Individual and Social Choice
Professor Daniel Rich, Stevenson 427
Economics 103, Spring 2011
[email protected] (subject eco 103)
Office Hours: Tuesday 9am-11:00 and by appointment
Weekly Help Sessions: __________________________
"Let your interests and passions guide you in choosing the questions you ask,
but keep those passions out of the answers you form." Richard Musgrave
Introduction
Economics can be viewed as an objective framework for understanding individual and collective choices
in a changing environment. During the semester we will focus on two primary objectives: (1) to understand a
few key ideas from economics along with the related tools of analysis and (2) to apply the insights from each
economic idea to a variety of real world choices made by individuals, households and communities. Over the
years, the economic way of thinking will continue to be valuable as we face challenges in community affairs,
family life and our careers.
ECO 103 is not a standard introductory course in economics. This course has been developed for the
general education program at Illinois State University. In all middle core courses you continue to develop skills
in critical thinking and written communication. Electives in the "individuals and societies" group introduce you
to the way social scientists attempt to understand individual choices, collective human behavior and the
relationship between the two. While the perspective in this course is based on economic theory, we address
topics commonly considered in other disciplines. Related courses are offered in sociology, agriculture, women's
studies, anthropology, industrial technology, geography and psychology.
In this middle core elective course we explore a diverse set of applications; however, our attention
returns periodically to three general issues of interest. What are the sources of society's economic well-being and
how does this relate to individual choice? How can the rational choices of one individual be different from the
rational choices of others? How are social choices made and carried out in a market environment?
Your week-to-week effort will influence both the lasting value of this course to you and your grade.
Here are a few tips from students who have succeeded in this course. Keep up with assigned readings to prepare
for class, attend every class session, relate concepts from class to personal experiences, solve practice exercises
on your own each week, attend weekly help sessions, and work together with a small group of classmates. Inclass and out-of-class questions and discussion are encouraged. If you are having trouble mastering the material
in this course then you should not hesitate to seek out assistance.
Course Materials
(MP) Parkin, Microeconomics (8th Edition, Addison Wesley, 2008)
(SG) Rush, Study Guide to Accompany Microeconomics, (8th Edition, Addison Wesley, 2008)
(MPM) Parkin, Macroeconomics (8th Edition, Addison Wesley, 2008)
(BFW) Blau, Ferber & Winkler, The Economics of Women, Men and Work, (5th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2006).
(ES) Ehrenberg & Smith, Modern Labor Economics: Theory and Public Policy, (10th edition, Addison Wesley, 2009).
(GB) Becker, Accounting for Tastes, (Harvard Univ Press, 1996).
Course material from all of these sources has been compiled as an Ebook course packet and is available
from Pearson Custom Publishing on-line. You purchase access to these materials through the usual
bookstores serving ISU.
The most frequently used source will be the introductory economics text by Parkin (MP). All of the
readings selected from this text have end-of-chapter questions while additional exercises and questions are
available in the study guide (SG). We will turn to the other sources (MPM, BFW, ES, GB) for selected topics
throughout the semester and they can be found in separate files for viewing. Frequent in-class handouts will
provide guidance to reading materials and additional exercises.
Grading
There are four examinations (including a non-comprehensive final) and your performance on these inclass exams will determine most of your grade for the course. Exams combine a multiple choice format with
graph-based problems, discussion and short answer questions. Each exam is graded on a 100 point scale and
each of your best three exams will constitute 25% of your semester grade. Your lowest exam score will be
weighted as 10% of your semester grade with the remaining 15% based on a review and analysis assignment
(details, due dates and resources are provided on the class website). The anticipated grading scale for each exam
and for the semester will be 90 for an A, 80 for a B, 65 for a C, and 50 for a D.
There will be no dropping of grades and no extra credit assignments for any individual. Make-ups can be
requested in advance but generally will not be arranged after a test has been given. It is your responsibility to
contact me as soon as a conflict arises to discuss the possibility of a make-up examination.
Updated course information and grades for each exam will be posted on the course website:
go to www.econ.ilstu.edu, “courses”, ECO 103
Date
topics
Preparation
Overview of the course.
In-class handouts
Individual and social choice in economics.
MP 1-16
Graphing economic relationships.
MP 17-32
Resources, opportunity cost & efficiency.
MP 33-39
January 19
Economic growth & individual decisions.
MPM
January 24
Gains from specialization & exchange.
MP 42-43, 54-58
January 26
Household choices & limits to specialization.
BFW 35-63
January 31
Exercises & review.
February 2
First midterm exam
February 7
Preferences, constraints & choice.
MP 171-179, 184-185
February 9
Consumer substitution & income responses.
MP 179-182
February 14
Work, leisure & time allocation responses.
MP 182-183, 191-196
February 16
Labor force participation & determinants.
BFW 85-133
February 21
Bounded rationality & individual choices.
In-class handout
February 23
Tradition, social influence & individual choice.
In-class handout
February 28
Exercises & review.
March 2
Second midterm exam
January 10
January 12
Date
topics
Preparation
March 14
Present value & investment decisions.
In-class handout
March 16
Consumer behavior across time (saving, credit).
In-class handout
March 21
Human capital investment decisions.
ES 279-302
March 23
Human capital investment decisions.
BFW 136-157
March 28
Mobility & migration as investment decisions.
In-class handout
March 30
Preference formation & rational addiction.
GB 118-135
April 4
Exercises & review.
April 6
Third midterm exam
April 11
Consumer demand & producer supply.
MP 58-69
April 13
Demand, supply & market responses.
MP 70-77
April 18
Elasticities, determinants & applications.
MP 83-99
April 20
Efficiency & equity of market outcomes.
MP 103-119
April 25
Price controls & resource allocation.
MP 123-128, 148-152
April 27
Taxes, tax revenue & market outcomes.
MP 132-136
May 2
Final exam (Monday at 1pm)
Student Information
first or nickname:
email:
last name:
phone:
tell me something interesting about you (hometown, musical interests, etc.).
please describe your career goals (it is certainly ok to be undecided).
what has been your favorite college course so far? explain why.
what are you looking forward to about this course?
what concerns do you have about this course?