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Microeconomics for Planners >> Content Detail



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Required Textbook


Amazon logo Nicholson, Walter. Intermediate Microeconomics and Its Applications. 9th ed. Stamford, CT: Thomson Learning, 2003. ISBN: 0030259169.


SES #TOPICSReadings
1Overview of the Current U.S. economy

Supply and Demand
Freudenheim, Milt. "Companies Limit Health Coverage of Many Retirees." New York Times, February 3, 2004, Section A, Page 1.

Levy, Frank, and Richard J. Murnane. "Got a Routine Job? Not for Long." Washington Post Sunday Outlook, July 4, 2004, Page 3.

Nicholson. Chapter 1 and appendix to chapter 1.

Tools: Experiment with examples 1.1 and 1.2 under Demand and Supply.
2Supply and Demand (cont.) and ElasticityNicholson. pp. 130-149.

Wessel, David. "A Lesson from the Blackout: Free Markets Also Need Rules." Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2003, Page 1.

Tools: Experiment with examples 1.3 through 1.5 under Demand and Supply.
3Tutorial 1: Simple First Derivatives and Basic Calculus
4Begin Utility Maximization and the Allocation of Scarce Resources - e.g. the Machinery Behind the Demand CurveNicholson. Chapter 2.

Tools: Experiment with three exercises under Consumer Behavior.
5Utility Maximization (cont.)

Individual Demand and Market Demand
Nicholson. Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 126-130.
6The Cost of Medical Care - An Application of Demand/Supply and Utility Under UncertaintyNicholson. pp. 503-509.

Newhouse, Joseph. "Medical Care Costs: How Much Welfare Loss?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6, no. 3: 3-21.
7Technology, Costs and Returns to ScaleNicholson. Chapters 5 and 6.

Autor, David, Frank Levy, and Richard J. Murnane. "Upstairs, Downstairs: Computers and Skills on Two Floors of a Large Bank." Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 2002, pp. 432, ff.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 3.1 "Cost" under Producer Behavior.
8Technology, Costs and Returns to Scale (cont.)Nicholson. Chapters 5 and 6.

Autor, David, Frank Levy, and Richard J. Murnane. "Upstairs, Downstairs: Computers and Skills on Two Floors of a Large Bank." Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 2002, pp. 432, ff.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 3.1 "Cost" under Producer Behavior.
9Basic Logic of Profit MaximizationNicholson. Chapter 7.

Tools: Under Markets, experiment with exercise 4.2.1 "Demand and Revenue."
First Midterm (covers through Session 8)
10Profit Maximization in Competitive MarketsNicholson. Chapters 8 and 9.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 4.1.1 "Short and Long Run Equilibria" under Markets.
11Profit Maximization in Competitive Markets (cont.)Nicholson. Chapters 8 and 9.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 4.1.1 "Short and Long Run Equilibria" under Markets.
12Profit Maximization Under MonopolyNicholson. Chapter 10.

Amazon logo Shapiro, Carl, and Hal Varian. Information Rules. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1998, chapter 7. ISBN: 087584863X.

Belson, Ken. "In Startling Retreat, AT&T to Stop Marketing to Consumers." New York Times, July 23, 2004.

Richtel, Matt. "Bells Win Battle, Not Necessarily the War." New York Times, July 23, 2004.
13Oligopoly and Monopolistic CompetitionNicholson. Chapter 11.

Maynard, Micheline. "Pilots at Delta Offer to Take a 23% Cut in Wages." New York Times, July 22, 2004.

For an example of monopolistic competition by adding features, look at the evolution of PDA's (e.g. Palm Pilots) and Smart Phones on Palm Evolution.
14A Taste of Simple Game TheoryNicholson. Chapter 12.

Ellison, Glenn, and Sara Fisher Ellison. "Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticites on the Internet." January 2001. (PDF)
Second Midterm (covers through Session 12)
15International Trade and OffshoringAmazon logo Krugman, Paul R., and Maurice Obstfeld. International Economics: Theory and Policy. Pearson Education Limited; International edition edition2008, chapter 2, pp. 10-37. ISBN: 9781408208076.

Boo, Katherine. "Letter from India: The Best Job in Town." The New Yorker, July 5, 2004, pp. 54-69.
16Pulling it Together - Trade, Technology and the Labor MarketUchitelle, Louis. "Surge in Jobs Mostly Bypasses the Factory Floor." New York Times, May 11, 2004.
17Course Wrap-up
18Final Exam

 








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