Doviak ... Economics and Public Policy Analysis

Submitting Your Exam
(posted: 17 Dec. 2009 at 21.30)

Dear Students,

As of Thursday evening, I have only received exams from four students:

[[ DELETED ]]

The deadline for submission of these exams is Friday, so I assume that the vast majority of you plan to deliver it to my apartment on Friday evening. If you're coming, please arrive after 6:00 pm.

Directions

[[ DELETED ]]

Why I Cannot Accept Email

Several of you have asked me if you can email your exam to me. Unfortunately, I have to refuse such requests.

Try to see it from my perspective. I usually receive about 30 email messages per day. Over a two-day period, that's 60 email messages. Now imagine that 100 students email their exams to me. That's 160 messages. Plus about half of those students would send me an email asking if I received their email. So tack on another 50 messages. That's 210 messages to sift through.

Then as I sift through all of those messages, I would have to print out 100 exams, staple pages together, check for missing names on the printouts, etc.

Somewhere in that process, exams would get lost, so I must require you to deliver a printed copy of your exam to me. One option is postal mail. Another option is to ask a classmate to deliver it for you.

The third option is to deliver it yourself and have a good time socializing with your classmates.

- Eric Doviak

Final Exam
(posted: 11 Dec. 2009 at 13.25)

Students,

Thank you all for an enjoyable semester. I may be overworked, but you have kept me going, so I just want to express my appreciation for your patience and for keeping a smile on my face.

Of course, you still have a final exam to write, so you can download it from HERE. Students who still need to submit the make-up exam (or a revised make-up exam) may submit it along with their final exam.

As I mentioned in class, I would like you to send the exams to me by regular mail (instructions are attached to the exam).

By popular request, you may also deliver it to my house on the evening of Fri. 18 Dec., which would provide a nice way to get to know you outside of the classroom.

Have a great weekend and good luck on your other exams.

Sincerely,
- Eric Doviak

study groups
(posted: 18 Nov. 2009 at 00.05)

Prior to this evening's classes, two students asked me about collaborating with other students. As I have mentioned before, I strongly encourage you to work together.

Please form study groups. Please contact each other by email and by phone. Please come to school on the weekends to work together.

Also, feel free to ask questions on the email list and feel free to answer questions on the email list. I will look very favorably upon the efforts of students who take the time to answer questions on the list.

make-up exam
(posted: 02 Nov. 2009 at 12.05)

Students who did attend class on the day of the in-class mid-term exam, must do the make-up exam.

Any student who took the in-class mid-term exam, but did not do well, may do the make-up exam to improve his/her grade. I will count the higher of the two grades.

The make-up exam is a "take-home" exam. It is due in class on 30 Nov./01 Dec.

answers to mid-term exam
(posted: 27 Oct. 2009 at 23.50)

I will grade the exams as soon as I can, but I cannot promise to grade them all before our next class. In the meantime, you can get a rough idea of how well you did by reading the answers to the mid-term exam.

I look forward to seeing you in class tonight
(posted: 27 Oct. 2009 at 00.10)

Students,

One of the principal concerns of economics is the study of how individuals respond to incentives. To that end, I have designed a set of policies that strongly encourage students to attend class on the day of the exam. (See below).

Such policies are very effective when students behave rationally. Many of the students in Monday night's class did not behave rationally however. Approximately 10 students did not come to class at all last night.

The date when you take the mid-term exam is irrelevant to me, but you do have to take the mid-term exam and I strongly advise you to take the in-class exam.

To that end, I will allow ANY student to take (or re-take) the exam tonight (i.e. Tues. 27 Oct.).

5:30-6:45 pm in Murray 1206
7:20-8:35 pm in Murray 1113

In other words, If you are a student in Monday's class who did not take the exam last night, then I strongly advise you to take the exam with one of my Tuesday night sections.

If you are a student in Monday's class who took the exam last night, but would like to attempt the exam one more time, then come to one of my Tuesday night sections, tear up your old exam and write a new one.

If you are a student in one of my two Tuesday classes, then I strongly advise you to come to class tonight.

I look forward to seeing you in class tonight.

Sincerely,
- Eric Doviak

Exam Make-Up Policy

Any student who is either unable to attend class on the day of the exam or simply doesn't feel like coming to class on the day of the exam, doesn't have to come. There's no need to contact me or explain the reason for your absence. Just don't come.

If you miss the mid-term exam, you will be expected to submit a take-home examination within two weeks of the class immediately following the mid-term exam. No exceptions.

If you miss the final exam, you will have to make it up during departmental exams next semester.

In deciding whether or not to come to class on the day of the exam, keep in mind that I see absolutely no reason why the difficulty of the take-home exam or the departmental exam should be comparable to that of the in-class exam. If I were in your shoes, I would come to class on the day of the exam.

...

Instant Replay Rule

If you do not do well on an exam and would like to improve your grade by doing the make-up exam, I'll look very favorably upon your efforts.

For those of you who would like to improve your grade by haggling with me over points, we'll play by the "Instant Replay Rule." If your complaint has merit, I'll fix your grade. If your complaint does not have merit, it will cost you one whole letter grade.

Mid-Term Exam
(posted: 22 Oct. 2009 at 22.25)

The mid-term exam will be held in class on Mon./Tues. 26/27 Oct. Click HERE to download a copy of the exam.

Can you do it? Yes, you can!

Tutoring Available
(posted: 15 Oct. 2009 at 23.55)

Some of you have asked where they can obtain tutoring. This schedule contains the list of tutors for courses in the Social Sciences Dept. and their hours.

Exam Date
(posted: 12 Oct. 2009 at 12.20)

The exam will be held in class on Mon./Tues. 26/27 October.

Another Profit Maximization Example
(posted: 12 Oct. 2009 at 12.20)

I have created a spreadsheet that shows how a firm maximizes profit by employing labor up to the point at which the wage is equal to the marginal revenue product of labor (i.e. w=p*MPL). The spreadsheet is available in:

Profit Maximization Example
(posted: 08 Oct. 2009 at 00.40)

In Wednesday's class, we thought of a very simple example that demonstrates why a firm maximizes its profit by producing output up to the point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost.

I have recreated the spreadsheet, tossed in some graphs and added a column for average cost to show that a firm's profit will equal zero if it produces so much output that its average cost is equal to the price of the good.

The spreadsheet is available in:

Notes on Profit Maximization
(posted: 03 Oct. 2009 at 15.00)

I have drafted a set of notes that provide a better explanation of why firms maximize profit:

by producing output up to the point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost (i.e. MR = MC) and
by hiring labor up to the point where the where the wage rate is equal to the marginal revenue product of labor (i.e. w = p*MPL).

To download them, click HERE. Please print them out and bring them with you to class this week.

"When is the Mid-Term?"
(posted: 02 Oct. 2009 at 13.10)

Many of you have asked when the midterm exam will be held. My plan is to hold the exam after we cover Lecture 4.

We'll cover Homework #3 this Monday/Tuesday 5/6 October and then start discussing Lecture 4, so the earliest possible exam date is Monday/Tuesday 19/20 October, but I have not made a decision yet.

Email List
(posted: 15 Sept, 2009 at 15.50)

I sent a test email message to the list of addresses that you gave me. If you did not receive the message, then please send an email to me and I will add you to the list.

This website will continue to serve as my primary means of communication with you, but it's nice to have the email channel as well.

Welcome Message for Fall 2009 Students
(posted: 29 August 2009 at 10.45)

Welcome to the course website. Please check this site regularly.

I've posted a copy of the syllabus.

I've posted a PDF file of my Lecture Notes. The Lecture Notes contain brief summaries of core economic theory, homeworks and other materials which explain the some of the theory in more detail. To download the Lecture Notes -- click HERE. It's a fairly large file (about 4.6 MB) so it may take a while to download if you have a slow connection.

When you print the Lecture Notes, please DOUBLE SIDE. Save the trees. Save the Earth.

You should get pre-printed bound copies of the lecture notes. Kinko's has a "print online" option which allows you to send them a PDF file (via the internet), choose the printing options and select a location where you can pick it up. (The closest Kinko's location to BMCC is at 105 Duane St., which is half a block west from Broadway). You can also have FedEx deliver it to your home or office if you like.

That must be the most convenient option for everyone. So send the PDF file of the Lecture Notes to their website, choose the printing options (e.g. double-sided, black-and-white, coil binding, clear vinyl cover, black vinyl back cover), choose a delivery option and marvel at what 21st century technology can do!

The course revolves around the Lecture Notes and the homework assignments.

I strongly encourage you to do the homework assignments regularly. We'll spend most of our classtime reviewing the homework assignments and I'll draw exam material from the homework assignments.

My Lecture Notes contain a lot of information, but lecture notes do not a textbook make. You need a textbook for depth.
Textbook
I recommend that you purchase a copy of Economics by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. (Worth Publishers, ISBN: 978-0-716-77158-6).

Those of you who read the New York Times' opinion pages may recognize the name "Paul Krugman." Yes, it's the same guy. He has been a harsh critic of the Republican Party, but -- politics aside -- he has made major contributions to the theory of international trade (for which he was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics) and has spent a lot of time making economics accessible and understandable to the average Joe Bagadonuts.

His experience in writing for a non-technical audience served him well in writing this textbook because it is thorough, but also accessible.

Krugman/Wells also believes in students' ability. For example, many introductory textbooks limit discussion of indifference curves out of fear that "students won't understand this" -- which of course is a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you don't explain it, they won't understand it.

Of the textbooks I've looked at, I like Krugman/Wells the most because it's the most readable and contains almost all of the material I'll discuss this semester.

I also recommend that you purchase a copy of The MIT Dictionary of Modern Economics, edited by David W. Pearce. After all, learning the vocabulary of economics is a fundamental part of any introductory course and I will test you on your understanding of the vocabulary.

The MIT Dictionary ... is published by the MIT Press and its ISBN number is: 0-262-66078-4.

You're going to learn a lot this semester and I'm looking forward to working with you.

It's going to be a great semester.

All the best,
Eric Doviak