up a directory on your computer called CrsPrtflEc5213 under which you pace all the files
described above.
Course Portfolio:
 It is a great tool for quick reviews before exams.
 It can serve as an electronic attachment to your CV and will impress a potential employer or a
graduate program you may apply to. Try to make it as well-organized, and impressive-looking as
you can.
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It is a record of your efforts and accomplishments – a kind of “finished product” like a work of art
or craft. There is a sense of accomplishment and a satisfaction associated with excellent
craftmenship.
Each chapter’s file of your Course Portfolios should be submitted as soon as we are done with the chapter
and its problems.
Background Materials
Knowledge of basic algebra and Excel is a requirement in this course. Students who have insufficient
knowledge in these areas should work on the materials provided below on their own prior to, as well as
concurrently with the start of the course.
A. Basic Math. The following is an excellent free website for basic math skills. Browse for the topics of
interest and if necessary review more elementary materials as needed, depending on you background.
http://home.earthlink.net/~djbach/basic.html#anchor938594
B. Excel Pre-requisite. The links listed below provide basic Excel training for those who have had little
or no background in excel. Everyone should go through these. Some of you may need to take more time with
the lessons. (In all the spreadsheet materials in the text or posted on this website I shall refer to the following as
Basic excel Lessons).
1. Audio course: Get to know Excel: Create your first workbook
2. Audio course: Get to know Excel: Enter formulas
3. Audio course: Charts I: How to create a chart
4. Audio course: So that's how! Great Excel features
Access these files from the link below, where you find additional lessons as well. The above four are the
minimally required training before you can understand how Excel is in this course.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR061831141033.aspx
To learn more about Excel (in case you are interested) a good strategy would be the following: in the various
applications during the course search in the Help Menu learn the topics related to those being used at each
specific area of the course. For example, in learning how to name cells or formulas study several of the related
topics that you can access under Help.
TEXT CHAPTERS AND OTHER ASSIGNMENT
Text: Chapters 1 -13 from the online text.The titles and subtitles below are the same as those in the
online text. I have added the numbering for ease of reference.
Real Time Learning (RTL): Contents and assignments will be posted in various parts of the eCollege
course site and will be announced.
Table of Contents
Introductory Material Common to Both Micro and Macro
1. Actions and Results
1.1. Musical Chairs
1.2. Contingent Behavior
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1.3. More Contingent Behavior
1.4. Production Possibilities
1.5. Exchange and Consumption
1.6. By-products
1.7. The Commons
2. The Individual and The Group
2.1. Prisoner's Dilemma
2.2. More Prisoner's Dilemma
2.3. Self-Interest
2.4. Small Groups
2.5. Tit-for-Tat
2.6. Coordination
2.7. Central Planning
2.8. Exchange and Politics
2.9. Who is Dismal Now?
3. The Model of Supply and Demand
3.1. Introduction to Demand
3.2. More about Demand
3.3. The Demand Curve
3.4. Demand Terminology
3.5. Supply: Benefits and Costs
3.6. The Supply Curve
3.7. Supply Terminology
3.8. The Model of Supply and Demand
3.9. Assumptions
3.10. Buyer and Seller Equilibrium
3.11. Shortages and Surpluses
Microeconomics
4. Elasticity and Revenue
4.1. Price Elasticity
4.2. More Price Elasticity
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4.3. Computing Price Elasticity
4.4. Other Elasticities,
4.5. Revenue and the Demand
4.6. From Elasticity to Marginal Revenue
5. Rationing and Allocating
5.1. Price as a Rationer
5.2. Non-Price Rationing
5.3. Rationing and the Distribution of Income
5.4. Measuring the Distribution of Income
5.5. Prices: Incentives and Communication Device
5.6. Price Controls
5.7. Suppressing Market Information
5.8. Dollar Voting
5.9. Feedback
5.10. A Self-Correcting System
6. Information, Risk & Exclusion
6.1. Why Business Organizations?
6.2. Screening and Signaling
6.3. Risk and Uncertainty
6.4. Insurance
6.5. Quality and Price
6.6. Free Riders
6.7. A Better Mousetrap?
7. Government and Efficiency
7.1. Majority Rule and Economic Efficiency
7.2. Public and Private Interest
7.3. The Politics of Taxation
7.4. Efficiency of an Excise Tax (I)
7.5. Efficiency of an Excise Tax (II)
7.6. Rent Seeking
Macroeconomics
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8. Economic Catastrophes
8.1. A Case of Inflation
8.2. A Case of Unemployment
8.3. Different Tools
9. Measuring Economic Aggregates
9.1. The Unemployment Rate
9.2. Weaknesses of Unemployment Statistics
9.3. Measuring Inflation
9.4. Getting Real
9.5. Problems Measuring Inflation
9.6. Gross Domestic Product
9.7. Limitations of GDP Statistics
9.8. Leading Indicators
10. Connections
10.1. National Income Accounting
10.2. Uses of GDP
10.3. Sources of GDP
10.4. More National Income Accounting
10.5. Say's Law
10.6. Doubting Say's Law
10.7. Aggregating Markets and Sectors
10.8. Real Business Cycles
11. Financial Markets
11.1. Intermediaries
11.2. The Role of the U.S. Government
11.3. Instruments and Rates
11.4. Portfolio Choice
11.5. Speculators and Markets
11.6. Market for Foreign Exchange
11.7. Fixed Exchange Rates
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12. Banks Create Money
12.1. From Commodity to Bank-Debt Money
12.2. Creating Money
12.3. Checking Account Money
12.4. Check Clearing and Money Creation
12.5. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy
12.6. Monetary Policy and Balance Sheets
13. Business Cycle Theories
13.1. A Business Cycle
13.2. Feedback
13.3. Financing a Cycle
13.4. Investment and Savings
13.5. The Accelerator Principle
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
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Exam Instructions: For hard-copy exams answer multiple choice questions by circling the answer with pen (not
pencil), otherwise you would loose up to 4% of the points of the exam. Furthermore no credit for “error in grading”
will be given if the instructions are followed exactly.
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There will be a midterm and a final exam, each having 100 points. In addition there will be several short
quizzes and assignments each having 2 to 15 points. Grades will be based on the nimber of points made
as percentage of the total possible points. A: >= 92.5 % A - : >= 90%, etc.
MAKE-UP EXAMINATION AND OTHER POLICIES
1.
Regular attendance is essential for satisfactory performance in the class. When absences are absolutely unavoidable, the
student is responsible for meeting the requirements of the course regardless of the circumstances, unless arrangements have
been made with the instructor. No student may be excused from the final examination.
2. No examination make-ups will be given while the course is in progress. Students who miss an examination due to reasons
considered legitimate by the instructor, can take a comprehensive examination immediately before or after the final examination.
The resulting grade will be used for the examination missed. The student is responsible to contact the instructor one week prior to
the final examination in order to make arrangement about the make-up examination.
3. All requests for special arrangements are to be submitted in two copies, typed in the format of a formal letter containing
address, (residence and work) telephone number, student‘s ID number, the name, number, and section of the course, the date of
the examination missed, and an explanation of the reason for the request. Documentation (such as letter by the treating
physician, job supervisor, etc.) should be provided as per case. A copy of the request is kept by the instructor and another copy is
signed and returned to the student. This signed copy is to be attached to the make-up examination paper, otherwise the
examination is not valid and will not be graded.
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