Welcome to
BU-224 Micro Economics
A little bit about me…
Marlo Chavarria
Ph# 813-220-2066
Email: [email protected]
AOL: marlochavarria
Syllabus
Doc Sharing Section
Reading Material
Course Outline
School of Business Policies
Grading Rubric – Discussion Board
Course Outline
Unit 1 – First Principles
Unit 2 – Economic Models: Tradeoffs and
Trade
Unit 3 – Supply and Demand &
Consumer and Producer Surplus
Unit 4 – The Market Strikes Back &
Elasticity
Unit 5 – The Rational Consumer
Course Outline (cont.)
Unit 6 – Behind the Supply Curve: Inputs
and Costs
Unit 7 – Perfect Competition and the
Supply Curve & Monopoly
Unit 8 – Oligopoly & Monopolistic
Competition and Product Differentiation
Unit 9 – Externalities
Unit 10 – Reflection
Syllabus
Reading Material
Course Outline
School of Business Policies
Grading Rubric – Discussion Board
Online Communications Guidelines
Assignments
University Policies
Plagiarism/Tutoring
Discussion Board Requirements
Students are to post a minimum of three posts per
discussion thread. One initial response and two
substantial replies to their classmates.
Posting on a minimum of three different days. The
first post must be made by Saturday
Late Policy
1-7 calendar days late ~ 20% deduction
8-14 calendar days late ~ 30% deduction
Work will not be accepted 2 weeks after
 Extenuating circumstances – death in
immediate family and hospitalization
Scarcity
Scarcity
Scarcity
Limited resources
Choices must be made
Opportunity Cost
The value of the next best alternative
Marginal analysis
Opportunity Cost
Retrieved from http://strom.clemenson.edu
Retrieved from www.stus.com
Opportunity Cost
Example of cost of education
Annual salary - $50,000 (Implicit)
Tuition - $25,000 (Explicit)
2 years of graduate school - $100,000 in
salary and $50,000 in tuition
Total opportunity cost - $150,000
(Implicit & Explicit)
Future marginal income of working life
should be higher
Trade offs
Cost vs. Benefits
Marginal Cost Analysis
Efficiency in resource allocation
Analysis of benefits and costs of the marginal
unit of good or input
Maximization of utility subject to a budget
contraint
Economic Agents
Consumers seek to maximize their utility
given a budget constraint (limitation) –
Demand Side
Business maximize profits by minimizing
costs (limitation) – Supply Side
Governments maximize social welfare and
try to moderate taxing citizens
Economic Agents
Consumers
Producers
Government
There are gains
from trade
Discussion
• In his famous book "The Wealth of Nations" Adam Smith
stated: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the
brewer, or the baker that we expect out dinner, but from their
regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their
humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our
own necessities but of their advantages.”
•
What do you think Adam Smith meant in this statement?
Try to use concepts seen in this unit such as
specialization, mutual gains from trade, market
coordination, etc in your interpretation.
Assignment
(Your assignment consists of 2 parts)
1 - Professional Report:
You will choose one of the countries discussed in the websites
you were provided and you will discuss the etiquette, customs,
and protocol for that country. This should be 1-2 pages long.
2 - Memo:
The memo will include:
• at least 5 etiquette tips unique to the selected country
• discuss how knowing about global business etiquette
practices would be beneficial for topics in Macroeconomics.
The memo should be at least 1-2 pages in length and
provide explanation of those tips.
Submit Research Topic
(Research Information can be found under the Unit 8 Link)
Your Research Paper should:
• Be between 2 and 3 pages (600 to 900 words) in length –
double spaced.
• Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling and follow the
APA format.
• Have an introduction, a development, and a conclusion. In the
development you should present your arguments or
assessment of the issue you selected while staying objective.
In the conclusion, however, you can take position and state
your opinion. This being an Economics course, your arguments
should pertain to the economy.
Submit Research Topic
(Research Information can be found under the Unit 8 Link)
• Your arguments should be supported as much as possible by
articles or studies that have been made on the subject. If you
mention statistics or any data or numbers, your source should
be clearly stated, otherwise your argument won’t be valid.
Most sources should be less than 3 years old.
• Include a list of references (URLs, articles, books, etc.) in a
separate Bibliography / Webliography.
• * The Grading Rubric that will be used to evaluate your paper
can be found in the Syllabus in the Course Home.
Student Resources
US Department of Commerce: The Bureau of Economic Analysis
http://bea.gov/index.htm
The Economist Magazine
www.economist.com
The New York Times
www.nytimes.com
Wallstreet Journal Online
http://online.wsj.com/home-page
US News and World Report
http://www.usnews.com/
Student Resources (cont’d…)
US Bureau of Labor Statistics
www.bls.gov
Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/home/us
The Federal Reserve Website
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
In addition, you may use the library offered by the school which offers a
wealth of information from reliable sources. Another source of information is
Youtube (www.youtube.com )which has a library of videos. Simply type in
the topic we are covering in the search box to locate videos relating to
material we are covering.
Thank you for attending.
I look forward to this upcoming semester
with you!