My info.

1
My info.

• Name Xue(sherry) Qiao
• Office 83 Heady Hall
• OH MW 11-12
• E-mail sherryqi_at_iastate.edu
• Course webhttp//www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/eco
  n301/qiao/
• TA Yoon, sjyoon_at_iastate.edu

2
Syllabus

• Textbook Jeffrey M. Perloff, Microeconomics, 3rd
  edition. (Not required, but recommended)
• Grading
• 1st mid-term
  25
• 2nd mid-term 25
• Final
  35
• Homeworkin-class exercise 10
• Bonus
  5
• Note Exams will be cumulative, but more weighs
  will be put on the later part.

3
Important Dates

• Tentative exam dates
• 1st mid-term Friday, June 4
• 2nd mid-term Friday, June 25
• Final Friday, May 9
• Notes I will put sample exams on-line.
• There will be multiple-choice
  questions and problem-solving questions in the
  exam.

4
Preparing for exams

• Best way to prepare for exams is to do the
  following three things
• 1. Attending the class better understanding and
  in-class exercise.
• 2. Do the homework by yourself help to find
  where you are wrong and correct it.
• 3. Do the sample exams.
• Notes The questions on exam will be withdrawn
  from the above three sources.

5
Chapter 1 Introduction

• What is economics?
• Positive VS Normative statement
• Mathematic review

6
What is economics?

• Definition.
• Economics is the study of the allocation of
  scarce resources.
• Branches of economics.
• Behaviors that we study.
• Some examples.

7
Positive VS Normative

• Defns
• Differences.
• Examples.
• Why do we consider these in this course?
• Some practice.

8
Positive statement

• Def A testable hypothesis about cause and
  effect.
• Deals with the question of what is
• Do not involve value judgment or opinions.
• Example
• 1,000 jobs were lost because of free trade.
• Consumers saved 1 million because of free
  trade.

9
Normative statement

• Def A conclusion as to whether something is good
  or bad.
• Deals with the question of what ought to be.
• Cannot be tested because a value judgment cannot
  be refuted by evidence. (subjective).
• Example
• We should protect our industries.
• We should support free trade.

10
Practice

• A cut in wages will reduce the number of people
  who are willing to work.
• High interest rate prohibit many young people
  from buying their first home.
• The government ought to behave in such a way as
  to ensure that resources are used efficiently.
• Hong Kong government should increase its budget
  allocation to reduce the number of illegal
  immigrants from mainland of China.

11
More challenging practice

• Smoking is harmful to human.
• You need to stop smoking because smoking is bad
  for you.
• You need a college education.
• One-third of the college-age population wants to
  go to colleges at current prices.

12
Next topic

• Supply and demand