Instructor: Pavlina R. Tcherneva

Office Hours: TR 11am-12pm and by appointment

Office: RH 408H

Contact information: tchernevap@umkc.edu,

816-235-5835

Winter/Spring 2003:

Econ 100 – “Economics Explained”

Time: TR 9:30 – 10:45am

Place: RH 211

Required Texts:

Heilbroner, R. and Thurow, L. 1998. Economics Explained. New York: Touchstone (HT)

Real World Macro, Dollars and Sense, 19^th edition (RWMacro)

Real World Micro, Dollars and Sense, 10^th edition (RWMicro)

 

Recommended Texts:

Introduction to Political Economy, Dollars and Sense, 2^nd edition

Real World Globalization, Dollars and Sense, 6^th edition

Current Economic Issues, Dollars and Sense, 6^th edition

To order: www.dollarsandsense.org

 

Course Objective:

This introductory course will tackle basic economic concepts and issues. It will survey a wide range of themes with contemporary relevance. The course aims to provide the students with a broad understanding of how today’s economy works and equip them with the tools to think critically about current economic events.

 

Course Description:

The course is designed in a way to allow you to quickly learn and talk about current economics events. Classes will consist of lectures and discussions. Lectures will introduce you to the theoretical concepts in an easy and intuitive manner. You will then use what you have learned to discuss contemporary issues selected from the articles in the two Dollars and Sense Guides (RWMacro and RWMicro). The HT book is your main text. For some topics, however, additional handouts will be provided.

 

Evaluation:

Participation: 10%

Quizzes: 10%

Homework Assignments: 25%

Midterm: 25%

Final Exam: 30%

Community Service Requirement: 5 buckaroos

 

Grading Scale:

 

        Percent Score        Grade               Percent Score        Grade

93-100%                 A                             73-76                       C

90-92                       A-                           70-72                        C-

87-89                       B+                           67-69                       D+

83-86                       B                             63-66                       D

80-82                       B-                            60-62                       D-

77-79                       C+                           0-59                         F

 

Policy:

There is no attendance policy. There will, however, be frequent and sometimes unannounced quizzes. These will only be graded with “+” or “—”. The quizzes will be very short, usually consisting of only a question or two, which in turn will be very broad. Their purpose is to see if you are keeping up with the general thrust of the arguments presented.  They will help me identify how well you are tackling the broad/intuitive subjects and will help you prepare for exams and homework assignments. A quick look at your notes from the previous lecture or simply paying attention in class will be more than enough to prepare for these quizzes.

The computer lab exercises and homework assignments will provide you with very practical and useful tools, which you can apply even outside of your economics class. How to read various graphs, charts, and tables; how to present arguments in a clear and concise manner; how to interpret statistics and economic data, in particular; how to find, download, and analyze government-reported data—these are some examples of the kinds of techniques you will learn.

 

One or two of the homework assignments will be short papers based on previously assigned articles, which discuss a current economic issue. You will need to 1) tell briefly what the article is about, 2) analyze and discuss the 2 or 3 main arguments that the author has made and 3) delineate the significance of the issues discussed in the context of current economic events.

 

Study guides for both the midterm and final exams will be provided.

 

To get a grade in this course you will need to submit 5 buckaroos, which represent 5 hours of community service (details will be provided). The purpose of this requirement is not only to perform a valuable service to the community, but also to illuminate the workings of the modern monetary system. Attending UMKC’s community service day in April can fulfill the community service requirement.

 

Submit your homework on time. Assignments will be given well in advance, so you will have plenty of time to complete them. A late homework will reduce your grade by 10%. In other words, a perfect assignment, which is late, will receive 90% instead of a 100%. All assignments can be either submitted as a hard copy, on a disk or via email before or at the beginning of class on the day they are due.

 

No make-up exams will be given. Plan to take the exams on the date they are given.

 

Any form of cheating or plagiarizing will immediately result in an F grade for the semester.  You are encouraged to engage in discussions regarding the material covered in class and to study together for the exams, but you must demonstrate that you alone have completed the homework assignments. 

 

On occasion, there will be visiting lecturers.  Material presented by guest speakers will be on the exams.

 

Finally, participation is strongly encouraged. It also represents 10% of your grade. This includes attentiveness, active interest in the issues discussed, making use of my office hours and most importantly engaging in dialogue. 

 

Take full advantage of the discussion periods. We live in interesting times. The economy is undergoing dramatic and important changes. This is the time to talk about them and learn to critically evaluate the trends!!

 

Course Outline