Time Schedule:
Sangeetha Srinivasan
ECON 300
Seattle Campus
Analysis of decisions by individuals and by firms and of outcomes in factor and product markets. Policy issues and applications. Prerequisite: ECON 200; either MATH 112, MATH 124, MATH 127, MATH 134, or MATH 145. Offered: AWSpS.
Class description
We will analyze the economic behavior of consumers and firms and how their interactions in markets determine the prices and quantities of goods and services. Apart from the basic competitive market model (a Supply and Demand determined equilibrium), we will study other aspects of markets such as monopolies, duopolies and monopolistic competition. The class can be divided into 3 parts. - Investigating aspects of consumer choice. - Derive a firm’s production decisions in different markets and compare their welfare effects. - Study the exciting field of game theory and strategic thinking and its application to Duopolies. Note that this class will be essential to applied courses in economics including labor economics, public finance, international economics, natural resources and finance, and will also be helpful in optimization courses outside of economics!
Student learning goals
- Understand and be able to use microeconomic terminology. Use microeconomic principles and diagrams to understand and explain economic events and other social phenomena.
- Understand how individuals and firms make themselves as well off as possible in a world of scarcity. Use basic calculus to solve optimization problems faced by economic agents.
- Understand how prices influence the decisions about which goods and services to produce, how to produce them, and who gets them.
- Understand how government policies affect the allocation of resources in a market economy.
- Understand how market structure (perfect competition, monopoly, duopoly and oligopoly) influences the allocation of resources.
- Use economic reasoning to explain the strategic choices of individuals or organizations. Appreciate the usefulness of economic reasoning in personal decision-making.
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
This class will quantitatively build on the intuition learned in ECON 200. Calculus is used intensively in the course. Prerequisites: Econ200, Math 112 or equivalent.
Class assignments and grading
