Doviak ... Economics and Public Policy Analysis

Eric Doviak

Doviak.net Economics and Public Policy Analysis

Micro 20.1 - Message Board
Final Exam (posted: Tues. 15 May at 22:30)

Micro Students,

As we discussed in class, you will submit your final exam by mail. Click HERE for a copy of your final exam. My address and specific submission instructions are included in the file.

Students who are doing the make-up exam ( click HERE ) should submit their answers to the make-up exam along with their answers to the final exam.

Good Luck!
- Eric Doviak

...
Make-Up Exam (posted: Sat. 14 Apr. at 17:50)

Micro Students,

As we discussed in class yesterday, you will submit final exam by mail at the end of the semester.

If you're doing the make-up exam -- click HERE -- you should submit it with your final exam by mail at the end of the semester. If you do better on the make-up exam than you did on the mid-term exam, then your mid-term exam grade will disappear.

Please read Lecture 5 and do Homework 5 over the weekend.

- Eric Doviak

...
Textbook for Make-Up Exam

(posted: Mon. 02 Apr. at 21:10)

Micro Students,

One of your classmates just informed me that Krugman-Obstfeld textbook is not available at the library. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Due to copyright restrictions, I cannot post PDFs of the chapters to my website, but you can obtain them from CUNY's horrendous BlackBoard system. The files are in the "Course Documents" page. See instructions below.

Also, I highly recommend reading chaps. 2 and 3.

Hope this helps,
- Eric Doviak

...

Make-Up Exam (posted: Thurs. 29 Mar. at 01:55)

Micro Students,

I will return your mid-term exams to you in class today (Thurs. 29 Mar.). Those of you who missed the exam or would like to improve your grade should do the make-up exam.

Click HERE for a copy of the make-up exam.

Good Luck!,
- Eric Doviak

...
Mid-Term Exam (posted: Thurs. 15 Mar. at 22:45)

Micro Students,

As you already know, the Mid-Term Exam will be held in class on Tues. 20 Mar.

Click HERE for a copy of your exam.

Good Luck!,
- Eric Doviak

...
Mid-Term Exam Approaching

(posted: Sun. 04 Mar. at 23:30)
Micro Students,

This week we will discuss Lecture 4, Homework #4 and begin reviewing for the Mid-Term Exam. The exam will be held in class on Tues. 20 Mar. Here is a tentative schedule:

Tues.	06 Mar.	Lecture 4
Thurs.	08 Mar.	Homework #4
Tues.	13 Mar.	Homework #4 and Review
Thurs.	15 Mar.	Review
Tues.	20 Mar.	Mid-Term Exam

All the best,
- Eric Doviak ...

corrected class schedule (posted: Wed. 14 Feb. at 12:37)

Micro Students,

Next week we will wrap up Homework #2 and discuss Lecture 3. Note that my previous post was wrong. We do have class on Thurs. 22 Feb. Here's a tentative class schedule:

Thurs.	15 Feb.	no class
Tues.	20 Feb.	Homework #2 and Lecture 3
Thurs.	22 Feb.	Lecture 3 (continued)
Tues.	27 Feb.	Homework #3
Thurs.	01 Mar.	Lecture 4

All the best,
- Eric Doviak

...
class schedule (posted: Wed. 07 Feb. at 19:50)
Micro Students,

Tomorrow (Thurs. 08 Feb.) we will discuss Questions 5 and 6 of Homework #1B, then we will start discussing Lecture 2. Here's a tentative class schedule:

Thurs.	08 Feb.	Homework #1B and Lecture 2
Tues.	13 Feb.	Lecture 2 (continued)
Thurs.	15 Feb.	No class.
Tues.	20 Feb.	Homework #2
Thurs.	22 Feb.	No class.
Tues.	27 Feb.	Lecture 3

All the best,
- Eric Doviak ... Welcome Message for Spring 2007 Students
Welcome to the course website. Please check this site regularly.

I've posted a copy of the syllabus -- click HERE.

I've posted a PDF file of my Lecture Notes. The Lecture Notes contain brief summaries of core microeconomic 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 1.3 MB) so it may take a while to download if you have a dial-up connection.

The Lecture Notes are best viewed using Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or 7.0. If you're still using an older version of Acrobat, then some of the text may appear jumbled. I've done my best to minimize such problems. Nonetheless, you should download the latest version of Acrobat Reader -- click HERE.

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

For those of you who find it easier to buy a bound copy than to print your own copy and deal with loose pages, I left a copy of my Lecture Notes at "Far Better Printing" (next to the college). It should be available by the beginning of the semester.

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 Microeconomics by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. (Worth Publishers, ISBN: 0-7167-5229-8).

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 harshly criticized economists for selling out to George W. Bush, but that didn't stop him from tarnishing his own reputation by shilling for John Kerry.

Politics aside, Krugman has made major contributions to the theory of international trade 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 (MIT Press, ISBN: 0-262-66078-4). 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.

BlackBoard
I won't use BlackBoard much in this course, but there may be times when I would like you to read materials other than the Lecture Notes or the Krugman/Wells textbook. It is obviously more convenient for you to download those materials, but I cannot legally post them to my website (because it's copyrighted), so I'll post the articles to BlackBoard.

So go to: http://www.cuny.edu
At the bottom of the orange column on the left-hand side is a "Log-in" link. Click there.
On the next page ... If you already have a Portal Login, just enter your username and password.

If you don't have a Portal Login yet, then it's high time you got one! Click the "Register Now!" link and the system will verify your status by using your last name, Social Security Number, date of birth, etc.

After you have logged in, you'll see a "My Page" window with a whole bunch of bubbles. In the bubble in the upper left ("SSO Applications for Faculty and Staff"), there is a link to "BlackBoard." Click on that link.
On the next page, you'll be asked to choose your CUNY school (kinda stupid, isn't it?). Select the Brooklyn College link and you'll be taken to another screen with a whole bunch of bubbles.
In the "My Courses" bubble, you'll see a link to the Micro course. Click on that link and you'll finally be in BlackBoard.
All of the files for the course are in the "Course Documents" page, which you can get to by clicking on the "Course Documents" link in the green column on the left-hand side.

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