Muscatine Community College

Fall 2005

MICROECONOMICS Loper 215

ECON 115 (M W F) 12:50-1:50p.m.

Instructor:

John Dabeet

Telephone:

Office: (563) 288-6064

Home: (563) 263-8145

Office E-mail: jdabeet@eicc.edu

Home E-mail: ampal@muscanet.com

Office Hours:

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

9:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Room: Gaekle 205

Textbook:

McEachern, William A., Microeconomics, 7^th ed., Thomson, 2006

Course Contents:

We will cover most of chapters one (1) – ten (10), and chapter nineteen (19).

Course Objectives:

The objective of this course is to explain and introduce the student to the science of economics, and assist in developing an understanding of MICROECONOMICS terms and concepts relative to the consumer’s behavior, theory of the firm, distribution of output and income, and the market structure and pricing.

Outcomes:

After taking this course, the students should acquire the following knowledge:

	An understanding of economic concepts and terminology used in news media, national debates over issues, and daily conversation.
	A knowledge of the working of different economic systems in the world and will be able to understand and appreciate our capitalist economics system.
	An understanding of the functioning of market forces, i.e. demand and supply in competitive market system.
	Reasoning, evaluating, and discussing the national and international economic issues in and out of the classroom.
	Recognize the principles of economics learned during the course and how they apply in the real world. Having the ability to apply them to their own life.

Homework:

Appropriate problem assignments on current material will be given at the lecture. Ideally, these assignments should be completed before the next lecture.

Quizzes:

Approximately five (5) unannounced ten (10) minute quizzes will be given during the course of the semester. The lowest grade will be dropped. There will be NO make-up quizzes.

Tests:

There will be two (2) in-class tests and one (1) final exam.

First Test	Friday, September 30, 05
Second Test	Friday, November 4, 05
Final Exam	Will be announced later

Grades:

Course grades will be based on a total of 550 points as follows:

Homework	100 points
Quizzes	100 points
First Test	100 points
Second Test	100 points
Final Exam	150 points

Curve will be used for student’s final grades.

Attendance:

Constant attendance is essential to keep up in the course. Students are responsible for all work covered in class, including all assignments, even if absent from class. Hour exams MUST be taken at the announced time; makeup exams will be given only in the case of severe illness.

Expectations of the Student:

	Class Attendance. You are expected to attend every class meeting. Attendance will be taken. You can be excused from attendance if you inform me about it before class.
	Reading. You should carefully read all assigned texts.
	Class Participation. Class participation means both contributing to the class’s understanding of the readings and issues and bringing to discussions your own critical perspective.

Plagiarism or cheating of any kind will result in a final grade of “F” for the course.

Topical Outline

Topics Chapters

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

The Art and Science of Economic Analysis 1

Some Tools of Economic Analysis 2

Economic Decision Makers 3

Demand and Supply Analysis 4

INTRODUCTION TO THE MARKET SYSTEM

Elasticity of Demand and Supply 5

Consumer Choice and Demand 6

Production and Cost in the Firm 7

MARKET STRUCTURE AND PRICING

Perfect Competition 8

Monopoly 9

Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly 10

INTERNATIONAL MICROECONOMICS