Intro to Political Economy (ECO 2003)

Classroom: FS 2.518

TR: 11 - 12:15 AM

University of Texas-SA Phone Number: 458-2519

Spring, 2003 Division Number: 458-2510

Instructor: Dr. John Merrifield Office: FS 4.518

Office Hours: MW 10-12 and TR 1-3 JMerrifield@utsa.edu

General Course Objectives: Economists study decisionmaking, which is people prioritizing competing uses of time and the things money can buy. Basic economic analysis tools help us understand the choices people make. Controversy occurs when people disagree on which policy yields the largest net benefits (gains minus costs), and because benefits and costs are often not clearly defined or evenly distributed.

Specific Course Goals: ECO 2003 gives motivated students a better grasp of the economic principles and policy issues underlying economic activity. ECO 2003 is in Domain II of the CORE Curriculum, so the course also aims to contribute to a broader set of goals (see attached Core Curriculum goals). The course will enable motivated students to identify opportunity costs, conduct marginal analysis, and conduct supply and demand analysis for cases with varying degrees of competitiveness, and other key factors.

‘Textbook’: BASIC ECONOMIC TOOLS AND POLICY ISSUES by John Merrifield. You can’t buy it yet. For now, the chapters are on the internet (business.utsa.edu/faculty/jmerrifi/). That address also contains helpful exercises. I will hand out the graphs as we get to each chapter. You can earn extra credit and maybe even $$$ for thoughtful comments and criticism of my textbook to be. A really good start would be a copy of the marked up diagrams you studied and the pages you read with your notes in the margins. I can’t say what your comments are worth until I see them. I will be fair. I will pay points and/or money for thoughtful, insightful evaluations. The deadline for such comments is May 2. See below for the Extra Credit policy.

Course Guidelines: The text CONVEYS information. I’m here to CLARIFY the hard stuff. I use PIQs (see below) to push you to at least skim assigned text before class. A thorough reading is better. While you read, note what needs CLARIFICATION, and speak up in class. You’re an adult, aspiring professional now. Behave accordingly. Attendance, preparation, and participation are big parts of that. Missing class for anything but an emergency is very foolish. Another part of adulthood and emerging professionalism is interaction with your classmates and me. Ask questions. Be a student, not a stenographer. Class time is NOT A RECORDING SESSION!!!

Grading: There is a 2-person, chapter one essay (description attached), a short, take-home warm-up exam, and 4 full-period exams on 2/6, 3/4, 4/1, and 4/24. There is also a very easy, 5 question Preparedness Incentive Quiz (PIQ) before the first lecture on each chapter. Unless you skip the warm-up exam, I count only the 3 best scores, but you must have my permission to drop the April 24 score_. One of the reasons for dropping the low score is to avoid make-up exams. There are no make-up exams! Don’t ask! I make the answers public right after an exam, so I can’t give make-ups. For good cause, I will schedule your exam a little early. On exam dates, bring a scantron (Form 882-ES or similar), calculator, and sharp pencils. Disperse as much as possible for exams. Avoid sitting next to anyone if you can. Do not sit near friends! Cover your scantron’s completed part. There is a comprehensive final exam: 10:30 AM on Tuesday, May 6. The grade weights are: Essay 4%, PIQs 3%, warm-up exam 3%, the 3 Best Exams 60%, and Final Exam 30%.

The ‘Curve’: It varies each term. But a 6-8 point drop is common. I use the naturally-occurring clusters to determine the cut-off points. For example, in a previous principles section, 84.6% was the lowest ‘A’. B’s ranged from 72.8%-80.4%. C’s ranged from 64%-68%.

Extra Credit Opportunities: In addition to critiquing the chapters of my book to be, you can earn extra credit points through group exercises, and through extra questions I often put at the end of exams. Five extra credit points are worth a one percentage point change in the score that your course grade is based on.

Extra Credit Policy: Students with a high Student Stress Index (weekly employment hours + (2 x credit hours)>48) should not attempt extra credit projects. Extra credit projects are especially demanding, so don't try them unless you have lots of time. Since many won't have the time, it’s not fair to let extra credit points affect the grade curve. I compute the grade curve, grade cut-offs, and each person’s preliminary grade from the PIQs, essay, exams, and the final. A student’s course grade is higher than the preliminary grade if they have enough extra credit points to get them above the lowest regular score of the next highest grade. Examples: recently, the regular scores for a preliminary course grade of ‘C’ ranged from 64% - 68%. 72.8% was the lowest regular score given a B. Student X got a regular point score of 64%, plus 30 extra credit points (=+6 percentage points, not enough to get to 72.8%), so X got a preliminary grade, and actual course grade, of ‘C’; the extra credit points didn’t affect X’s grade. Student Y got a regular score of 67.4%, plus 28 extra credit points (=+6 percentage points, enough to get past 72.8%), so Y got a preliminary grade of ‘C’, but a course grade of ‘B’. The 28 extra credit points, plus the 67.4% regular points (73.4%) were just barely enough to get Y past the 72.8% lowest score of the next highest grade. That semester, extra credit points affected the course grade of 13 of the 27 principles students that had extra credit points. Example: If your final exam score is 66.7% (= an uncurved ‘D’), extra credit points won’t push your course grade above a ‘C’. Also: Extra credit points will not cause a student’s course grade to exceed their uncurved final exam score by more than one letter grade. Translation: you waste your extra credit efforts if you perform poorly on the Final Exam. Finally, don't 'fish' for extra-credit by punching out something to see if I’ll award a few points for it. Don't get in the habit of putting your name on shoddy work! Anything you turn in that is not worth at least half of the total possible points will get a score of -5 extra credit points.

The 2-Person Essay: As soon as possible, e-mail me two things: 1.) your schedule for a typical week of this semester, especially when you can/will be on campus. 2.) your partner for the essay and the essay topic from the list below. If you lack a preferred partner or topic, I will pick one for you based on schedule similarity. Partners will learn their topic and each others’ e-mail addresses right after I hear from them.

The essay (due 1/30): For your topic (a good), discuss each of the six demand shifters and the six supply shifters (listed and discussed in chapter one). That means generally define each ‘shifter’ and then relate it to your good (the topic of your essay). Where appropriate, identify and discuss examples, and demonstrate what you mean with basic supply-demand graphs. For example, for the income shifter, explain whether you believe your good is ‘normal’, or ‘inferior’, and explain why you think income would be a major or negligible demand determinant. For the related goods’ shifters, define consumption substitutes, consumption complements, production substitutes, and production complements, and then if they exist for your good, name some examples of each. Be sure you thoroughly discuss each of the twelve shifters. No research is expected.

The topics’ menu: 1.) Flour tortillas; 2.) Corn tortillas; 3.) Granny Smith apples; 4.) Oranges; 5.) Freestone peaches; 6.) White bread; 7.) Beef; 8.) Pork; 9.) Chicken; 10.) Turkey; 11.) Potatoes; 12.) Noodles; 13.) Rice; 14.) Pita bread; 15.) Tomatoes; 16.) Cucumbers; 17.) Romaine lettuce; 18.) Pencils 19.) Papaya; 20.) Carrots; 21.) Strawberries; 22.) Kiwi fruit; 23.) Paper [made from trees] bags; 24.) ‘Real’ Christmas trees; 25.) Green bell peppers; 26.) Spaghetti; 27.) Lemons; 28.) Pinto Beans; 29.) Corn; 30.) 3” Wood Screws; 31.) Nails.