COURSE SYLLABUS

ECON A602

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS FOR MANAGERS

Professor Larry L. Ross

Fall 2006

                               © Larry L. Ross

ECON A602, Introduction to Economics for Managers, is designed to introduce graduate students to basic economic concepts and theories, with equal emphasis on both macroeconomic and microeconomic principles.

Instructor:  Larry L. Ross, Professor of Economics

Office:  Rasmuson Hall 307E

Office Phone:  786-1613    e-mail:  afllr@cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu

Secretary:  Pat Moores, Rasmuson Hall 302, 786-4127

Readings and Sources:

     Mansfield and Behravesh, Economics U$A, 7^th ed.

The Southern California Consortium/Sondgeroth, Telecourse

     Study Guide for Economics U$A, 7^th ed.

Ross, Resources for Macroeconomics, 2005 ed.

Ross, Resources for Microeconomics, 2005 ed.

DATES, CHAPTER NUMBERS, & TOPICS

Macroeconomics

8/31    1. What Is Economics?

8/31    2. Markets and Prices

9/7     3. National Income and Product

9/7     4. Business Fluctuations and Unemployment

9/14   5. The Determination of National Output and the Keynesian Multiplier

9/14   6. Fiscal Policy and National Output

9/14   7. Inflation 9/29                                                 

9/28    8. Money and the Banking System

9/28   9. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy

10/5  10. Stagflation and Anti-Inflationary Measures

10/5  11. Productivity, Growth, and Technology Policy

10/5  12. Deficits, Public Debt, and the Federal Budget

10/12 13. Monetary Policy, Interest Rates, and Economic Activity

10/12  14. Controversies Over Stabilization Policy

Microeconomics

10/26 15. The Business Firm:  Organization, Motivation, and Optimal Input

           Decisions

10/26 16. Getting Behind the Demand and Supply Curves           

11/2  17. Market Demand and Price Elasticity

11/2  18. Economic Efficiency, Market Supply, and Perfect Competition

11/9  19. Monopoly and Its Regulation                           

11/9  20. Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, and Antitrust Policy   

11/9  21. Pollution and the Environment

11/30 22. The Supply and Demand for Labor

11/30 23. Interest, Rent, and Profit

11/30 24. Poverty, Income Inequality, and Discrimination

11/30 25. Economic Growth

11/30 26. Public Goods and the Role of the Government

11/30 27. International Trade

11/30 28. Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments

Exam #1:  Thursday, September 21; Chapters 1-7.

Exam #2:  Thursday, October 19; Chapters 8-14.

Exam #3:  Thursday, November 16; Chapters 15-21.

Exam #4:  Thursday, December 7; Chapters 22-28.   

COURSE FORMAT & GRADING STANDARDS

ECON A602

Professor Larry L. Ross

© Larry L. Ross

COURSE FORMAT

ECON A602 is a graduate-level economics course for mature and independent learners who are both self-motivated and self-directed.  This course will be conducted in a seminar format.  Each student is responsible for adequately preparing for class sessions by reading the assigned chapters in the textbook plus any supplementary materials, and by answering the questions in the study guide.  Students are expected to do their best to respond to the instructor’s questions in class.  Class session time will include questions/answers, lectures, discussions, and video presentations.  The course will move at a rapid pace.

GRADING STANDARDS

Grading in this course will be based on students’ performances on four equally-weighted examinations.  The first two exams will cover macroeconomics, and the second two exams will focus on microeconomics.  Each exam will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions with 5 alternatives on each question.  Each question is worth one point;          50 points possible per test.  Each exam will be administered in class, and each will be

 open notes.

At the end of the course, scores from these four examinations will be added together to yield each student’s total point score (200 points possible).  Final course grades will be assigned on the basis of the following scale of total point scores:

                                                            176-200:  A

                                                            156-175:  B

                                                            136-155:  C

                                                            120-135:  D

                                                            0-119:      F

For persons on the borderline between two grades on the basis of the above point scale, the following factors may help to raise their grade to the higher grade:  (1) class participation, and (2) an optional book review.  Some suggested books are Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom; Friedman and Friedman, Free to Choose:  A Personal Statement; Galbraith, The Affluent Society, The Great Crash 1929, and The New Industrial State; and Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto.