Economics 101
Principles of Economics

Fall Semester, 2008
 
Cost Benefit Principle
This page is under construction. A preliminary version will be available
on August 1, 2008.

Facts

Class Lectures:   Tuesday and Thursday,  12:30-1:45, CA 111 (Carroll Hall)

Class Recitations:  Times and places of recitations will appear here.

Instructor:                
Michael K. Salemi
:   301 Gardner Hall, 966-5391 (office), 929-9504 (home),
email: Michael_Salemi@unc.edu


The course Fact Sheet explains the goals and rules of the course, organizes its by topics, and provides an expanded reading list..
The Lecture Calendar provides a class-by-class list of topics and reading assignments. 

The Recitation Calendar provides a week-by-week schedule of recitation sessions.

Clickers
In this course, students are required to have a student response pad and to purchase a coupon that entitiles them to use the pad in this course.  The pad is reusable, the coupon in not.  Students will use the pad in every lecture to answer questions, complete surveys, and participate in class activities.  Students are required to have their response pad with them for every lecture.  No make up opportunites are offered for points missed because students did not have their reponse pads.  The memo explains how students may link their response pads to our course.

Examinations


Required Supplemental Readings  (Discussion questions are posted below each reading)
  
     The Wealth of Nations, Chapters 1-4, Adam Smith

          Discussion Questions for Smith

       "The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp," R. A. Radford

          Discussion Questions for Radford

    "The Eight Great Myths of Recycling," Daniel K. Benjaimn, PERC

          Discussion Questions for Benjamin

       "U.S. Monetary Policy: An Introduction," Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
          
 
Newspaper Articles that Show the Relevance of Economics
    "The Opportunity Cost of Economic Education,"  Robert Frank, New York Times, September 1, 2005
    "Man Trades Paper Clip into a House,"  Thanks to Econ 101 Student Naveed Hassan  
    "Ticketmaster Uses Auctions to Curtail Ticket Scalping
    "To Reduce the Cost of Teenage Temptation, Why Not Just Raise the Price of Sin?", NYT, July 25, 2005
    "The New Ticketing Process, Online Ticket Distribution," Daily Tar Heel, September 1, 2006
    "Standard-Bearers," New Yorker, October 16, 2006 Suggested by Elias Pratt, this is about network economies.
    "Gambling against the Dollar," New York Times, November 1, 2006. Suggested by Brian Munley.
    "High Costs," New Yorker, November 6, 2006 (Global warming viewed as an externality). Suggested by Alex Merritt.
    "Pause Stirs Concern that Growth in Productivity May Be Flattening," WSJ, November 11, 2006.
    "Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity," NYT, August 28, 2006
          Here is a thoughtful critique of the August 28, NYT article.
    "Technical Change and the Dispersion of Wages," FRBSF Economic Letter, Number 2002-23, August 9, 2002
    "Cigarette Sales Fall after Tax Kicks In," Raleigh News and Observer, November 22, 2006.  Suggested by Andrew Dunn.
    "Dollar falls versus Euro, Yen," New York Times, November 27, 2006.
    "The Other Milton Friedman...," Robert Frank, New York Times, November 23, 2006.
     "Bernanke Warns Inflation Remains a Significant Risk," Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2006
    "Fed Cuts Rate Half Point, and Stock Markets Soar," New York Times, September 19, 2007
    "Ticket Distribution Policy Unveiled," Daily Tar Heel, September 24, 2007
    "Running of the Tar Heels: General Admission is Problematic; We Have Suggestions," Daily Tar Heel, September 25, 2007
    "Dollar lifts exporters, blunting housing busts," Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2007
    "Thriving Black Market for Hannah Montana Tickets," ABC News, October 29, 2007 Thanks to Andrew Hall
    "Fed's Hint of a Rate Cut Cheers Makrets," Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2007
    "Economy's Varied Picture," Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2007
    "Bernanke's Comments Help Mitigate Short-Term Fears," Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2007

  Copies of Powerpoint Slides for Lectures

Questions Asked  via CPS

Recitation Plan

Class Journal--Required Entries
    Assignment 1. Due at the beginning of Week 1 Recitation.
       Find a news article that deals with scarce resources.  Use "opportunity cost"
       and the "benefit-cost principle" to interpret the article.  Enter a copy of the
       article and your analysis (100 words or so) in your journal.  Bring your
       journal with the completed assignment to your first recitiation.

    Assignment 2.  Due at the beginning of Week 4 Recitation
       Find a news article that concerns a market allocation issue.  Put a copy of the article in your journal. 
       Write 200 words explain how demand and supply analysis can be used to interpret the article. 
       Include your analysis in your journal.

    Assignment 3. Due at the beginning of Week 8 Recitation
      Find and reproduce a news article that describes a comparative advantage of the United States
      in international trade. Paste a copy of the article in your journal and write a 200 word analysis
      that explains how exploiting this comparative advantage will lead to the creation of jobs and wealth.

    Assignment 4.  Due at the beginning of Week 12 Recitation
       Find and reproduce a news article that describes a macroeconomic or monetary policy issue.
       Write 150 words explaining what the issue is and why it is important.

     Assignment 5.    
       Find and reproduce a news article that discusses the current state of monetary policy. Include
       the article in your journal an write a 150 word analysis explaining whether you believe the Fed
       is more likely to raise or lower interest rates in the next three months.  Explain your reasoning.

    Other Resources
   
The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
    GAO Report on the Byrd Amendment
    Chapter Problems Frank and Bernanke Chapters 1,2,3,5,6
    Chapter Problems Frank and Bernanke Chapters 2, 7-10, 12
    Chapter Problems Frank and Bernanke Chapters 17-20, 22