TELEPHONE: 934-2345 (in Coalinga)
OFFICE: Lemoore: Faculty Offices;
Coalinga: Admin Wing Room 1 (right by Bridge lab)
OFFICE HOURS: Lemoore: Fridays 8:30-9:00 AM;
Coalinga: Mon-Wed 4:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
E-MAIL ADDRESS: tomwinters@westhillscollege.com
COURSE WEB SITE http://whcbridge.com/ (follow the
link to Resources For Students)
TEXT: Macroeconomics/Microeconomics, (5th edition or 6th edition)
by Arnold
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS:
Economic concerns underlie every part of our daily life. A key to our
survival is to cope with the Economy effectively.
The field of economics is an enormous one with many wide ranging interests. In this class, my focus will be on helping you to gain an understanding of basic tools for understanding economic issues. We will use the tools to see how the American economy has worked and is working right now. Along the way, we will talk about other closely related subjects.
Learning the tools of economics is much like learning a new language. First, you must master the vocabulary in order to speak the language. As you learn this new vocabulary, you will develop the power to converse—to solve economic problems. We will have fun working through a variety of economic puzzles in class but you will need to work consistently and vigorously outside of class to memorize the new vocabulary. I will try to be very clear about what you need to be learning.
During much of the semester, I will follow the text closely. Some additional ideas will be covered with handouts.
You will be assigned a five page research paper. Details about the assignment will be distributed in the coming days.
I will try to tie assignments together. Questions that we cover in class will appear on quizzes and in class assignments. Later, very similar questions will appear on midterms and then the final. You will be able to use ideas that you learned for your quizzes and tests on the term paper and other out-of-class assignments. I won’t give you a lot of surprise questions. I will let you know pretty exactly what you need to get an A or a B or a C in the class. Learn that stuff as soon as it is assigned, and much of the class will simply involve applying what you learned previously.
Here is how I will grade:
200 points Final exam
200 points Two Mid
term exams
100 points Quizzes and other assignments
50 points Notebook
150 points Five-seven page research paper
You will need to hand in out-of-class assignments on time. I will accept them late, but they lose one grade for every day that they are late. Do it the easy way: do it on time.
I require that you use a three ring binder to hold materials. You will need the class handouts, and your quizzes to study for the midterms and the finals. You will also want to save out-of-class assignments to incorporate into your term paper. The binder will be a good investment.
I would like to collect assignments via e-mail. If you don’t know how to send materials that way, I will help you learn how.
I would also like to post some of the class materials on the class web site. If you have trouble using the Internet, I will arrange for you to learn how.
Graphing is a critical skill for the study of Economics. I will offer a couple of hours of supplementary instruction on that subject or students who need it in the library.
ATTENDANCE
Mandatory: maximum of two missed classes. But if you have a family or personal emergency, please see me and I will try to work out an alternative assignment. Class will start promptly at 9:00 AM.
NOTE ABOUT GROUP ASSIGNMENTS
We will do some of our work in groups in class.
There will also be group presentations
Some of the homework (Coalinga only) will need to be done in the Bridge
Lab. More details on that will follow in the coming days.
SPECIAL NOTE
On March 27 a distinguished person, Dolores Huerta, will visit the College.
For four decades, Ms. Huerta has worked for the betterment of people employed
in agriculture. Econ 1B students will be required to attend her talk in
lieu of 1.5 hours of class time. Students with time conflicts will be given
an alternative homework assignment.
RESOURCES for OUT-OF-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS
Some Excellent Library Resources:
Wall Street Journal
Fresno Bee
On-line Resources:
On-line New York Times (free subscription available on-line)
On-line Wall Street Journal
Ebsco Host: academic papers (available over the Internet as art of
the WHC Cyber Library): http://search.epnet.com/login.asp; user name: “student”;
password: “whc”
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
A fantastic resource for students who need help with their research
paper is Eng 50 Research
TOPICS and SCHEDULE of READINGS
WEEK OF:
January 13: Defining Economics: The Vocabulary
of Economists: Arnold Chapter 1
January 20: Economic Systems and the Production
Possibility Curve: Arnold Chap 2
January 27: Supply and Demand Theory: Arnold
Chapter 3
February 3 Review of some basic
concepts and the concept of elasticity : short exam; Arnold, Chapter 18
February 10 Measuring our wants – utility:
Arnold, Chapter 19
February 17 The firm: Arnold, Chapter 20
February 24 Production and Costs: Arnold,
Chapter 21
March 3
First Midterm: Special Group Work
March 10 First
Micro Model of the Firm- Perfect Competition – Arnold, Chapter 22
March 17 Second Micro-model
Monopoly: Arnold, Chapter 23
March 24 Third
Micro-model Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly: Arnold, Chapter 24
Speech by Dolores Huerta in Lieu of one hour of class work
March 31 Government
and Regulation of Markets: Arnold, Chapter 25 and 32 (parts)
April 7
Agriculture: Issues and Policies: Arnold, Chapter 26
April 21
Second Midterm;
April 28
The Labor Market: Arnold, Chapter 27
Rough Draft of Paper Due
May 5
Wages, Unions and Labor: Arnold, Chapter 28
May 12
The Problem of Poverty and Distribution of Income: Arnold, Chapter 29:
May 17
Externalities and Public Goods: Arnold, Chapter 31; Review for Final
Final Draft of Paper due