Economics 101
Principles of Economics
Fall Semester,
2008
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