General Information, Textbook and Requirements

Office:	426 Eggers
Office Hours:	Tuesday and Thursday, 1:30-3:00, or by appointment.
Email:	wilcoxen at syr.edu
Web:	http://wilcoxen.maxwell.insightworks.com/pages/ppa723/

On Fridays there will be an optional "lab session" in 209 Eggers (the PAIA conference room) from 1:30 to 3:00. The sessions are very informal and you're welcome to come and go at any time. The content of any particular session will depend on the interests of the people who come by that day. Typical topics include: discussing difficult material from class; going over supplemental problems from the web; and reviewing for exams.

Economics of individuals and firms. Topics include demand, supply, competition, monopoly, welfare analysis, strategic behavior, market failure, decision-making under uncertainty, cost-benefit analysis.

No previous courses in economics are required. The math used will involve graphing, algebra and spreadsheets but no calculus.

Jeffrey Perloff, Microeconomics, Pearson/Addison-Wesley. It's recommended but not required. Either the third, fourth or fifth edition would be fine.  The bookstore carries the 5th edition but you should be able to find the 3rd or 4th online for much less.

Grades will be based on two exams (20% each, in class on Thursday, October 6th and Thursday, November 10th),  two formal policy memos (one worth 10%, the other worth 15%), a final exam (20%, Monday, December 12th, 9:00-noon), and weekly exercises throughout the semester (15%).

Policy Memos: Twice during the semester the weekly assignment will be to write a two-page policy memo on a specified economic issue. The first memo will ask you about an issue previously discussed in class and will be graded mostly on the quality of your exposition. The second memo will ask you to evaluate a policy problem on your own, and will be graded on the quality of your analysis as well as your exposition.

Final Exam: The final exam will focus almost entirely on material in the last third of the course. It will be weighted equally with the other exams.

Problem Sets: Due at the beginning of class. Grading will be on a 5 point scale: 5 for excellent work, 4 for good, 3 for an honest attempt and 0 otherwise. You'll need to do the exercises in order to do well on the exams. You may work on the problem sets in groups of up to three students. When working in a group, please turn in a single set of answers for the group and be sure to list each member's name.

Group Work and Policy Memos: The rules on group work are different for policy memos. On the memo assignments, you may do the analysis (eg, calculations) with your group but you must write the memo individually. The exposition -- from overall structure down to the actual text -- should be yours alone. If you have any questions about this rule, please don't hesitate to ask.

Working in groups is encouraged on weekly exercises but be sure to limit the group to no more than three students and list everyone on the answer you submit. On exercises involving spreadsheets, the spreadsheets may be shared within a group but NOT between groups.  Working in groups on the policy memos is allow to the extent described above. It should go without saying, however, that working in groups is absolutely prohibited on exams.

Accommodations can be made in exams and assignments for students with disabilities. If you believe you need accommodations, please contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) as soon as possible. ODS will help you with the University procedure for arranging appropriate accommodations for all of your classes.

Under SU’s religious observances policy, classes meet at their regularly scheduled times on religious holidays. However, you have an opportunity to make up any examination, study, or work requirements that may be missed due to a religious observance as long as you notify your instructors before the end of the second week of classes. To make the process as easy as possible, an online notification system is available through MySlice/Student Services/Enrollment/My Religious Observances from the first day of class until the end of the second week of class.  If you prefer, however, you can notify me directly by email.  In either case, just check with me and we'll work out an arrangement that fits your schedule.