Time Schedule:
C. Leigh Anderson
PB AF 516
Seattle Campus
Ways in which microeconomic analysis can contribute to the analysis of public sector issues. Supply and demand, consumer and firm behavior, competitive and monopoly markets, income distribution, market failure, government intervention. Policy applications of theory. Prerequisite: elementary economics.
Class description
This course is intended to familiarize you with the use of microeconomics in policy analysis. The first half of the course is devoted to building upon introductory microeconomic theory with a deeper discussion of consumer choice and markets. We begin with a very brief review of supply and demand and some important economic concepts including elasticity and consumer surplus. We follow with indifference curves and budget constraints -- the building blocks of individual demand curves and examine income and substitution effects with this model. The first half of the course concludes with a brief treatment of production and costs. The second half of the course is devoted to an overview of the market and the most basic market structures and more examples of the role of government in providing public goods and managing externalities.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
