Economics 101 Honors,
Section 001, Professor Salemi Principles of Economics Spring Semester, 2012
Page
Version: May 4, 2012, Final Version
Facts Class Meetings: Tuesday
and Thursday, 9:30-10:45, Gardner 307
Instructor:
Michael K. Salemi: 108 Gardner Hall, 966-5391
(office), 929-9504 (home), Michael_Salemi@unc.edu
Office Hours: Tu, 10:45--noon and by
appointment.
The course Fact
Sheet and Syllabus explains the goals and rules of the
course, organizes its by topics, and provides an expanded reading
list..
The course Calendar provides a
list day-by-day class activities and assignments.
Examinations
Midterm One February 16, 2012
Midterm Two March 29, 2012 Final
8:00-11:00 am,
Thursday, May 3.
Assignment 2
Assigned on March 1, 2012 Preparation for a Class Discussion
the "The End of the Euro?"
Assignment 3
Assigned on March 29, 2012. Macro data assignment. The
companion data spreadsheet is here.
Journal Assignments Students
are required to keep a class journal which will be collected and
reviewed.
Journal Assignment One:Find a news or opinion article that you
believe is fundamentally about scarcity
of an important resource. Write a one-page (200 word) essay in
your course journal in which you explain why and how
the concepts of opportunity cost and the benefit-cost principle
can be used to better understand the article.
Journal Assignment Two:
a. Read the New York Times article,
“As Price of Oil Soars, Users Shivers and Cross Their
Fingers.”
b.
Write a 200 word essay in your course journal in which you use
demand and supply analysis to interpret the article.
c.
According to the article, how does the decline in the price of
natural gas affect the demand schedule for
home heating oil in the short run (one year)?In the longer run (say
five years)? Why is there a difference
in the short and long run effects on the demand for heating oil
of a fall in the price of natural gas? Please make a separate entry in your journal in which you
answer the questions posed in this part of the assignment.
Journal Assignment Three: Find a news article
that describes a situation in which a firm has market power and
uses it to raise profits.
Write a 200-300 word essay in which you use the concepts covered
in this lecture to interpret the article.
Journal Assignment Four:
Find
an additional article in the media on the European Financial
Crisis.The article
can be on
European banks, debt problems in Greece or other Euro Zone
nations, or any related matter.Write an essay for your journal
of 200-300 words in which you use the ideas from the four
background readings to interpret your article and explain
its implications for the question of whether or not the Euro will
survive.
Journal Assignment Five:
Find an article in the media that discusses the impact of
changes in interest rates on consumer or producer decisions
to purchase durable goods (for example, houses, commercial
buildings, equipment, and vehicles). Write an essay for your
journal of 200-300
words in which you use your understanding of the real rate of
interest to explain how the article illustrates the economic
idea that higher
real rates of interest raise the marginal cost of durable goods
purchases and that lower real rates of interest lower those
marginal costs. In your essay,
also explain the practical significance of the connection
between real rates of interest and durable goods purchases on
the current economic
recovery.
Journal Assignment Six: Find
anarticle in the media
that takes a stand on whether Federal Reserve policy since the
onset of the Great Contraction
has been appropriate. Write an essay in which you
accomplish two objectives. First, interpret what the article has
to say using the macro model
presented in our course. Second, explain whether you agree with
the article or not and your reasons. Note that Journals were
collected on February 28 and will be collected again on April
24.
