Download Economics of Social Issues II

SPECIAL LECTURE APS
ECONOMICS OF SOCIAL ISSUES II
INSTRUCTOR
Professor Supachit Manopimoke
Office & Office hour: B 519, Tuesday 4th Period
Tel: 0977 78 1205, E-mail: [email protected], Instructional folder: smano
CLASS SCHEDULE
Semester:
Fall Q1 2003 (27 September-17 November 2003)
Time &Place
Monday and Tuesday, 3rd Period (12:25-14:00), F 105
1. GOALS OF THE COURSE
The course is an introduction to basic economics for non-majors and is designed for a wide range of students. It
can be taken by those who have taken a course in economics, are taking a course in economics, or have never
taken any course in economics at all. The course aims at presenting economic concepts as useful tools for
analyzing contemporary social issues. The difference between this course and other introductory economic
courses offered at APU is the pedagogical method used in the classroom. Instead of using the traditional method
of teaching economics where the principles are taught one by one sequentially, this course employs the social
issues pedagogy to teach basic economic principles. The social issues used for the teaching are carefully
selected to reflect the important societal trends and current public debates. They are also arranged so that basic
economic concepts are logically developed and an understanding of these concepts is reinforced through
repeated use and application. This method of teaching help students appreciate that economics is relevant to real
life, useful, enjoyable, and is powerful in explaining the world around us.
The goals of the course are to: (1) create student interest in the study of economics and its application to current
social problems, (2) provide basic economic analytical tools useful in the understanding of social problems and
issues, and (3) help students understand social issues in an economic perspective to enhance the rest of their
adult lives as citizens, voters, and participants in the economy.
2. STANDARDS FOR ACHIEVING GOALS
On completion of the course, the students are expected to show a basic understanding of the economic concepts
and principles covered in the course, and be able to demonstrate their skills in analyzing a variety of real world
social problems using those concepts and principles.
3. TEACHING METHODS
To reach the goals of the course, complementary methods are utilized.
(1) Contemporary social issues are used as an approach to teach economic principles. In each class session,
a social problem or issue is introduced, the economic aspects of the problem are discussed, basic
economic concepts and principles that are important in the analysis of the issue are then developed, and
relevant economic principles are applied to the issue in order to provide some solutions to the problem.
(2) Lecture, assignment, class discussion, and seminar are used in classroom. Outlines, summaries, and
questions for each class session are provided. Application skills are built through assignments and
exercise questions. Audio-visual aids and equipment such as OHC, computer software, etc. are used to
increase the students’ understanding of the lectures and applications skills.
4. OVERVIEW OF EACH CLASS
Class 1: Teaching-Learning the Course
Introduce the objectives, teaching approach, structure, contents, resources, and requirements of the
course. Study tips for the course are suggested and discussed.
Class 2: Protectionism versus Free Trade: Can We Restrict Ourselves into Prosperity?
Cover the concepts of costs of protection, free trade and gains from trade, comparative advantage,
specialization, exchange rate, tariffs, quotas, voluntary restraint, and international trade agreements.
Classes 3-4: Unemployment Issues: Why do We Waste Our Labor Resources?
Cover the concepts of potential GNP, GNP gap, involuntary unemployment, frictional unemployment,
structural unemployment, cyclical unemployment, Circular flow of production and income, leakages,
injections, aggregate demand, aggregate supply, monetary policy, and fiscal policy.
Classes 5-6: 11 Inflation: How to Gain and Lose at the Same Time
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Cover the concepts of inflation, price index numbers, equity, demand-pull inflation, cost-push
inflation, money supply, equation of exchange, legal reserve requirement, discount rate, wage-price
controls, recession, growth recession, and stagflation.
Class 7: Seminar I
Students debate and discuss to develop oral communication skills, to exchange ideas, and to explore
issues. The seminar also reflects the students’ comprehension of the concepts and principles taught.
Students prepare materials in advance and actively participate in small group and class seminar
sessions.
Classes 8-9: Economic Growth: Are We Living in a "New Economy"?
Cover the concepts of economic growth, price index, determinants of growth, measurement of growth,
inflation and its measurement, aggregate demand and aggregate supply, equity, distribution of
income, employment and outputs, quantity theory of money, and fiscal policy.
Classes 10-11: Government Spending, Taxing, and the National Debt: Who Wins and Who
Loses?
The issue if government spending and tax cover the concepts of government purchases, government
transfer payments. Government receipts, collective goods and services, tax base, tax rate, progressive
tax rates, proportional tax rates, regressive tax rates, horizontal and vertical equity, tax efficiency, tax
incidence, forward and backward tax shifting.
The issue of national debt covers the concepts of national debt, balance budget, budget deficit, budget
surplus, debt management policy, public investment, recurrent expenditures, fiscal rules, current
account, investment account, and stabilization account.
Classes 12-13: Social Security and Medicare: How Secure Is Our Safety Net for the Elderly?
Cover the concepts of elasticity of demand and supply, changes in demand and supply, per capita
income, relative prices, tastes and preferences, substitution effects, diminishing returns, and
investment.
Class 14: Seminar II
Students debate and discuss to develop oral communication skills, to exchange ideas, and to explore
issues. The seminar also reflects the students’ comprehension of the concepts and principles taught.
Students prepare materials in advance and actively participate in small group and class seminar
sessions.
Class 15: Final Examination
5. METHOD OF GRADE EVALUATION
The total score for the final grade is 100 points. Its breakdowns are the followings:
Attendance
Seminar
Mid-quarter
Final Examination
Assignments
Examination
10
20
35
35
(4 secret random
attendance checks,
each check is 2.5%)
Total
100
6. REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS
(1) Students are expected to carefully read the assigned reading materials before each class session and
must endeavor to keep up with the reading if they want to pass the subject. It is also the students’
responsibility to check and read the journal and newspaper articles posted online or distributed in class.
(2) Students must hand in class assignments on time. Late submissions cannot be accepted, as it is unfair to
the students who meet the deadlines.
(3) Students are encouraged to keep a close eye on a major newspaper for current social issues and
problems to increase their analytical skills.
7. TEXTS
Sharp, A.M., C.A. Register and P. W. Grimes. 2002. Economics of Social Issues, 15 th ed., McGraw-Hill /Irwin,
New York.
8. SUGGESTED READINGS
Miller, R.L., D.K. Benjamin, and D. C. North. The Economics of Public Issues, 13th Edition, Addison-Wesley
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Publishing, New York.
Krugman, Paul. 2000, The Return of Depression Economics, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
Jevons, Marshall. 1986. Fatal Equilibrium. Ballantine Books, New York.
Jevons, Marshall. 1993. Murder at the Margin: A Henry Spearman Mystery. Princeton University Press, N.J.
Jevons, Marshall. 1998. Deadly Indifference: A Henry Spearman Mystery. Princeton University Press, N.J.
Buchholz, Todd. 1990. New Ideas from Dead Economists. Penguin Books, UK.
9. INTERNET WEB SITES RELATED TO THIS COURSE
Selected web sites for enhancing the students’ learning and understanding of the subject will be provided and
demonstrated in Class I.
10. MISC. NOTES
This is one of the two courses offered for students to learn basic economic principles using the social issues
pedagogical approach. The other course is Special Lecture EB-Economics of Social Issues I. There is no
prerequisite for these two courses. The two courses are sequenced as indicated by the numbers I and II on their
titles. They cover different social issues and the issues between and within the two courses are arranged so that
basic economic concepts are logically developed and an understanding of these concepts is reinforced through
repeated use and application. Students may take just one of the two courses, but are recommended to take both
in order to strengthen their comprehension and analytical skills.
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