This course is about bringing an economic perspective to thinking about the use of outer space. It is dedicated to the proposition that economics is critical to understanding resource allocation and strategic behaviors, whether on or beyond the Earth’s surface, in or outside of competitive markets.
Humans are becoming increasingly dependent on outer space, and increasingly interested in using its resources and environments. Many of these dependencies and uses bring interesting tradeoffs. High fixed costs and national security concerns pit natural oligopolies against government monopsonies. Launch vehicles based on inter-continental ballistic missile technology provide access to extraterrestrial resources and environments while raising issues of weapons proliferation and airspace management. National security concerns create competing pressures to limit and liberalize markets for satellite services. Satellites provide real-time monitoring and global communications capabilities but create hazardous orbital debris with long-lived consequences. Extraterrestrial bodies offer untold reserves of precious minerals, habitat opportunities, and the potential to turbocharge global wealth inequality.
Understanding these issues and weighing different approaches requires a unique blend of ethical, legal, political, business, and scientific awareness. Being the science of scarcity and choice, economics is a natural framework to unify these dimensions—national security, technological spillovers, economic (in)efficiency, automation and human survival, equity, and more. Our biggest challenge is that economics as a discipline has tended to ignore space issues or squirrel them away within classified documents. Where possible, we will apply tools developed in other economic subfields. Where necessary, we will create our own tools. We will rarely have the luxury of fully-specified models and rich datasets.
Space economics is a fast-moving field. We often won’t have peer-reviewed academic research to rely on. Where we do have academic research, it may often be from non-economic fields. We will frequently engage with primary texts (e.g., national policy memos, international treaties, legal filings), media reports, and public commentary on blogs and social media. Still, we are economists: we read with an eye to incentives, constraints, and resource allocation. Critical thinking and reading between the lines will be key to developing our understanding. Given how limited economists’ engagement with these issues has been, we may find ourselves at the frontiers of knowledge or identifying issues no one has articulated before. I find this very exciting; I hope you do too.
Our focus in this course is on developing proficiency with the fundamental issues of space economics. This course builds on prior work you have done in economics courses, showcasing the power and flexibility of economic modes of analysis and developing new tools. I do not expect that you know every tool we’ll apply or concept we’ll reference. I do expect that you have a solid foundation in economic theory and have seen economic theory applied to specific problems before. Most important of all, though, I expect you to work hard and ask questions.
This course will likely present you with a lot of new concepts, ideas, and topics. Much of what we discuss—e.g., international treaties and power relations, specific business models and regulatory barriers, environmental problems, and inequities—may feel somewhat removed from “standard” economics. Space is a big topic! Come to my office hours—I’m here to help. With me as your space economics spirit guide, you’ll get through this course with enough challenge to stimulate (but not overwhelm) you.
This is a seminar, not a class. Our seminar will be primarily oriented around reading, discussion, and (a few) games although I will post videos and occasionally give mini lectures explaining technical concepts. The course will involve a fair amount of reading and analytical work, both writing and problem solving. We will sometimes work in historical or hypothetical future case studies and use role-playing games to help develop our understanding of relevant incentives and constraints. Problem solving will often serve as a base for deeper analytical writing and a vehicle to teach you tools of economic analysis. Problem sets will in turn serve as springboards for class discussion and games, so it is critical that you work through these assignments before class. It is rare that a writing question on a problem set will have a unique “correct” answer. There is no textbook. All readings will be posted on Canvas.
I expect you to watch the relevant videos before our class meetings. After you have watched the videos, you can complete short quizzes to check your understanding. For example, you should watch the videos with quizzes scheduled for October 4 before class on October 5. You will get class credit for completing the quizzes.
By the end of this course, you will:
develop an economic understanding of the key issues in the use of outer space resources and environments;
be able to articulate the connections between outer space and terrestrial economies from different national perspectives;
be able to use microeconomics to illustrate specific issues in the use of outer space;
comprehend and be able to critically evaluate space policies and business models from an economic perspective; and
be able to suggest policy design principles and business model features appropriate to specific space issues.
ECON 0210 or equivalent; at least one of ECON 0250 or 0255. This course is intended for senior-level economics students, so I assume you
are familiar with mathematical economics (e.g., constrained optimization, basics of game theory, macro-level analysis using systems of equations),
are familiar with econometric analysis (e.g., interpreting regression tables, basics of statistical and causal inference), and
have seen the tools of economics applied to specific problems (e.g., to environmental issues as in ECON 0265, or gender issues as in ECON 207, or as in any other 200/300-level ECON class).
Programming proficiency is not required. I assume you have a basic level of competence using spreadsheets (simple calculations, plotting) and using a statistical software (e.g., STATA, R). I expect you to be able to take a derivative and construct mathematical arguments expressing economic intuition (e.g., comparative statics).
Collectively as a class, you are familiar with all of these topics; individually, everyone is at different levels with different topics. As this is a senior-level class I expect you to be able to speak up (in class or individually) when you are confused and to work with your classmates. The most important skills you can bring are knowing when to ask for help, teamwork, and engaging with the class and material.
I identify as (among other descriptors) an Indian-American man, an economist, a teacher, and a writer. I speak and write primarily in English and have spent my life financially comfortable. Most of my life has been in India and the US. My class, gender presentation, degrees, intellectual pursuits, and American accent are often more prominent in the spaces I inhabit than my ethnic identity, family background, or life experiences.
Space economics is my main field of study, and I approach it primarily as an environmental and computational economist. There are many other facets to this subject, including international relations, public and defense economics, and business and law. I will do my best to give a balanced treatment of all these different aspects, recognizing that some of you may be more steeped in specific areas and modes of inquiry than I am. While this class will have a largely US-centric focus, I do not want to diminish the perspectives and goals of actors outside the US and particularly in the Global South.
I recognize that some of the topics we discuss may have deep emotional resonances and raise uncomfortable questions of power and privilege. I care deeply about not perpetrating harms by discussing issues inappropriately. While it is not your responsibility to educate me when I slip, I hope we can develop the mutual trust to support calling each other into more inclusive and empowered discussions. The topics and examples in this class also reflect my perspective. I recognize that many of you bring other perspectives to our discussions. I aim to support you if and when you choose to express your different perspectives.
I am committed to making this learning experience as fruitful as possible for you. Over my life I have struggled a lot with math, but have been exposed to computers and programming from an early age. I recognize that my personal background shapes what I do and don’t immediately recognize as challenging. I hope you feel comfortable asking me to explain in more detail if something is confusing.
At Middlebury, we strive to make our campus a respectful, engaged community that embraces difference with all the complexity and individuality each person brings. Each student in this course is expected to contribute to an inclusive and respectful class environment. Students of all backgrounds including gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and religion are to be treated fairly and with honesty, integrity, and respect. Civil discourse without degrading, abusing, harassing, or silencing others is required of all students in this class.
Being intentional with our words and actions is always important, and particularly so when we discuss heavy topics like some we’ll discuss in this class. Please, be mindful of how you frame points and arguments. Avoid pathologizing language in particular—it is often both harmful and a marker of a poorly-considered argument. Intentional and thoughtful discussions which do not perpetrate harms increase our collective freedom of speech and make it possible for us all to engage more fully. Similarly, when someone notifies us that we have perpetrated harms, robust intellectual discourse is best served when we listen, apologize, reflect, and adjust our behaviors moving forward.
There isn’t really a good textbook on this subject. I find existing books on “space economics” more about “financial analysis of space businesses”/“an interesting story about a specific space business”/“a fawning or critical description of a corporate space tycoon’s life” than about “the allocation of scarce space resources”. So we won’t be using a textbook. Instead, we’ll use a variety of other materials—e.g., chapters from books, articles, podcasts, and videos—which will be posted on Canvas.
In addition to these, I will write class notes focusing our attention on key issues and questions. Sometimes class notes will draw on other sources; as far as possible these will be referenced, but you are not expected to look at those references.
Additional sources: There are also a bunch of places on the internet where you can get interesting space content. I’ve listed a few below where you’re likely to find econ-relevant things (along with other, less econ-relevant/more-science-y things):
Ars Technica. Eric Berger often writes about space stuff there, mostly focusing on the launch sector. He also produces a ~weekly newsletter called the rocket report. Worth checking out.
The Verge. Loren Grush often writes about space stuff there. Like Ars, Verge often focuses on launch and the commercial sector with some science mixed in.
Washington Post. Christian Davenport is the main journalist to look out for here.
SpaceNews. Lots of stuff, generally relevant. More news than opinion.
The Space Review. Lots of stuff, generally relevant. More opinion than news.
Politico’s space newsletter. News and opinions, but more personality-focused than systems-focused.
CNBC’s Michael Sheetz. Sheetz focuses on business issues in space. Strictly news, at least as far as I can tell, but often not a lot of broader context.
Casey Handmer’s blog. Handmer is a physicist/engineer working at JPL. This series on misconceptions in space journalism is pretty good, though there are some bits in the economics that are maybe debatable.
During this semester, I expect you to stay current on happenings in the space world. We will often bring them into our class discussions. I recommend you add some of these sources to your news feeds to make it easy.
There isn’t a whole lot of great data out there for space economics work. This is part of why most of the work in this field (including mine) is so theory-heavy. I’ll provide some datasets on Canvas which may be useful for your projects. Please let me know if you’re after something specific. Chances are I can tell you if it exists and how to get/make it. I’ve tried to make sure all the data I share with you is from public/unclassified sources, but some things are from companies that sell the stuff. It’s all fine to use in class or for personal projects, but please check with me before you circulate anything on the web, publish it in a newspaper, etc.
In general if your question is about specific problem or math, please include a copy of the original question and your work so far (as a PDF, picture, screenshot, or inline text). I (try to) maintain work-life balance by not checking messages after 5pm Eastern time or during the weekends, but I promise that I will respond to any message you send me. If it’s been more than 2 business days and you haven’t heard from me, please follow up. Simply re-sending your email is sufficient.
My Zoom room ID is 927 138 2648.
Think of Zoom as the equivalent of a classroom (during scheduled meeting times) or my office (all other times)—it’s rude to interrupt someone else’s scheduled time. Please use Slack or email if you want to ask a question not during scheduled office hours or appointments.
I’ll be in my Zoom room during scheduled meeting times and office hours. Outside of those times, please contact me through Slack or email.
Use this invite link to join our class workspace (it expires eventually—let me know if you need an invite). You can also sign up at this link using your @middlebury.edu email. You can access the workspace using your browser at this link, or from the app.
I’ll be on Slack more frequently (basically whenever I’m at my desk but not shutting off all distractions to work). Use this for questions that don’t need a longer reply or discussions with each other. Please use the appropriate channel for your questions/discussions: problem set-specific questions should be in problem-sets, general course logistics questions should be in general, memes should go in the meme channel, etc. Anything that doesn’t have a specific channel should go into random or general.
If you are asking me a question on Slack or would like me to weigh in on a discussion, please tag me (type @ProfRao once somewhere in your question). I’ll check Slack at least once per day during the week. I won’t be checking Slack over the weekend. If you ask me a question there and I don’t get to it right away, I’ll tag you in my reply. You can also DM me with questions if you don’t want to post them in a public channel. I may post such questions (anonymized) to a public channel if I think it would help others in the class.
Think of Slack as an in-between space where you can ask quick questions and have unscheduled discussions—not as structured as Zoom (also, no video), but more fluid than email.
Email is useful for longer questions, and allows more detailed responses. In the subject line, please start with “Econ 488:”. I use email filters to prioritize among the many emails I receive each day; not including the “Econ 488:” subject line will delay my response. Please allow me up to 2 business days to respond to emails (I don’t check my email over the weekend). Don’t hesitate to follow up if I have not replied (you can just re-send the email).
If your question is about specific issue (e.g., specific problem on a problem set), please include a a description of what you’ve tried already (as a PDF, picture, screenshot, or text description in the email) and what you’re currently thinking. There’s not a lot for me to work with if your question is just “I’m not sure what to do”.
There are three hours of scheduled office hours per week. Please come to my office hours with questions about problem sets, exams, research, etc.
Office hours often get busy. If we have multiple people waiting, questions will be answered round-robin in order of entry to the Zoom. You can also submit questions on Slack in the office-hours channel if your Zoom isn’t working.
I love meeting with students. But! Please make an appointment if you want to meet outside of office hours. A quick email or Slack DM is fine. Friday is my “research day”, so I try not to schedule appointments then, and may be slow to respond.
This course may seem daunting—we’ll be covering complicated concepts, sometimes at a very abstract level. Don’t panic! With practice, repetition, and patience, it will come together. I’m here to help—don’t hesitate to ask questions.
On asking questions: sometimes a concept feels fuzzy or like it isn’t quite clicking, but it’s hard to frame a question precisely. Don’t worry! Ask anyway. We may not get to the bottom of it right away, but we can make progress. Questions about material also tend to be correlated across students, so by asking (especially in a public Slack channel) you often provide a public good to your classmates.
This material goes deep. I may at times limit our inquiry to keep us moving along. If you’re curious, I’m happy to talk in more detail in office hours. Think of space economics as a very big onion, and this course as pulling the first few layers off—you can chop those layers up and cook with them, plenty of recipes won’t need any more!—but there’s a lot of onion left.
What is a discussion going to look like? What’s the point of the readings?
This course is arranged in 6 units, loosely beginning with issues near to us in space and time and moving outward. Early on in each unit I will give mini-lectures (sometimes they’ll take the whole meeting time, but that will be rare and likely only in the very beginning) to introduce you to important content. I will also prepare short videos explaining important technical concepts throughout the semester. The majority of our meetings will be discussions. I will provide short notes to set up our discussions and facilitate the conversations. It’s critical that you all come to our meetings prepared: having done the readings, having worked the problem set a little, and having reflected on the material so far.
This is an in-person course. That said, the pandemic isn’t over. Despite our precautions as a campus, folks may need to attend class virtually or not be able to attend at all. I intend to have a Zoom call running for the duration of the class in case folks need it. For group discussions, I ask that you bring a fully-charged laptop or other Zoom-capable device. This way, if your group has a virtually-present member, you will be able to see and hear them during your discussions.
Please let me know if you intend to join a particular class meeting virtually. I don’t need to know why. I just need to know how many folks are planning to attend virtually. If enough folks are attending a particular meeting virtually, we will switch that meeting to being virtual. You do not need to let me know if you anticipate being unable to attend at all (physically or virtually). Your health and privacy are important, please be careful. Please also be responsible with this power. I don’t anticipate anyone asking to attend virtually so they can (for example) attend a concert, and I’d like to be proven right.
My loose rule-of-thumb for now is that we switch modalities for a meeting if more than 3-5 students are planning to attend virtually. The uncertainty there is to allow for more information about the Delta variant or others which may emerge. Regardless of the public health situation, once more than 5 students attending virtually we might as well be virtual as a class. But there may be public health reasons to switch modalities much earlier. Please do reach out if you have particular concerns about this policy.
There are a number of deliverables in this class. You do not have to do all of them to get an A (or whatever grade you’re after). See the grading contract below for details on what you need to do to achieve specific grades.
Problem sets: These are collections of problems which will facilitate our unit discussions. A completed submission is an PDF file with your work towards solutions. When you are unable to completely solve a question, sketch out your work so far, your thoughts on what the answer ought to look like, and what steps you think need to be taken to get there.
“Modeling the news” essays: These are 2 essays, roughly 2-4 pages each (1.5-2 spaced), designed to enhance your abilities to think in terms of economic models. These will be based on news articles about space topics that I provide. As opposed to typical problem sets or essays, the emphasis here is on developing your own model of the phenomenon at play. This does not mean that you need to write an economic model. I will give you more guidance on these when the first assignment is issued.
Games: We’ll play some games. Your conduct in these games will be used in determining your participation grade.
Final paper: This is the capstone project for this class, blending economic analysis of a space policy issue with policy communication. A first draft is due around week 8.
Participation: A portion of your grade (up to 10% of total points available) will be based on participation. This is to reward you for engaging in discussions, playing games, and generally contributing to the class learning experience.
Please feel free to ask me questions about any assignments. However, you will probably get the most out of questions if you ask them after working on them a bit and running into an issue.
After each video, you can take a short multiple-choice quiz to test your recall and understanding of the video you just watched. The quizzes are accessible on Canvas.
Video quizzes have a small point value attached to reward the effort of watching the video.
Problem sets are a big part of the learning in this class. I will assign a problem set once per unit. I strongly encourage you to schedule a weekly time to work on the current problem set.
I want to incentivize you to put effort into the problem sets even if you aren’t sure you have the right answer. My criteria for “effort” is “the question was attempted and completed, or attempted and incomplete with a brief explanation of where and why the student got stuck”. “Brief” means “enough to convey understanding and the issue”, not “everything the student knows about the subject”.
Before the due date but near the end of the unit, you will get access to the solutions. I expect you to look at the solutions before submitting your answers. - You will be submitting your problem set with access to solutions. So the questions with unambiguous right answers (“mechanical” questions, things like math problems) should be complete and correct upon submission. Questions without unambiguous right answers (“analysis” questions, like a scenario discussion at the end of a problem set) should be complete, but your answers don’t have to match my answers.
If you got some mechanical question wrong, see what you got wrong, and fix it. The only time you should not update your mechanical questions to match the solutions is if, after spending some time looking at the solutions, you don’t understand what’s going on. In that case leave your answer unchanged from your original work and come see me for help (or reach out to a classmate who got that question right). The most important things on the mechanical questions are that you learn how to use economic theory to think about applied situations in the world, and that you learn something about space economics. As long as you have put in good effort here, you will get points. If you don’t understand something but say so and follow up to learn what you were missing, you will get full points as though you had gotten the answer right to begin with.
It’s fine if your answers to analysis questions differ from what’s in the solutions, as long as your answers logically follow from economic principles, known facts, and (where necessary) reasonable assumptions. Your answers on the problem set (both mechanical and analysis) must be internally consistent, within and across questions. I will give you some examples in early problem sets, and you can always discuss your analysis answers with me. If during grading your answers have an internal inconsistency, I will leave a comment on your submission. You can redo them until they are internally consistent, and then you will get the points. It is important that you learn to write short, compelling, and internally consistent economic analyses of novel situations. I am happy to iterate with you on this.
For example: Suppose question 1 is mechanical and asks you to prove that, given a fixed budget and “more is better” preferences, demand curves must slope downwards. Question 2 is analysis and asks you to discuss whether the demand curves for a particular good (say, Dogecoin) is downward sloping in light of some empirical evidence (suppose I tell you people bought more Doge at a higher price than at a lower price). - You try but can’t figure the proof for 1 out until you see the solutions. Once you see the solutions, you think “oh ok then, if that’s all it is”, and adjust your proof/copy the solution. All well and good. - Now you’re on 2. Suppose you want to say “no, Dogecoin is an example of a good with an upward-sloping demand curve”. Then you need to explain why it has an upward-sloping demand curve. What additional hypothesis/assumption do you need? Which of the earlier assumptions (fixed budget, “more is better” preferences) do you disagree with? Suppose you want to say “yes, Dogecoin is an example of a good with a downward-sloping demand curve”. Then you need to explain why your statement is not contradicted by the empirical evidence. Is an assumption violated? Do you need an additional hypothesis/assumption? Either approach is fine. Similarly, you can argue that “no, Dogecoin has an upward-sloping demand curve”, but you must explain why that is not inconsistent with your argument in question 1.
In short, you will get full credit for your problem set as long as the following three conditions are met: 1. Mechanical questions are answered correctly unless you left it incomplete because you don’t understand how to solve it after looking at the solutions. 2. You come talk to me about incomplete mechanical questions (or give a different plan for learning the material). 3. Your answers are internally consistent.
I encourage you to work together on problem sets, but please mention the names of those you work with at the top of your submission. They should be credited for their help.
I recommend not spending more than 3 hours on completing a single problem set.
Economic theory is important. It’s how we reason about situations we’ve never seen before, or strange empirical findings, or the conditions necessary for some outcome to occur. But too often, folks with econ training end up ignoring their theory background beyond simple appeals to famous dead people’s ideas. “Well I’m a Pigouvian so I think we should tax…”, “That’s just more Keynesian economics, what we really need is…”, or “Clearly, a Coasean solution here is more appropriate because…”. This is not the clearest way to communicate with non-economists (how many people really know what “Keynesian economics” is?), and it can lead to embarrassingly incorrect statements (no, not every policy where the government spends more is “Keynesian”).
On the other hand, using an actual mathematical model ensures that your statements are logically consistent, but math modeling is hard and time-consuming. We rarely have the luxury of building a full model every time we want to think about a question. We often don’t even need a full model to say something correct and interesting.
This assignment is to help you split the difference, building a “rough and ready” mental model suitable for understanding big-picture implications without taking up too much time. Such “rough and ready models” may be simple things like a supply-and-demand graph, a bimatrix game, or an average cost curve diagram. These kinds of models often incorporate a lot of outside information, with variables being relabeled or “overloaded” as necessary. You have all been doing this for some time now throughout your careers as econ majors. My goal with this assignment is to help you bottle this lightning and use it to write clear, economically-informed essays about specific space topics. You don’t need to actually write out a full model for this, or even show your model in your essay. The important thing is that you have a model in mind, and can use it to generate logically-consistent and interesting insights without needing to invoke any famous dead person’s name. Collaboration rules on this are the same as the final paper: great to chat with others and bounce ideas around, but your final submission should be your own.
I will give more guidance on this as the first assignment approaches.
Games are a great way to learn and develop intuition for tricky concepts. Over the course of the semester, we will have a number of games, some synchronous and some asynchronous. These will cover important concepts like natural monopoly, treaties, and strategic play, as they apply to space issues. Participating in these games will help you and your classmates learn and develop these intuitions. I ask that you play these games in good faith and in the spirit of learning and having fun—please comply with any relevant restrictions on communicating or sharing information with each other. Unless I tell you otherwise, you should assume that you are meant to choose your strategies on your own.
There are many pressing and interesting space economics problems, and we don’t have time to cover them all in this class. To address your interests and practice applying the tools learnt in this class, we will have one short paper (10-12 pages, double-spaced) on topics of your choice due Friday December 18 (PDF on Canvas). You will need to discuss your topic with me by email or Zoom and submit a first draft by Friday November 5 on Canvas so that I can provide feedback and guidance.
In the honor code section I say you can collaborate on anything “except the research paper”, which is worth clarifying. You are free to discuss your research paper with others, to review each others work and calculations, and even solicit suggestions. But you must submit your own work, reflecting your own effort and interests. It’s fine if you end up asking the same question as someone else in the class (this happens surprisingly frequently in academic research), but you must have your own analysis and interpretation. This doesn’t mean you need to disagree with others working in similar areas. Where you use someone else’s ideas, you must cite them. Interestingly, self-plagiarism is a thing—you must also cite yourself if you are using an idea you developed in another work. In general I would like you to write an original paper, but if you are working on a related assignment for another class and would like to cross-reference or otherwise combine them, come talk to me. I highly recommend you reach out to Ryan Clement, the Economics reference librarian. Ryan has a wealth of knowledge about economic data and literature. His email is rclement@middlebury.edu, and his website is at go.middlebury.edu/ryan. Ryan is also very popular, especially near the end of the semester (many people know how helpful he is and many courses have some kind of research paper assignment), so you should schedule time early to make sure you get a spot.
I expect you to take full advantage of the many resources on offer at Middlebury while remaining true to the Honor Code. This means I fully support you in (for example) going to the writing center and working closely with people there to hone your writing, but you must ensure that you are polishing your own ideas and not someone else’s. Similarly, I encourage you to go to the library and work with the librarians to find more resources, but be sure to cite what you use and provide your own insights.
Where you use someone else’s ideas, you must cite them. This applies to any source you use: popular press articles, academic sources, etc. Use inline citations (not footnotes) in the Chicago Author-Date style used in Economics. Your bibliography should sit after the main text.
You’ll submit the final papers as PDF files on Canvas.
I recommend starting the final paper early.
I will provide a detailed rubric for the research paper roughly halfway through the semester, around Friday October 15.
A small portion of the total points available in the class (up to 10%) will be awarded for engaging in class activities (e.g., scheduled meetings, games) and generally contributing to a positive overall learning environment (e.g., helping each other out, asking questions and making space for each other to ask questions). Be actively engaged in discussions and games, help create a good learning environment, and you’ll get the points.
There are no hard due dates except the last day of the semester—things happen, and I’m tired of emails where we negotiate over an extra few hours or days (you try to convince me your case is serious, I try to convince you it’s ok to submit a little earlier, we both get tired and frustrated by the interaction). If you need an extra day or two, just take it and let me know. It’s not like you won’t learn the material if you do it a day late. I have and will still put due dates into Canvas—research and prior student feedback indicates that acting as though there are due dates helps students learn without getting overwhelmed. You will definitely learn more if you do a little bit every week than if you push it all to the end of the semester. But you’re an adult, and have more information about your marginal costs of effort at different times than I do. I give you my trust; use it wisely.
If you need more than a few days to submit something, that’s fine too. Unless it pushes beyond the end of the semester, my answer to your request for more time will be “sure, no problem”. Just let me know you’ll be submitting late (I don’t need reasons). It gets a little worrying when I look at your submissions midway through the semester and see that you’re missing assignments—unless you tell me you’re submitting late, I don’t know if you are working on it, have forgotten about it, are dealing with other stuff, or have fallen off the edge of the Earth.
Each grade requires you to obtain a minimum number of points in the course. You can get points by completing assignments and receiving credit for them. The final paper assessment rubric will be discussed later in the course. With the exception of your final paper submission, assignments can be redone for full credit: I’m not looking for you to get everything right the first time, I’m looking for you to put in effort and try to learn.
The points per assignment of each type are in the first table below. The subsequent table shows one (recommended) approach to securing specific grades. The point requirements for each grade are listed alongside the recommended quantity of assignments to complete to get there.
Updated Tue Nov 09: removed 1 MTN; removed 2 PS; added peer review feedback to paper; split “paper draft” points into “proposal” and “draft/peer review” components. See Canvas for paper assignment details. Contact me if you have questions.
| Assignment | Point value per assignment | Total value of assignment category |
|---|---|---|
| Problem sets | 7.5 | 30 (4 PS total) |
| Engagement | 10 | 10 |
| Modeling the news essay | 15 | 15 (1 essay total) |
| Paper proposal | 5 | 5 |
| Paper draft (peer review) | 10 | 10 |
| Final paper | 30 | 30 |
| Grade | Points required | Problem sets | Engagement | Modeling the news | Paper draft | Final paper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C- | 10 | 2 | 0 pts | 0 | 0 pts | 0 pts |
| C | 15 | 3 | 0 pts | 0 | 0 pts | 0 pts |
| C+ | 20 | 4 | 0 pts | 0 | 0 pts | 0 pts |
| B- | 45 | 6 | 0 pts | 2 | 0 pts | 0 pts |
| B | 55 | 6 | 10 pts | 2 | 0 pts | 0 pts |
| B+ | 70 | 6 | 10 pts | 2 | 5 pts | 10 pts |
| A- | 80 | 6 | 10 pts | 2 | 10 pts | 15 pts |
| A | 95 | 6 | 10 pts | 2 | 15 pts | 25 pts |
The point values are meant to be loosely proportional to how helpful I think each assignment is, at the margin, in furthering your learning. If we end up having fewer assignments than planned in some category, the points per assignment will be scaled up so that the category is worth the same number of points. I may adjust the letter grade thresholds if I deem it necessary.
The college has many resources to help you when you are struggling. You can find a list of resources here.
I’d like to make a particular mention of the Anderson Freeman Resource Center. The AFC has some great programming, including a peer mentorship program, peer writing tutoring, wellness support, counseling, and social events (granted we’re in a pandemic, but even online events can be nice). The AFC is physically located at Carr Hall and can be reached at afc@middlebury.edu or 802-443-2214.
Students who have Letters of Accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact me as early in the semester as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. For those without Letters of Accommodation, assistance is available to eligible students through Student Accessibility Services. Please contact Jodi Litchfield or Peter Ploegman, the ADA Coordinators, for more information: Peter Ploegman can be reached at pploegman@middlebury.edu or 802-443-2382 and Jodi Litchfield can be reached at litchfie@middlebury.edu or 802-443-5936. All discussions will remain confidential.I will make best efforts to provide accommodations but, given the current circumstances, I can’t guarantee the requirements of the letter will be met.
You may need to find data for your research paper. I encourage you to go to the library and work with the librarians to find more resources, but be sure to cite what you use and provide your own insights. I highly recommend you reach out to Ryan Clement, the Economics reference librarian, as soon as you start settling on a topic. Ryan is a wealth of knowledge about economic data and literature. His email is rclement@middlebury.edu, and his website is at go.middlebury.edu/ryan.
I expect you to adhere to the Middlebury Honor Code. The Middlebury Honor Code is described at go/honorcode. You can collaborate on all assignments except the research paper (see the “research paper” section under “More details on deliverables” for more details). If you collaborate with someone, you must acknowledge those you worked with and submit your own final writeup. For the research paper, an acknowledgements section at the back is a good way to do this.
It’s not a problem if you need an extension that falls within the semester, just send me an email or Slack DM letting me know that you’ll be submitting it a little later. If you need an extension beyond the semester (e.g., an incomplete), reach out and we can discuss the details.
Since you won’t be penalized for effortful-but-incorrect answers, please don’t take extensions if you’re at the wall and unsure if your answers are correct. I don’t mind extensions, but it won’t do much for your learning beyond maybe getting you frustrated. You’re almost surely better off just submitting your effortful attempts and reviewing the solutions carefully.
If you go by a different name or pronouns than what is listed on the roster, please let me know. I expect us to refer to each other by our preferred names and pronouns.
Sometimes people get sick (even without a pandemic in the background), or are otherwise unable to come to class/submit assignments for whatever reason. That’s ok. If you need to take time off for illness, a mental health break, or some other reason, please do so. You don’t need to let me know in advance, though advance notice is always appreciated. If you missed a longer stretch of classes/assignments (e.g. two weeks because of COVID) you can make up the assignments with no penalty. I’m always happy to discuss course content you’re struggling with, just send me an email/slack DM and we’ll go from there.
A brief note letting me know where you’re at and what I can do to support you is fine, even if it’s after the fact. I don’t need doctor’s letters or detailed explanations. My working assumption is that you want to be in class and learn and that if you’re not there it’s because something came up and you were either constrained or chose to do whatever was marginally most valuable/important to you. Either way, I respect your choice. It’s fine if you choose not to share any details with me, and fine if you do (though I am bound by College requirements as a mandatory reporter for Title IX issues—see the link for details about what I am unable to keep confidential). My goal to make sure you’re able to take time when you need it without seeking approvals or permissions and with the support you need to catch up. If you anticipate or experience a particularly long absence, please do reach out so I’m aware you’re ok (or not) and I can help you with any material you’re struggling with.
Please take care of yourself. College can be a demanding (and rewarding) experience. If you or one of your friends, peers, classmates is facing mental health problems, please consider seeking help. Resources include your Common’s Dean, Resident Life Staff, Middlebury College Counseling Center, and ULifeLine website.
The schedule below shows major assignments and due dates for the course. I will revise the schedule as/when things change. Unless specifically instructed otherwise, assume all assignments are due at midnight Eastern US time (or some more-convenient time for your own internal motivation) of the day they are listed as due.
When we are playing games, you are expected to submit your moves before midnight Eastern US time (or some more-convenient time for your own internal motivation) on Friday of the week we’re playing. I will process all the moves on Monday morning after office hours.
The last week of class (week 12) is a little uncertain at the moment. Currently, I’m scheduled to be at a space economics conference in Bordeaux, France. The times and in-person/virtual piece is still unknown. There’s a chance that class in the last week is virtual, or cancelled. Either way the material will still be available. If class is cancelled, I will hold makeup office hours.
Key:
MN: Modeling the news assignment
Vid: Video (recommended time to watch)
| Week | Week of | Unit | Key concepts | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 13 | 1 | Syllabus, intros; | Lec | PS1 assigned | Lec | ||
| Intro to space economics | Goods, laws, & markets; | |||||||
| “what is space economics?” | Valuation; | |||||||
| Measuring the space economy; | ||||||||
| -/- | ||||||||
| 2 | Sep 20 | 2 | Rockets, export control; | Vid | Dis | Vid | Dis | PS1 due |
| The launch sector | Govt contracting (awards, auctions); | ULA | PS2 assigned | SLS | ||||
| “how do we get to space?” | ||||||||
| 3 | Sep 27 | 2 | Market structure (US/global, commercial/natsec); | Dis | Dis | |||
| -/- | COTS | Smallsats | ||||||
| 4 | Oct 4 | 3 | Orbital geography of near-Earth space; | Lec/Dis | PS3 assigned | Act/Dis | MN1 assigned | |
| Orbit use | Satellites & debris; | PS2 due | ||||||
| “what do we do in near-Earth space?” | ||||||||
| 6 | Oct 18 | 3 | IEAs & debris removal; | Dis | Vid | Dis | ||
| ASATs & RPOs; | ||||||||
| 7 | Oct 25 | 3 | The night sky; | Vid | Act/Dis | PS4 assigned | Dis | PS3 due |
| Laws of future past; | MN1 due | |||||||
| -/- | ||||||||
| 8 | Nov 1 | 4 | Procurement & regulation; | Vid | Lec/Dis | Dis | Paper outline due | |
| Governments as actors | Technology & development; | |||||||
| “who’s really using space, and how?” | ||||||||
| 9 | Nov 8 | 4 | Civil/military space applications; | Lec/Dis | PS5 assigned | Dis | PS4 due | |
| Great Power Competition; | ||||||||
| -/- | ||||||||
| 10 | Nov 15 | 5 | Lunar resources & environment; | Dis | PS6 assigned | Dis | PS5 due | |
| Mining the Moon | Existence value; | MN2 assigned | ||||||
| “how will space resources be used?” | Robots & humans; | |||||||
| -/- | ||||||||
| 11 | Nov 29 | 6 | Planetary protection; | Vid | Lec/Dis | Dis | PS6 due | |
| Life in space | habitats & space-based solar power; | |||||||
| “how might we live in space?” | waste & sustainability; | |||||||
| -/- | ||||||||
| 12 | Dec 6 | Work on paper | TBA | TBA | MN2 due | |||
| Finals | Dec 14 | Work on paper | Final paper due |