Instructor: Vinish Shrestha
Email: vshrestha@towson.edu
Setting: Online; lectures will be posted through blackboard collaborative.
Office Hours: By email. Please email me and we can set up a common time.
Economics is a versatile discipline such that the concepts of economics can be blended together with a wide spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to mathematics, political science, medicine, law, psychology and environmental studies. At the same time, it is a comprehensive subject with various subfields of its own, including but not limited to Political Economy, Health Economics, Law and Economics, Labor Economics, Computational Economics and Development Economics (to name a few on the list).
This probably is your first course in economics (for many of you). This course is designed to provide theoretical underpinnings in economics through practical examples.
This course will expose you to a variety of (economic) problems that economists face. Over the course we will try and absorb knowledge to recognize the origins of economic issues and some evident problems around us through means of models, practical examples resembling real life events, data and problem solving exercises. I have also made the problem set guides available on blackboard collaborative ultra.
I will try and begin each chapter with a pressing problem, and we will work ourselves backwards to learn economic tools suited to understand and get to the core of such problems. Please note that there will be different ways to solve a given problem and I very much appreciate if your way is different. After all, we want to learn economics as we experience – in a setting where agents interact with one another and also with nature – and each of us have different experiences.
Note that any form of knowledge comes from self-education; please be prepared to spend a substantial amount of time reading and going over the problem sets.
We will be using ``The Economy’’ from the Core Project as a text to guide us along the semester. This is an open-source textbook and is freely available (zero monetary cost) online. You can find the link here.
Note that this is an online class, so I will not be holding conventional lectures. You are required to go over the text on your own. All of my lecture notes will be posed on blackboard or you can follow the link here. However, I will be posting short videos that goes over examples to aid you with the problem sets.
The grading criteria is as follows:
Table 1.| Criteria | Points | % Total Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Exam I (Feb 22) | 200 | 20 |
| Exam II (April 12) | 200 | 20 |
| Exam III (May 12) | 200 | 20 |
| Problem Sets | 400 | 40 |
| Total | 1000 | 100 |
Problem Sets. There will be a total of 10 problem sets, which will comprise 40% of your grade, and you need to solve them by yourself. But you are allowed to discuss among your friends.
When you submit a problem set, the following needs to be kept in mind: i) One submission per individually, ii) you need to contribute, iii) all problem sets need to be typed in neatly, and iv) they need to be turned in via blackboard.
The homework due dates are as follows:
| Problem set # | Due date |
|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 29 |
| 2 | Feb 7 |
| 3 | Feb 21 |
| 4 | Feb 21 |
| 5 | March 7 |
| 6 | March 28 |
| 7 | April 11 |
| 8 | April 18 |
| 9 | May 2 |
| 10 | May 9 |
Exams. There will be three exams on the dates mentioned in Table 1. All of the exams will be held online and you will not be allowed to communicate with one another. The exams will be posted on blackboard on the given dates at 6 am but will disappear by 11:59 pm; you can take the exam anytime in between these hours. But, please make sure that you have enough time to take your exam.
I will make an announcement regarding the exam a week prior to the exam date. I want to make it clear that I will not be reopening the exams if you miss them for no valid reason. The three exams will comprise 600 points out of the total 1000 points.
Blackboard. We will be using blackboard to communicate. I will post my lectures, videos, homework assignments and all relevant materials of the course on blackboard. You can also find the lecture notes on my webpage here.
Email. The easiest way to reach me is through email. My email address is mentioned on top part of the syllabus. I will try my best to answer your emails within two business days. If you have any questions about the homework, please email me during the week days or come to see me during the office hours as I will not be answering emails during the weekends.
Office Hours in Blackboard Collaborative. I will have virtual office hours 2 hours each week to guide you through the materials. Again we will be using blackboard collaborative to do this. I will announce the designated days and hours, and we need to be consistent with the timing.
Feedback. I will be conducting several feedback sessions to the entire class in terms of what we have learned, your performance and such. You should be able to keep track of your grade on blackboard. Now, if something (your score) is not recorded, please send me an email. However, blackboard does not accept anything that is past due and I cannot fix this for you.
As per the University’s requirement, you are required to complete the teaching evaluation at the end part of the course. I will make an announcement during the class as well, when those are out.
All students need to work honestly. If I find that you are showing dishonest behavior such as cheating, copying work, or free riding off of your peers’ work, I will take harsh actions, which may lead to you failing the course.
Any student with accommodation needs based on disability should contact me privately regarding the subject matter. I will require a letter from the Disability Support Services (DSS) approving your accommodation needs. Contact: DDS 7720 York Road, Suite 232, phone 410-704-2638
| Letter Grade | Points Needed |
|---|---|
| A | 930 |
| A- | 900 |
| B+ | 860 |
| B | 830 |
| B- | 800 |
| C+ | 760 |
| C | 700 |
| D+ | 660 |
| D | 600 |
| F | 0 |
The course materials will be divided into 3 parts.
Exam 1 (problem set 4 practice for Exam 1, Feb 22)
Lecture 5. Property and power: Mutual gains and conflict (problem set 6, March 28)
Lecture 6. The firm: Owners, managers, and employees (problem set 7, April 11)
Exam 2 (April 12)
Lecture 7. The firm and its customers (problem set 8, April 18)
Lecture 8. Elasticity (problem set 9, May 2)
Lecture 9. Supply and demand: Price-taking and competitive markets (problem set 10, May 9)
Final Exam (May 12)
March 14-21 Spring Break; Feb 22: Last day to withdraw