Course Method and Requirements:

The presentation of Principles of Microeconomics will consist primarily of lectures and discussions of basic problems in economic analysis; these will be backed up with assignments in the texts.  It is also expected that there will be numerous references to other supplementary texts and readings in the field, including some found on the internet. Students are expected to prepare adequately for class by reading all assignments before the class meeting so that they can participate more actively and intelligently.

Course Grading:  

	Exam I	50 Points
	Exams II & III	100 Points EACH
	Computer Assignment	50 Points
	Final Exam (Cumulative)	150 Points

Make-Up Policy:  

A student missing an exam must either notify the professor in advance or present a written excuse.  Missed exams with an acceptable excuse will be made up at a time to be determined by the professor.

Course Attendance:

Any Freshman missing more than four classes will receive an F for their semester grade.

Academic Integrity Policy Statement:

The Code of academic Integrity of Villanova University addresses cheating, fabrication of submitted work, plagiarism, handing in work completed for another course without the instructor’s approval, and other forms of dishonesty. For the first offense, a student who violates the Code of Villanova University will receive 0 points for the assignment. The violation will be reported by the instructor to the Dean’s office and recorded in the student’s file. In addition, the student will be expected to complete an education program. For the second offense, the student will be dismissed from the University and the reason noted on the student’s official transcript.

 Statement on Disability:

It is the policy of Villanova to make reasonable academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability please contact me after class or during office hours and make arrangements to register with the Learning Support Office by contacting Ms. Nancy Mott at 610-519-5636 as soon as possible. Registration is needed in order to receive accommodations.

Office:   

Bartley 3022 

Phone: 

610-519-4371 

Fax:  

610-519-6054       

Email: 

charles.zech@villanova.edu

Office Hours:  

Monday, Wednesday: 10AM – 12:30PM; 2-3 PM

COURSE OUTLINE

Date	Topic	Readings
August 2	Introduction	Chs. 1-2,4;pp.76-83
The economic problem of scarce resources and unlimited wants is introduced, along with the capitalistic system’s approach to dealing with this problem.
September 3, 10	Supply and Demand	Ch. 3
The workings of the market system – the interaction between the forces of supply and demand- are analyzed. The determination of individual prices, and the factors that can cause prices to change, are discussed in detail.
September 17	Elasticity	Ch. 7
Elasticity refers to the responsiveness of the quantity to changes in various factors. This useful tool is helpful in assisting both private sector and public sector organizations make predictions about the effectiveness of a decision.
EXAM I
September 24	Consumer Behavior	Ch. 8
The law of demand is explained as the outcome as consumers attempt to maximize their satisfaction from consuming goods within the bounds set by their limited incomes and the prices of the goods they purchase.
October 1	Costs of Production	Ch. 9 (Except pp. 160-162)
An in-depth analysis of the law of supply is begun with a detailed analysis of firms’ costs.  The various types of production costs are introduced.
October 8, 22	Perfect Competition	Ch. 10
The market structure perfect competition is introduced and shown to be an ideal organization of firms to achieve both productive and allocative efficiency.
October 29	Monopoly	Ch. 11
The extreme market structure where only one firm is the sole producer of a product is examined.  This market structure is compared to perfect competition and policies to rectify its shortcomings are discussed.
EXAM II
November 5, 12	Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly	Chs. 12, 13
These more common market structures are characterized by product differentiation. It is shown that the degree of market power in each industry affects the firms’ ability to engage in strategic behavior.
November 19	Resource Markets	pp. 160 - 163, Chs. 14, 15
The wages that workers receive is shown to be the outcome of a market process. The demand for labor depends on the value of its contribution to the firm, which in turn depends on its productivity as well as on the demand for the product that it is producing. The supply of labor is determined by the worker’s tradeoff between work and leisure.
November 26	Capital Markets	Ch. 16
The markets for both physical and financial capital are analyzed, including the roles played by the risk – return tradeoff and corporate governance issues.
December 3	Government and Economic Policy	Ch. 17
The government's role in providing public goods, and controlling monopolistic firms and labor unions, is analyzed.
EXAM III
December 10	Global Economics	Chs. 24-25
The advantages and problems associated with pursuing economic relations with the rest of the world are examined.
FINAL EXAM (Cumulative) Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:45 AM