Principles of Economics

Class

Main Thema

Readings

Students‘ Presentations

Class 1

Introduction to the class and Economic Thinking

WPR: Introduction pp. 17-23

xx*

EET: “Why study economics and Its history” pp. 444-445

CIE1: “Introduction” pp. 3-14

PoE: Ch.1: “Ten Principles of Economics” pp.3-18

Note: in this class the students will be assigned their presentations topics as well.

WPR: Ch.3 “The wonderful world of Adam Smith” pp. 57-102 (this reading is relevant for Classes 1&2)

Class 2

Connecting Economic Thinking to everyday world.

PoE: Ch.2 “Thinking Like an Economist” and 3 “Interdependence and the Gains From Trade” pp. 19-60

FE: Ch.1 “What do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?”  19-51

WPR: Ch.3 “The wonderful world of Adam Smith” pp. 57-102 (this reading is relevant for Classes 1&2) 

 Class 3

Supply and Demand

PoE: “The Market Forces of Supply and Demand” Ch.4 pp. 63 - 83

Thomas Malthus

EET: “Mathematical Economics” pp. 288 – 306

David Ricardo

CIE1: “From One to some” pp. 51 – 64 & “From Some to many” pp. 117 – 142

Class 4

Elasticity

PoE: Ch.5 “Elasticity and Its Application” pp. 89 - 109

John Stuart Mill

CIE1:  “Elasticity – The Big Picture” pp. 169 - 192

The Utopian Socialists: Owen, Saint-Simon,

Fourier

Note: In this class we will play a “game” for developing Market Demand and Demand Elasticity

Class 5

Markets Efficiency and Production Costs

PoE: Ch.7 “Consumers, Producers, and the Efficiency of Markets” pp. 137 – 154

Ch.13 “ The Costs of Production” pp. 267 – 284

Marx Part1

DD: “Communism” pp.94 – 102

Marx Part 2

TFS: Ch. 27: “The Endowment Effect” pp.289 - 299

Class 6

Externalities, Public Good and Commons

PoE: Ch. 10 “Externalities” & Ch.11 “Public Goods and Common Resources” pp. 203 - 236

The Victorian World and the Underworld of Economics

CIE1:  “Cake Cutting – Pareto Efficiency” pp. 68 – 88

The Marginalist School: Alfred Marshall

Note: In this class we will make a simulation of a Public Good “game”

Class 7

Consumers’ Choices

PoE: Ch. 21 “The Theory of Consumer Choice” pp.454 –  467         Ch. 22 “Frontiers of Microeconomics” pp. 480 –  493

Thorstein Veblen

DD: “So What Is Capitalism Anyway?” pp. 345-355

School of Welfare Economics

FE: Ch.2 “The Ku Klux Klan and Real-Estate Agents” pp. 55 - 85

Class 8

GDP and Cost of Living

PoE: Ch.23 “Measuring a Nations Income” pp. 500 – 514

Ch. 24 “Measuring the Cost of Living” pp. 520 – 531

John Maynard Keynes Part 1

DD: “State and Credit Theories of Money” pp. 46 – 52

John Maynard Keynes Part 2

CIE2: “Introduction to Macroeconomics” pp. 4 – 16 & “Gross Domestic Product” pp. 59 – 72

Class 9

Production, Growth and Investment

PoE: Ch.25 “Production and Growth” pp. 537 – 553

Ch.26 “Saving, Investment, and the Financial System” pp. 568 – 570

Friedrich Hayek

CIE2: “Money” pp. 31 – 44 & “The Role of Government” pp. 73 – 86

Eucken, Walter

Class 10

Unemployment and Inflation

PoE: Ch.28 “Unemployment and Its Natural Rate” pp. 600 – 620

Ch.30 “Money Growth and Inflation” pp. 646 – 663

New Keynesians

CIE2: “Unemployment” pp. 17 – 30 & “Inflation” pp. 45 – 58

Joseph Schumpeter

Note: In this class the students will play the “Fed Chair” game provided online by the federal reserve bank of San Fransisco

http://sffed-education.org/chairman/

Class 11

Open-Economy

PoE: Ch.31 & Ch. 32 “The Macroeconomics of Open Economics” pp. 675 – 715

James Buchanan

EC: “The Smuggling Gap” pp. 53 – 75

Milton Friedman

CIE2: “Complications – Foreign Aid ” pp. 111 – 139

Class 12

Aggregate Demand and Supply

PoE: Ch.33 “Aggregate Demand and Supply” pp.721 - 751

Robert Solow

CIE2: “The End” pp. 205 - 218

Joseph Stiglitz