ECONOMICS 5311-020
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
SPRING 2014
Instructor: Prof. Roger Meiners. Office phone (with voice mail): 817-272-3116; e-mail:
[email protected] Note: E-mail is preferred form of communication. Office: Economics Department Office Hours: Before and after class and by appointment. Time and Place: Rm 114, Santa Fe, 6 PM Mon., 8:30 AM Sat., Jan. 13 – Feb. 17 Instructor's Background: BA (Washington State), MA (Arizona), PhD (economics, Virginia Tech); J.D. (law; U. Miami). Faculty appointments prior to UTA: Texas A&M, Emory, Miami, and Clemson. Visiting professor at U. Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala; Univ. Aix-en-Provence, France, and U. Kansas MBA program in Italy. Government service: Director, Atlanta Regional Office, Federal Trade Commission (responsible for antitrust and consumer protection cases for eight southern states); Member, S.C. Insurance Commission. Current external affiliation: Senior Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), Bozeman, Montana. Publications include numerous books, scholarly journal articles, and articles in popular press. Course Goal and Content: To learn the essential elements of economics most important in analyzing business and economic issues at the micro and macro levels. To become conversant with major trends in economics over time and to learn key tools of economic analysis relevant to decision makers. Student Learning Outcomes: Successful completion of the class means you will understand the essentials of economic theory especially as it applies in business. You will be conversant about current economic trends and understand economic terminology at a sophisticated level. Method of Evaluation: There are two exams: a mid-term and a final; each one counts 50% of the class grade. Each exam will focus on the material covered for that exam; that is, the final exam focuses on the material presented after the mid-term. Mid-term is multiple choice, nuts and bolts stuff. Final is applied short-answer essay. Mid-term will be set after we discuss the date in class; final exam will be on the last day of class. The exams are strictly time limited and open laptop, book/open materials. Grading Policy: The class is graded on a curve; you are in competition with each other. Essentially a 90, 80, 70, etc. scale is used to determine final distribution. Reading: (1) Mankiw textbook, Economics, 6th ed. with Aplia, which you buy online. Here are instructions from the publisher:
How to access your Aplia course MEINERS - ECON5311 - Spring 2014 Instructor: Roger Meiners Start Date: 01/13/2014
Course Key: X8UP-9DE4-C64B
Registration Aplia is part of CengageBrain, which allows you to sign in to a single site to access your Cengage materials and courses. 1. Connect to http://login.cengagebrain.com/ 2. If you already have an account, sign in. From your Dashboard, enter your course key (X8UP-9DE4-C64B) in the box provided, and click the Register button. If you don't have an account, click the Create a New Account button, and enter your course key when prompted: X8UP-9DE4-C64B. Continue to follow the onscreen instructions.
Payment Online: After registering, you can buy access to Aplia from myhome.cengagebrain.com. If you choose to pay later, you can use Aplia without paying until 11:59 PM on 02/02/2014. After paying, you will have the option to purchase a physical book at a discounted price. For more information on registering for Aplia, please visit http://www.cengagebrain.com/aplia/.
NOTE: The book is online—not as convenient as being in paper, but a lot cheaper. You will see that you have to create an account. You may have a free-use grace period, so don’t pay—just work fast as we will discuss in class. The book should in fact open on 1/6, not 1/13. The book is good, but the main reason I pick this is for the Aplia exercises. They are excellent preparation for the first exam. They should all be turned on, so you can work them. It takes a bit of fiddling around, but as I recall, you drop to the bottom of the page to find what you need to click to open the practice questions in a chapter. Get to work fast, as this class goes fast. Having said this, you are not required to buy this. I know it is expensive (there are worse). Most principles of econ books have about the same content, so you can find a cheap book, or earlier edition of this one, it will work fine; it will just be missing the Aplia exercises. An earlier edition of Mankiw (in print) works fine and there is little change from previous editions to this one; you just do not have access to Aplia. (2) The Wall Street Journal is highly recommended (will have discount sign-up sheet in class the first day) and will discuss it then. Reading Assignments: Made as we progress from week to week, but begin the Mankiw text with the first four chapters and the Aplia exercises. This class goes fast, so don’t wait.
Class Method and Policy: Lecture with class discussion is the primary format. Comments and questions are encouraged, as are contributions based on your experience. Attendance will be taken. I deduct one point from your final grade average for the first class missed, two for the second class missed, four for the third class missed, etc. If you come in late, or leave early, please do so quietly. No eating in class. No surfing the net. No text messaging. No phones. If you want to talk, please stay outside. If you violate these rules, I reserve the right to boot you out. (Sorry for all this stuff, it applies to a trivial number, but still has to be put in here.) Real World Note: Since many of you work, and because life can have its problems, send an email or call me if something comes up unexpectedly, so we can try to make it through the semester. In any class, there will be some people who will have unexpected difficulties arise. Please try to work things out with me rather than just drop out - don’t let personal problems ruin your degree plans if possible. I know that some of you will have to miss class due to work requirements; please let me know when that is the case. If you have any disabilities that require assistance for exams, etc., please let me know. Grade Grievances: You have one calendar year from the date the grade is assigned to initiate any grievance. The academic channels are department chair, academic dean, and the Provost. Drop Policy: Students may drop or swap (adding and dropping a class concurrently) classes through self-service in MyMav from the beginning of the registration period through the late registration period. After the late registration period, students must see their academic advisor to drop a class or withdraw. Undeclared students must see an advisor in the University Advising Center. Drops can continue through a point two-thirds of the way through the term or session. It is the student's responsibility to officially withdraw if they do not plan to attend after registering. Students will not be automatically dropped for non-attendance. Repayment of certain types of financial aid administered through the University may be required as the result of dropping classes or withdrawing. Contact the Financial Aid Office for more information. Americans with Disabilities Act: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of all federal equal opportunity legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). All instructors at UT Arlington are required by law to provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Any student requiring an accommodation for this course must provide the instructor with official documentation in the form of a letter certified by the staff in the Office for Students with Disabilities, University Hall 102. Only those students who have officially documented a need for an accommodation will have their request honored. Information regarding diagnostic criteria and policies for obtaining disability-based academic accommodations can be found at www.uta.edu/disability or by calling the Office for Students with Disabilities at (817) 272-3364. Academic Integrity: It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. According to the UT System Regents’ Rule
50101, §2.2, "Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." Student Support Services Available: The University of Texas at Arlington provides a variety of resources and programs designed to help students develop academic skills, deal with personal situations, and better understand concepts and information related to their courses. These resources include tutoring, major-based learning centers, developmental education, advising and mentoring, personal counseling, and federally funded programs. For individualized referrals to resources for any reason, students may contact the Maverick Resource Hotline at 817-272-6107 or visit www.uta.edu/resources for more information. Electronic Communication Policy: The University of Texas at Arlington has adopted the University “MavMail” address as the sole official means of communication with students. MavMail is used to remind students of important deadlines, advertise events and activities, and permit the University to conduct official transactions exclusively by electronic means. For example, important information concerning registration, financial aid, payment of bills, and graduation are now sent to students through the MavMail system. All students are assigned a MavMail account. Students are responsible for checking their MavMail regularly. Information about activating and using MavMail is available at http://www.uta.edu/oit/email/. There is no additional charge to students for using this account, and it remains active even after they graduate from UT Arlington. To obtain your NetID or for logon assistance, visit https://webapps.uta.edu/oit/selfservice/. If you are unable to resolve your issue from the Self-Service website, contact the Helpdesk at
[email protected]
Finally, please print this last little bit, sign it and turn it in to me in class (UTA requirement):
All students enrolled in this course are expected to adhere to the UT Arlington Honor Code: I pledge, on my honor, to uphold UT Arlington’s tradition of academic integrity, a tradition that values hard work and honest effort in the pursuit of academic excellence. I promise that I will submit only work that I personally create or contribute to group collaborations, and I will appropriately reference any work from other sources. I will follow the highest standards of integrity and uphold the spirit of the Honor Code.
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