| 1 |
Thinking Like an Economist |
- Cost-Benefit Principle
- The Scarcity Principle
- Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
- The Economizing Problem
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- Define opportunity cost and provide an example.
- Explain the usefulness of the “other-things-equal” assumption in economics analysis.
- State the difference between Macroeconomics and Microeconomics.
- Explain the problem of unlimited needs and wants as it relates to the individual and to society.
- Explain the message of the basic production possibilities curve.
- Represent a relationship between two variables with a graph.
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| 2 |
Comparative Advantage |
- Government
and Trade
- Trade
Barriers
- Trade
Agreements
- Production
Possibilities
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- Define
comparative advantage and use a table to illustrate the concept.
- Describe
the gains from specialization and explain how exchange rates are
determined.
- Identify
common trade barriers imposed by governments and explain why governments
interfere with trade.
- Analyze the
economic impact of trade barriers.
- Describe
notable trade agreements.
- Explain the
difference between positive and normative economics.
- Determine
comparative advantage from information implicit in two PPCs.
- Delineate a
case for free trade.
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| 3 |
Supply and Demand |
- Economic Systems
- Characteristics of the Market System
- Markets
- Demand
- Supply
- Market Equilibrium
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- Identify
two major economic systems.
- Identify
and explain the characteristics of the market system.
- Describe
markets and their function.
- Explain the
relationship between price and quantity demanded.
- Identify
the determinants of demand.
- Explain and
graphically illustrate the difference between a change in quantity demanded and
a change in demand.
- Identify
the determinants of supply.
- Explain and
graphically illustrate the difference between a change in quantity supplied and
a change in supply.
- Explain and
graphically illustrate market equilibrium.
- Explain the
Efficiency Principle.
- Apply
demand and supply analysis to real-world issues and problems.
- Explain the
income and substitution effects.
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| 4 |
Elasticity |
- Price
Elasticity of Demand
- Price
Elasticity of Supply
- Cross
Elasticity of Demand
- Income
Elasticity of Demand
|
- Calculate
price elasticity of demand using the midpoint and the percentage
formulas.
- Compare and
contrast inelastic and elastic demands.
- Explain
what determines price elasticity of demand.
- Apply price
elasticity of demand to real-world issues.
- Contrast
the short-run and the long-run with respect to price elasticity of
supply.
- Apply price
elasticity of supply to real-world issues.
- Explain
cross-price elasticity and income elasticity of demand.
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| 5 |
Demand |
- Consumer
Choice and Budget Constraint
- Rational
Spending and the Demand Curve
- Consumer
Surplus
- Optimal
Combination of Resources
|
- Explain and
illustrate The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
- Use The Law
of Diminishing Marginal Utility to explain the shape of a typical demand
curve.
- Use the
Rational Spending Rule to determine how a consumer will allocate a fixed income
in the purchase of two goods.
- Use the
Rational Spending Rule to derive the demand for a product.
- Explain the
income and substitution effects.
- Describe
computer surplus
- Determine
the optimal combination of resources using two methods.
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| 6 |
Perfectly Competitive Supply |
- Characteristics of Perfect Competition
- Short-Run
Profit Maximization
- Long-Run
Profit Maximization
- Producer
Surplus
|
- Identify
the characteristics of the representative firm operating under the conditions of
perfect competition.
- Analyze the
demand faced by the perfectly competitive firm.
- Calculate
the purely competitive firm’s level of production and profit (or loss) in
the short run using two methods.
- Explain the
condition under which the perfectly competitive firm will shut down in the short
run.
- Derive the
competitive firm’s short-run supply curve.
- Analyze the
perfectly competitive firm’s long-run equilibrium.
- Describe
producer surplus.
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| 7 |
Efficiency, Exchange, and the Invisible Hand |
- Economic
Profit
- Economic
Rent
|
- Analyze the
sources of economic profit.
- Explain the
economic function of profit.
- Explain the
existence of economic rent.
- Explain why
Adam Smith believed the “invisible hand” would promote the public or
social interest.
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| 8 |
Monopoly, Oligopoly, and Monopolistic Competition |
- Characteristics of Pure Monopoly
- Monopoly
Demand
- Monopoly
Output and Price Determination
- Efficiency
Implications of Pure Monopoly
- Price
Discrimination
- Public
Policy
- Characteristics of Monopolistic Competition
- Price and
Output Determination in Monopolistic Competition
- Monopolistic Competition and Efficiency
- Characteristics of Oligopoly
- Models of
Oligopoly
- Oligopoly
and Efficiency
- The
Antitrust Laws and Policy
- Effectiveness of Antitrust Laws
- Natural
Monopoly
|
- Compare and
contrast the characteristics of pure monopoly with those of perfect
competition.
- Compare and
contrast the demand curve and marginal revenue curve of the monopolist with that
of the purely competitive firm.
- Use the
MR=MC rule to determine the monopolist’s profit maximizing price and
output.
- Analyze the
economic effects of monopoly.
- Define
price discrimination.
- Identify
real-world examples of price discrimination.
- Analyze the
various public policies toward natural monopoly.
- Compare and
contrast the characteristics of monopolistic competition with those of pure
competition.
- Use the
MR=MC rule to determine the monopolistically competitive firm’s output and
price in the short and long run.
- Analyze the
efficiency implications of the monopolistically competitive market.
- Identify
the conditions that lead to oligopoly.
- Analyze
three models of Oligopoly.
- Analyze the
efficiency implications of oligopoly.
- Describe
the most important of the antitrust laws of the U.S. and the historical events
leading to the passing of these laws.
- Describe
inconsistencies in antitrust policies.
- Analyze the
conditions that result in the existence of natural monopoly.
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| 9 |
Games and Strategic Behavior |
- Game
Theory
- The
Prisoner’s Dilemma
|
- Use Game
Theory to explain pricing behavior in different markets
- Apply the
Prisoner’s Dilemma to real-world scenarios.
- Provide
examples when timing matters in a game
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| 10 |
An Introduction to Behavioral Economics |
- Judgmental
Heuristics or Rules of Thumb
- >Misinterpretation of Contextual Clues
- Impulse-Control Problems
- Loss
Aversion and Status Quo Bias
- Beyond
Narrow Self-Interest
- Concerns
about Relative Position
|
- Describe
Rules of Thumb
- Explain how
consumers may misinterpret context clues
- Explain how
consumers suffer from impulse-control problems
- Describe
loss aversion and status quo bias
- Explain
Narrow Self-Interest
- List
examples of laws and regulations related to behavioral economics
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| 11 |
Externalities and Property Rights |
- Externalities
- Private
Ownership
- Costs and
Access
- High and
Rising Health Care Costs
- Why Costs
Are Rising So Rapidly
- Health Care
Reform
- Pollution
- Workplace
Safety
|
- Define
positive and negative externalities.
- Use the
Coase Theorem to analyze a real-world individual bargaining example.
- Explain
various ways in which government can bring about efficiency in the face of
externalities.
- Describe
how private ownership prevents the “tragedy of the commons”.
- Present
current statistics relative to the healthcare industry.
- Analyze the
healthcare industry and explain why costs are rising so rapidly in that
industry.
- Use
cost-benefit criterion to show why healthcare costs are rising so
rapidly.
- List
various options to health care reform.
- Discuss the
ways in which taxes and tradable permits can reduce pollution.
- Apply the
Cost-Benefit Principle to improve workplace safety.
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| 12 |
The Economics of Information |
- Economic
Value
- The
Cost-Benefit Test
- Asymmetric
Information
|
- Explain how
buyers and sellers can create real economic value.
- Identify
the optimal amount of information by applying the Cost-Benefit Principle.
- Define
asymmetric information.
- Describe
how asymmetric information contributes to the lemons problem.
- Explain the
responses to asymmetric information problems
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| 13 |
Labor Markets, Poverty, and Income |
- Labor,
Wages, and Earnings
- Perfect
Competition in the Labor Market
- Imperfect
Competition in the Labor Market
- The Minimum
Wage Debate
- Wage
Differentials
- Facts About
Income Inequality
- Causes of
Income Inequality
- Income
Inequality Over Time
- Poverty
- Economic
Efforts of Unions
- Labor
Market Discrimination
- Economic
Analysis of Discrimination
- Marginal
Productivity Theory
- Deadweight
Loss
|
- Distinguish
between nominal wages and real wages.
- Describe
the relationship between real wages and productivity.
- Analyze
wage determination in a purely competitive labor market.
- State a
case for and against the minimum wage.
- Analyze the
causes of income inequality.
- Present
historical data on income inequality.
- Define
poverty and delineate the incidence of poverty.
- State ways
in which unions may decrease economic efficiency.
- States ways
in which unions may increase economic efficiency.
- Define
labor market discrimination and identify the types of discrimination that may
occur.
- Explain how
changes in the determinants of resource demand impact the demand for
resources.
- Illustrate
deadweight losses due to over- or under-production of an economic good.
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| 14 |
Public Goods and Tax Policy |
- Public
Goods
- Tax
Incidence and Efficiency Loss
|
- Compare and
contrast private goods and public goods.
- Use the
MB=MC rule to determine the optimal quantity of public goods.
- Explain why
rent seeking occurs.
- Contrast
progressive, proportional, and regressive taxes.
- Analyze the
relationship between elasticity and tax incidence.
- Illustrate
the efficiency loss of a tax.
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| 15 |
International Trade and Trade Policy |
- Comparative
advantage
- Closed
Open Economies
- Possibilities Curve
- Politics of
international trade
|
- Explain the
comparatives advantages in trade
- Illustrate
Possibilities Curves
- Explain
supply and demand in relation to international trade
- Illustrate
why trade is political
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| 16 |
Course Review |
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