ECONOMICS 103 - SPRING 2009 - 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:
Wednesday Evening Sessions will be held either in the LC Forum or Coleman TBA.

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

Part I - The Development of Modern Economics Thought

January 14
Introduction to the Course and the Financial Crisis (Preface, RSSS)
January 15
Economics as a Social Science (Ch. 1, RSSS)

Week of January 20-22
January 20 - Power of the Market - (8:30 am & 9:30 am - Coleman 252)
January 22 - The Evolution of Economic Systems (Ch. 3, RSSS) &
Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States, Chapter 1-- (Blackboard - course materials)
Essay I -| Writing Resources | Janice Walker's Online Style Guide

Week of January 27-29
The Evolution of Economic System, cont. (Ch. 3, RSSS)
Free Trade Slaves - (Vaughan 100)
Property, Adam Smith, and the Division of Labor and (Ch. 4, RSSS)

Week of February 3-5
The Rise and Fall of Laissez Faire, cont. (Ch 6, RSSS)
The Overspent American (Vaughan 100)
The Marxian Critique of Capitalism (Ch. 5, RSSS)
 
PART II - Microeconomics

Week of February 10-12
Theory of Markets (Ch. 8, RSSS)
Money for Nothing: Behind the Business of Pop Music (Vaughan 100)
Scarcity: "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Ch.7, RSSS)

Essay II - Writing Resources | Janice Walkers Online Style Guide

Week of February 17-19
Perfect Competition and Efficiency (Ch. 9, RSSS)
EXAMINATION - 7:00 PM - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Noncompetitive Markets and Inefficiency (Ch. 10, RSSS)

Week of February 24-26
Noncompetitive Markets, continued
Taken for a Ride (Vaughan 100)
Resource Markets and the Distribution of Income (Ch. 11, RSSS, )

Week of March 3-5
The Corporation (Ch. 13, RSSS)
The Corporation, (Part 1) (Vaughan 100)

SPRING BREAK - March 7-15

PART III - Macroeconomics
Week of March 17-19
The Corporation (Part 2) (Vaughan 100)
Labor Unions (Ch. 12, RSSS)
Thinking Critically: Explorations in Microeconomics

Week of March 24-26
Macro Issues & Problems (Ch. 14, RSSS)
Surviving the Good Times (Part 1) (Vaughan 100)
Overview of the Keynesian System, (Chapter 15, RSSS)

Week of March 31-April 2
The Classical and Keynesian Economic Models ( Ch. 15, RSSS)
EXAMINATION - APRIL 1 - - 7:00 PM
Fiscal Policy: Government Spending and Taxation (Begin Ch. 16, RSSS)
Week of April 7-9
Budgets, debt and deficits and Monetary Policy (Ch. 16, RSSS)
Surviving the Good Times (Part 2) (Vaughan 100)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 3

Essay III -- Writing Resources | Janice Walkers Online Style Guide

Week of April 14-16
Financial Markets and Monetary Policy (Ch. 17, RSSS)
TBA
 Unemployment, Inflation and Stabilization Policy (Ch. 19, RSSS)
 
 
PART IV - International Economics
Week of April 21-23
Intro. to International Economics (Ch. 20, RSSS)
Vaughan 100 (Vaughan 100)
International Finance (Ch. 21, RSSS)

Week of April 28
Developing Nations (Ch. 22, RSSS)
Classes End (10:00 p.m.)

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 2009--please contact Jean Shackelford, Department of Economics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837.