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What
we've done in class recently or will do soon:
Note: Hybrid Class will not do items after * in class.
Week
of Dec. 8: Started
discussion Externalities and Pollution (see 15-1 to
15-10 in the Study Guide / Text combo) Did
card 15ADid
Cards 15B and 15C.
Resource depletion (why we will never use the last drop of oil).
Discussed Public Goods and Natural Resource uses (see 15-11 to
15-23 in the Study Guide / Text combo). Prepared
to answer chapter 15 questions on the Final.
Week
of Nov. 24, Dec. 1: Started
discussion of capital. Interest rates are important to decisions over
time, and capital decisions all involve time, since capital lasts
longer than other resources.
Explored supply and demand for loans, real and nominal interest,
present value. Did some of
Chapter 14 Study Guide. Card
14A. Did
Card 14B on the present value
of different amount due in different time periods. See
present value. Did Card
14C on the present value of a
hybrid car's gasoline savings. See
present value.
Week
of Nov. 17, 24: Resource
(labor) markets, Marginal
Revenue Product, resource
use decisions, resource
supply, resource demand.Card
13A. Resource (labor) markets, Marginal
Revenue Product, resource
use decisions, resource
supply, resource demand.
Discussed choices between resources and the effect that minimum wage
has on hiring low-wage less skilled labor.Card
13B. Reviewed labor demand and
supply. discussed minimum wage as price floor. Defined economic rent
(as excess of pay over the amount a worker would be willing to work
for). This idea is like producer surplus. Maximizing the economic rent
of workers is one possible goal of a labor union, although not all will
have that goal. Those unions that do try to maximize the rents of their
members are essentially acting as a cartel
in the labor market. Card 13C
Week
of Nov. 10:
Price
searcher, price
searcher demand, marginal
revenue, shut
down decision, price
searcher output decision, price
searcher price decision. Why price searchers are inefficient Card
12A. Price
searchers with low barriers to entry, contestable markets, barriers to
entry. Cartels Card
12B. Reviewed
cartels, natural
monopoly and its problems. Natural
monopoly and its problems Card
12C
Week
of Nov. 3: Card
11A Price
taker markets, marginal cost
and average variable cost calculations
choices with AVC (shut down or open), Choices of output (using MC), graphical
version of short-run choices, price
taker output decisions using a table of numbers. Finding short-run
costs and profit. Here's an
example sheet. Here's
another example Card
11B Reviewed price taker output
decisions using a graphical
version of short-run choices. Card
11C Long
run costs, Price
takers and supply
Week
of Oct. 27: cost
(implicit, explicit, fixed, variable) Card
10A Relationship
of average variable cost to average product and marginal cost to
marginal product. Card
10B Average/marginal
relationship, average product. Card
10C Profit,
Average
Total Cost, Average
Fixed Cost,
relationships between various costs,
Week
of Oct 20: Card
9A on terms from production
(chapter 9) Production,
Short-run
and long run, total
product in the short run, increasing
returns Card 9B
marginal
product. Average/marginal
relationship, average product.
Did Card 9C
on calculating average product
Week
of Oct. 13: Marginal utility
and demand,
optimal decisions of consumers, Card
8A, review of optimal
decisions of consumers. Elasticity,
elasticity
and revenue, Card
8B, elasticity
calculations, elasticity
and revenue, elasticity
without numbers Card
8C
Week
of Oct. 6: Did Card
7A on definitions from Chapter
7. Started Consumer Surplus,
Producer Surplus,
Efficiency
and equilibrium, gains
from trade at equilibrium, price
floors, price
ceilings. Card
7B on Consumer Surplus,
Producer Surplus,
Efficiency
and equilibrium, gains
from trade at equilibrium, price
floors, price
ceilings. Did
Card 7C
on taxes.
Also went over what
you need to know about taxes and efficiency.
Week
of Sept 29: Discussed
things that change demand, things
that change supply. Did card
6A on things that change demand
or supply.Started Card 6B on
changes in equilibrium due to demand or supply changes. How
to deal with equilibrium questions. Reviewed
things that change demand, things
that change supply, changes
in equilibrium. How
to deal with equilibrium questions. Did
card 6C
on deducing causes of price and quantity changes as well as the results
of simultaneous demand and supply changes.
Week
of Sept 22: Started
discussion of what buyers do, quantity demanded, demand.
Did Card 5A. Reviewed
demand, Supply,
discussed equilibrium, shortages, surpluses, and pepared to solve
graphical equilibrium questions. Did
Card 5B. Did card 5C on
equilibrium graphs. Started chapter 6 ideas.
Week
of Sept. 15: Reviewed
efficiency (getting the most), production possibilities, comparative
advantage. Discussed specialization and trade as a way to find
comparative advantage. Some
notes. Production
Possibilities Curve; slope of
the curve indicates cost; the greater the current production of a good,
the higher the cost of producing more of it; slope of PPC is flat at
top and steep at bottom due to costs; if production is efficient, there
is no way to get more of one good without reducing the production of
the other good; if production is inefficient, it is possible to produce
more of one good without reducing the production of the other (we can
get some for free); efficiency means being on the PPC; below or inside
the PPC is inefficient; briefly mentioned that production possibilities
can change. Did card 3D.
Chapter
4 - transactions
costs, middlemen, property rights, invisible hand, why trade is
allocatively efficient trade based on values, who gains from
trade,trade based on values, allocative efficiency, why trade is
allocatively efficient. Did
card 4A. Did Card 4B on trade
based on values.
*Did Card 4C
on trade based on values, property rights, transactions costs.
Week
of Sept. 8: Discussed
efficiency (getting the most), reviewed resources, opportunity cost,
and economization. Did Card 3A
on definitions.
Did Card 3B
on application of the opportunity cost concept to resources using math.
You can also see
this example. You can also look
at a similar discussions based on the study guide questions T3.11a to T3.11e
or 3.16 to 3.23.
Also discussed economization.
For another example of resources and their efficient use (efficiency
being when we get the most of what we are trying to get), see
this example.
*Reviewed efficiency
(getting the most), production possibilities, comparative advantage.
Discussed specialization and trade as a way to find comparative
advantage. Did Card 3C
to apply the ideas
Week
of Sept. 1: Did Card
2A (see clicker 2A). We
discussed utility,
opportunity
cost, short
run, long run, marginal
decision making, secondary
effects.
Did Card 2B
(see clicker 2B), which is an application of marginal
decision making.
*Discussed information
costs. Did Card
2C (see clicker 2C), which is an
application of opportunity
cost. Laid some foundation for
applying that to resources (such as a person's time).
Week
of Aug. 25: Passed out
Chapters 1-3 of book and Study Guide; did "Card
1A" , Collected last page of
syllabus (this counts as Card 1A if you did not turn in the actual card)
Did Card 1B
(see clicker 1B). We discussed scarcity,
the results
of scarcity,
rationing, the
assumption that people are rational.
You might also see these notes on scarce
goods and non-scarce (free) goods
and resources.
*Did Card 1C
on positive vs. normative.
Also reviewed the assumption that people are rational and the
scientific method. On your own, you might want to contemplate the
concepts of subjective
values and ceteris
paribus, which are other topics
some students find confusing.
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