Assignments

Preparation

You will get the most out of this class if you (1) attend class, (2) complete all the readings, and (3) engageTake detailed notes, watch the videos and supplementary content, work through the examples given in the textbook, have vivid dreams about them, etc.

with the readings.Also (4) ask for help from me or the TAs!

To encourage attendance and preparation, I’m borrowing and adapting Dr. Thompson’s system from his OB class that you just finished: regular self-reporting backed by the honor system.

At the beginning of every class, I will post a quiz on Learning Suite with the following questions:

1. Are you here in class today?
   • Yes (1.5 points)
   • No (0 points)
2. How much of today’s reading did you finish?
   • 100% (4 points)
   • 75–99% (3 points)
   • 50–74% (2 points)
   • 11–49% (1 points)
   • 0–10% (0 points)
3. How well did you read?
   • I was engaged and read carefully (3 points)
   • I was fairly engaged and read fairly carefully (2 points)
   • I skimmed it (1 points)
   • I didn’t read it at all (0 points)

Each day is worth 8.5 points. It is unlikely that you’ll score an 8.5 every day.But it would be amazing if you did!

I will shift the distribution of everyone’s final preparation score up at the end of the course.That means that if you could solve the collective action problem of getting everyone to not read or attend class, the average would be super low and I’d have to bump your scores way up, but don’t do that, obviously.

Problem sets

To practice solving microeconomic problems you will complete a series of 9 problem sets. Many of the questions on these assignments will come from Economy, Society, and Public Policy, some will come from previous courses, and others will come from my head.

You must turn in at least 8 of the 9 problem sets. You need to show that you made a good faith effort to work each question. The problem sets will be graded using a check system:

• ✔+:⊕ 110% in gradebook
  
  Problem set is 100% completed. Every question was attempted and answered, and most answers are correct. Work is exceptional. I will not assign these often.
• ✔:⊕ 100% in gradebook
  
  Problem set is 70–99% complete and most answers are correct. This is the expected level of performance.
• ✔−:⊕ 50% in gradebook
  
  Problem set is less than 70% complete and/or most answers are incorrect. This indicates that you need to improve next time. I will hopefully not asisgn these often.

You may (and should!) work together on the problem sets, but you must turn in your own answers. You cannot work in groups of more than three people, and you must note who participated in the group in your assignment.

Talk like an economist

One of the objectives of this class is to “explain social phenomena using economic vocabulary and reasoning”, or in less jargony language, be able to talk like an economist.

There are two assignments that will help with this:

Listen to podcasts

The course materials section of the syllabus explains that you need to listen to at least one episode of an economics- or policy-related podcast every week. We will discuss current economic and policy events and research at the beginning of every class, and these podcasts will be an excellent source of material for these discussions.

You will not need to report what you listen to. I trust that you’ll do it. So just do it.

Present a brief economic briefing

Near the end of the semester, you will prepare a 5-minute brief where you use economic concepts to explain some pattern or behavior you have observed in your own environment. These do not need to be big issues, but they do need to be real. Being creative is a bonus.Don’t just explain how supply and demand change for a certain product or whatever—look for a Freakonomics-type question to answer, like why the McRib follows a strange schedule (don’t do that one, though, obviously).

You will present your brief to me in my office between April 1–5. I will post a signup sheet on March 25. You have 5 minutes to present, and then you will have up to 5 minutes of follow up questions from me.

Exams

There will be three exams covering (1) capitalism, markets, power, and institutions and (2) core economic models, and (3) market failures and government intervention in the economy.

You will take these exams online through Learning Suite. The exams will be timed, but you can use notes and readings and the Google. You must take the exams on your own though, and not talk to anyone about them.

Final project

At the end of the course, you will demonstrate your knowledge of economics, society, and public policy by completing a final project.

Project details will be posted later once I settle on the best form for it. This much is certain so far:

• You will use economic principles to analyze some sort of real-world, public management-related data
• It will be so much fun!

There is no final exam. This project is your final exam.