ECON 102 - Principles of Economics - Micro Approach

3 Credits: (3 lecture)

Course Description
Principles of Economics - Micro Approach is a basic study of market models: the price system, wage determination, labor sector, foreign economies and current economic problems.

Text
Schiller, Bradley R., Cynthia Hill, and Sherri Wall. The Micro Economy Today. 17th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2024.

Objectives
The student will be able to:

A. Identify the basic economic problem of scarcity and choice.

B. Describe and analyze the differing economic goals of different economies.

C. State what demand and supply schedules show.

D. Explain how market prices are determined.

E. Describe the behavior of buyers and sellers under different market models.

F. List and describe the determinants of demand and the determinants of supply.

G. Distinguish between shifts in supply and demand and changes in quantities supplied and demanded.

H. Define price ceilings and price floors.

I. Determine if a product has elastic or inelastic demand by observing how total revenue changes in response to changes in price.

J. Apply marginal analysis in economic decision-making.

K. Explain how an increase (or decrease) in the availability of a currency may cause a decline (or rise) in that currency’s foreign exchange value.

L. Examine the different market structures and analyze firms behavior under each structure.

M. Describe the market conditions of regulation and of deregulation.

Content
A. The Market Economy: The institutions of the market economy are examined. An analysis of the interplay of the various forces in the economy is made.

B. Supply and Demand: The student is shown the concepts of supply and demand and their

interrelationship in the determination of price.

C. Costs of Production: Costs related to the economic analysis of a firm’s operation are studied, including variable cost, fixed cost, average cost, and marginal cost.

D. Theory of the Firm: The market structures of pure competition, monopolistic competitions, oligopoly, duopoly, and monopoly are analyzed. The related theory explaining each market form is examined.

Student Evaluation
Evaluation will be on the basis of quizzes, tests, and a final examination.Bibliography
Allen, William. The Midnight Economist: Meditations on Truth and Public Policy. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies, 1989.

Black, John. A Dictionary of Economics. Oxford: New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Blinder, Alan S. Hard Heads, Soft Hearts, Tough-Minded Economics for a Just Society. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1987.

Byrns, Ralph and Gerald W. Stone. Great Ideas for Teaching Economics. 3rd ed. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman, 1992.

Friedman, David. Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

Friedman, Milton and Rose Friedman. Free to Choose. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich, 1980.

Gintis, Herbert. Game Theory Evolving. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Jabaily, Robert (ed.). Economics of Pro Team Sports: Peanuts and Crackerjacks. Boston, MA: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2000.

Keynes, John Maynard. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1936.

Landsburg, Steven E. The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life. New York: Free Press, 1993.

Naisbitt, John. Global Paradox: The Bigger the World Economy, the More Power its Smallest Players. New York: W. Morrow, 1994.

Norris, Floyd. New York Times Century of Business. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

Schumacher, E. F. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. New York: Perennial Library, 1989, c. 1973.

Scully, Gerald W. The Business of Major League Baseball. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.