WELCOME TO ECON 1110

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WELCOME TO ECON 1110

• PRINCIPLES OF MACRO
• Dr. Young Se Kim
• 630 920

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SYLLABUS

• Instructor Young Se Kim
• Office Etech 220 H Ph. 565-2220
• Office Hrs. 100 300 TW and
• by appointment
• email kim1_at_unt.edu
• web site www.cas.unt.edu/kim1

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EXAM DATES

• Exam 1 - February 20th
• Exam 2 - April 3rd
• Exam 3 - May 1st
• COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM - SATURDAY, May
  6th at 200pm

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GRADING POLICY

• 3 hourly exams (150 pts. each) 450 pts
• Final Exam (comprehensive) 300 pts
• Homework Assignments 150 pts
• Newspaper Assign. and Quizzes 100 pts
• TOTAL possible 1000 pts

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GRADING SCALE

• A 1000 - 900pts
• B 899 - 800pts
• C 799 - 700pts
• D 699 - 600pts
• F 599pts or below

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Newspaper Assign. and Quizzes

• Short writing assignments based on current
  economic condition (30 pts)
• Detailed instructions will be distributed
• 8 unannounced quizzes (70 pts)
• Workbook and a number 2 pencil with you
• No make-up quizzes

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TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS

• Roger A. Arnold Macroeconomics UNT 7th edition
• Principles of Macroeconomics Workbook 2006
  edition
• A Non-Programmable Calculator
• Number 2 Pencils

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HOMEWORK

• Homework assignments will be made on a weekly
  basis.
• Assignments will come from the workbook and
  should be turned in on scantrons
• I will supply the scantrons
• Your name should appear on all scantrons
• Last name, First name
• An assignment sheet with all homework for the
  semester is on the web

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TUTORING CENTER

• Principles Tutoring Lab Etech 266
• The lab is open from 830 630 Mon. Wed.,
  830 500 TuesThurs., and 830 100 on
  Friday
• Practice exams are available at www.econ.unt.edu

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Principles of Macro ECON 1110Spring 2006

• Chapter 1
• What Economics Is About

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IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMICS

• Good Citizenship in a Democratic Society
• Improved personal decision making
• Aids business decision making

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MICRO vs. MACRO

• MICROECONOMICS - the branch of economics that
  deals with the behavior and choices of an
  individual, firm, single industry, or market.
• MACROECONOMICS - the branch of economics that
  deals with the aggregate behavior of the entire
  economy.

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MICRO vs. MACRO (Example)

• Macroeconomics does not try to answer the
  question of
• a) why do some countries experience rapid
  growth
• b) what is the rate of return on education
• c) why do some countries have high rates of
  inflation
• d) what causes recessions

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MICRO vs. MACRO (cont.)

• Determinants of inflation
• Relative market shares of GM and Ford
• Amount of imports and exports between U.S. and
  Japan
• Growth of total production in U.S.
• Level of output a firm produces

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Important Macro Concepts

• Economic Growth
• Unemployment
• Inflation
• Economic fluctuations
• Productivity
• Government Spending and Taxation
• Monetary Policy

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SCARCITY AND CHOICE

• Unlimited Wants and Limited Resources Leads to
  SCARCITY
• Scarcity Necessitates Choices
• ECONOMICS is the study of CHOICES

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Definition of Economics

• the study of how individuals and society
  CHOOSE
• to employ SCARCE RESOURCES to produce goods and
  services
• and to DISTRIBUTE them among the members of
  society

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4 CATEGORIES OF RESOURCES

• LAND - natural resources
• LABOR - physical and mental talents people
  contribute to the production process
• CAPITAL - improvements to land such as
  buildings, machinery and tools
• ENTREPRENEURSHIP - the talents that some people
  for organizing land, labor, and capital into new
  business opportunities.

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THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST

• Scarcity and its effect
• - Need for a rationing device dollar price
• - Competition
• Opportunity cost
• What one has to give up in foregone
  alternative when any action is taking
• Ex) What is the opportunity cost to you of
  attending college?
• What was your opportunity cost of
  coming to class today?

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Opportunity Cost (Example)

• Compact Disc (CD) 10 each
• Cassette Tape (CT) 5 each
• Opportunity cost of one CD?
• Opportunity cost of five CDs?
• Opportunity cost of one CT?
• Opportunity cost of four CTs?

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THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST

• Costs and benefits of decisions
• Decisions require comparing costs and
  benefits of alternatives.
• - Whether to go to college or to work?
•      - Whether to study or go out on a date?
•      - Whether to go to class or sleep in?
• Decisions at the margin
• - Marginal changes are small, incremental
  adjustments to an existing plan of action
• - Marginal Benefit (MB) vs. Marginal Cost
  (MC)

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SCIENTIFIC THINKING

• The Association-Causation Issue (Fallacy of False
  Cause)
• - Association if two events are linked or
  connected in some way
• ex) wash your car at 1000 ? starts to rain
  at 1030

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SCIENTIFIC THINKING

• Fallacy of Composition
• The erroneous view that what is good or true
  for the individual is necessarily good or true
  for the group
• ex) tariffs
• Ceteris Paribus Assumption
• All other things held constant or nothing
  else changes

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ECONOMIC CATEGORIES

• According to the type of questions
• economists ask
• POSITIVE ECONOMICS - the study of what is in
  economic matters.
• NORMATIVE ECONOMICS - the study of what should
  be in economic matters.

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IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS AS POSITIVE OR
NORMATIVE

• The Stadium should be packed for Saturdays
  UNT-UT Game.
• The unemployment rate in Dallas is 5.3.
• A country as big as the United States should have
  a job for anyone that is willing to work.

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IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS AS POSITIVE OR
NORMATIVE (cont.)

• The federal budget deficit has decreased every
  year for the last 20 years.
• The unemployment rate is too high.
• The costs of medical care are increasing faster
  than the income of American citizens.
• Lower income tax will generate greater income tax
  revenue for the government.

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Assignment

• Get your Text and Workbook
• Read Chapters 1 - 3
• Assignment 1 pp. 11-12 17-18

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ANY QUESTIONS?