Economics 101 Honors, Section 10, Professor Salemi
Principles of Economics
 Fall Semester, 2009
  Cost Benefit Principle
Page Last Revised: November 24, 2009                                                                                                                                            

Facts
Class Meetings: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30-10:45, Gardner 7

Instructor:                
Michael K. Salemi:   204 Gardner Hall, 966-5391 (office), 929-9504 (home), Michael_Salemi@unc.edu
Office Hours: Tu, 2:00-4:00, Wed, 3:00-4:30 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 was revised as of October 5 and provides a class-by-class list of topics and assignments.

HIN1 Grading and Attendance Policies

Examinations

Midterm One    September 24, 2009
Midterm Two    November 5, 2009
Final                  8:00-11:00 am, Thursday, December 18, 2009.  

Exams closed book and closed notes. Before the exams, sample questions will be available here.

Practice Questions and Examination Information will appear here later in the semester.
   First Midterm  Exam Guide   Practice Multiple Choice Questions     Midterm Exam and Key
   
    Second Midterm   Exam Guide  Practice Multiple Choice Questions   Midterm Exam and Key
  
   Final Exam

Required Supplemental Readings
    "The Opportunity Cost of Economic Education," by Robert Frank, New York Times, September 1, 2005

     The Wealth of Nations, Chapters 1-4, by Adam Smith    Discussion Questions for Smith, Chapters 1-4

    "The Use of Knowledge in Society," by F. A. Hayek    Discussion Questions for Hayek

    "Is Free Trade Passe?" by Paul Krugman   Discussion Questions for Krugman

   "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," George A. Akerlof     Discussion Questions for Akerlof   

    "Anatomy of a Meltdown: Ben Bernanke and the Financial Crisis" by John Cassidy   Discussion Questions for Cassidy
   
    "Under Attack, Fed Chief Studies Politics," New York Times, November 11, 2009

    "U.S. Monetary Policy: An Introduction," Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    "The Fed's Monetary Policy Rule," William Poole    Discussions Questions for Poole

    "Emissions Trading versus CO2  Taxes," Parry and Pizer, Resources for the Future, May 2007

    "The Trouble with Markets for Carbon," NYT, June 20, 2008


Recommended Supplemental Readings
    "Use It or Lose It: Teaching Literacy in the Economics Principles Course," Lee W. Hansen, Michael K. Salemi and John J. Siegfried

    The Wealth of Nations, Chapters 5-7, Adam Smith    Discussion Questions for Smith, Chapters 5-7

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

Class Handouts
Class 1     Handout   "A Hidden Cost of Health Care: Patient Time," NYTimes, February 9, 2009
Class 2     Handout   "Unpaid Work, but They Pay for the Privilege," NYTimes, August 9, 2009
Class 3     Handout    "Pipe Made in India Incenses Illinois Town," NYTimes, April 16, 2009
Class 4     Discussion of  Chapters 1-4 of Wealth of Nations using discussion questions in this list.
Class 5     Handout    "As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars," NYT, May 2, 2009
Class 6     Handout      Assignment      Trading Data
Class 7     Handout    "U.S. Adds Tariffs on Chinese Tires," NYT, September 12, 2009
Class 8     Handout      Handout includes copy of "Fast-Rising Steel Prices Set Back Big Projects," NYT, May 15, 2008.
Class 9     Handout      Handout includes copy of "Proposed Tax on Sugary Beverages Debated," NYT, September 17, 2009
                            Note: The handout here corrects an error in the first excel graph of the handout distributed in class.
Class 10   Midterm Examination
Class 11   Handout      "Ticket Distribution Policy Unveiled," Daily Tarheel, September 24, 2007
                                    "Comments on Ticket Distribution Policy," Daily Tarheel, September 25, 2007
Class 12   Discussion of "The Use of Knowledge in Society" by F. A. Hayek using discussion questions fro this list.
Class 13   Handout    "Finally, a Business that Is Too Busy," New York Times, September 14, 2009.
Class 14   Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform (Resources are Imbedded in the Document)
                Resource L:ist with Live Links
Class 15   Handout   "Solar Panel Tariff May Further Strain U.S.-China Trade," NYT, October 1, 2009
Class 16   Discussion of "Is Free Trade Passe?" by Paul Krugman using discussion questions from this list.
Class 17   Handout    "Selling Sickness: How Drug Ads Changed Health Care," NPR, October 13, 2009
                           "From Science: Plenty of Cows but Little Profit," NYT, September 29, 2009
Class 18   Handout     "Carbon King: Economist Strikes Gold in Climate Change Fight," WSJ, March 13, 2008
                                  "Cleansing the Air at the Expense of Waterways," NYT, October 13, 2009
Class 19   Debriefing of Problem Set      Kubak Crystal Caves Solution       Oreo Cookie Pricing Solution
Class 20  "Emissions Trading versus CO2  Taxes," Parry and Pizer, Resources for the Future, May 2007
                "The Trouble with Markets for Carbon," NYT, June 20, 2008
Class 22   Handout      "US Economy Started to Grow Again in Third Quarter," NYT October 30, 2009
Class 23   Handout     "U.S.Unemployment Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years," NYT, November 7, 2009
Class 24   Handout      "Worker Productivity Surges," NYT, November 6, 2009
Class 25   Handout      "Fed Trims Rates Sharply," NYT, March 19, 2008
Class 26   Discussion of  "Anatomy of a Meltdown: Ben Bernanke and the Financial Crisis" by John Cassidy
                                  and   "Under Attack, Fed Chief Studies Politics," New York Times, November 11, 2009            
                                  Discussion Questions

Exercises and Problem Sets
Problems sets and other graded assignments will be posted here as they are made.
Students are required to keep a class journal which will be collected and reviewed.
Required Journal Assignments will be designated with the word Journal

Class Assignment Log  Last and final posting to the log on  November 24, 2009

Graded Assignment (due on October 29, 2009)       Spread Sheet to Use in Assignment
Graded Assignment (due on November 19, 2009)    Spread Sheet to Use in Assignment