ECONOMICS 103 - SPRING 2011 - Syllabus

INSTRUCTOR: Professor Jean Shackelford
OFFICE HOURS: M 10-11; W 9-12 , Th 11-12. Others by appointment (Coleman 165)
ADDRESSES: e-mail: jshackel@bucknell.edu, phone: X- 73441

REQUIRED TEXTS and NEWSPAPER:

COURSE OUTLINE & READING ASSIGNMENTS: | FEBRUARY | MARCH | APRIL

Part I - Economic Methodology, History and the Development of Modern Economic Thought

January 20
Economics as a Social Science (Ch. 1, RSSS)
Recent Economic Data
Education Data
Essay I -| Writing Resources

Week of January 25-27
Econmics as a Social Science, continued (Ch. 1, RSSS); The Evolution of Economic System, (Ch. 2, RSSS); Howard Zinn, A People's History of the
United States, Chapter 1-- (Blackboard - course materials)
Paradigms
Power of the Market - Part 1 (YouTube video) - Free to Choose Pt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3N2sNnGwa4 (first 28 minutes)
The Evolution of Economic System, cont. (Ch. 2, RSSS); Property, Adam Smith, and the Division of Labor and (Ch. 3, RSSS)

Week of February 1-3
The Rise and Fall of Laissez Faire (Ch 5, RSSS)
The Overspent American
The Marxian Critique of Capitalism (Ch. 4, RSSS)

PART II - Microeconomics

Week of February 8-10
Assumptions about markets (Ch , RSSS) & The Rise and Fall of Laissez Faire (Ch 5 to p. 70, RSSS)
WEDNESDAY 4 OR 7 CLASS- Professor Shackelford (Room to be announced) - Scarcity: "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Ch 6, RSSS)
Theory of Markets (Ch. 7, RSSS)
Essay II - Writing Assignment; 3 supply and demand articles; Writing Resources

Week of February 15-17
Perfect Competition and Efficiency (Ch. 8, RSSS)
Taken for a Ride (YouTube video)
Noncompetitive Markets and Inefficiency (Ch. 9, RSSS)

Week of February 22-24
Noncompetitive Markets, continued
EXAMINATION - 7:00 PM - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23)
Resource Markets and the Distribution of Income (Ch. 10, RSSS )

Week of March 1-3
Resource Markets and the Distribution of Income, cont. (Ch. 10, RSSS ); The Corporation & Labor Unions (Ch. 11, RSSS)
Megamall
The Corporation & Labor Unions, cont. (Ch. 11, RSSS)

Week of March 8-10
The Economic Role of Government (Ch. 12, RSSS)
Blind Spot
The Economic Role of Government, cont. (Ch. 12, RSSS); Thinking Critically: Explorations in Microeconomics

SPRING BREAK - March 12-20


PART III - Macroeconomics

Week of March 22-24
Macroeconomics Issues and Problems (Ch. 13, RSSS)
If Women Counted: Sex Lies and Global Economics
Macroeconomic Theory: Classical and Keynesian Models (Ch. 14, RSSS)


Week of March 29-31
The Keynesian System (Ch. 14, RSSS)
Frontline: Inside the Meltdown
Fiscal Policy: Government Spending and Taxation (Chapter 15, RSSS)

Week of April 5-7
Financial Markets, Money, and Monetary Policy ( Ch. 16, RSSS)
EXAMINATION - APRIL 6 - - 7:00 PM
Financial Markets, continued (Ch. 16, RSSS)
Week of April 12-14
Budgets, debt and deficits and Monetary Policy (Ch. 16, RSSS)
Robert Westcott, "America's Financial Metldown and the Great Recession of 2008-09: Causes, Lessons, and What Happens Next?
Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply (Ch. 17, RSSS)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 3
Essay III -- Writing Resources

 Week of April 19-21
Unemployment, Inflation and Stabilization Policy (Ch. 18, RSSS)
Inside Job
 International Trade and Interdependence (Ch. 19, RSSS)

PART IV - International Economics

Week of April 26-28
International Trade, cont. (Ch. 19, RSSS)
Life and Debt
International Finance (Ch. 20, RSSS)

Week of May 3
International Finance, cont. (Ch. 20, RSSS)


FINAL EXAMINATION - - TBA

Back to Economics 103

to Nancy Folbre and Bob Dworak for permission to use the animation, "The Transformation Problem," at the top of the page. Animation developed by the Dancing Monkey Project: C/O WebMonkey, folbre@econs.umass.edu

Last updated, January 2011--please contact Jean Shackelford, Department of Economics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837.