Managerial Economics gb707
SYLLABUS
TEXTBOOK and READING MATERIALS
The textbook will supplement and be an additional resource for all of the material that we will cover in this course.
NOTE: you must use your loyola.edu email to download the free copy.
There will be numerous reading assignments during the semester.
They will be posted on the class website.
ZOOM
This is a hybrid class : in person and asynchronous lectures, but this is the link if we need to meet on zoom for office hours, meetings, etc.
WEEK ONE : March 19 - 25, 2024
WHAT IS ECONOMICS? ; SUPPLY DEMAND & EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS
HOW TO PREPARE
This presentation introduces the basic ideas of economics.
Hazlitt uses a metaphor originally from Bastiat to explain that economics requires us to look at all the consequences of actions when evaluating situations. PDF of the whole book.
Using an example from an 18th century pin (nail) factory, Smith explains how dividing work and specializing can dramatically increase production output.
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday March 19, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
Can all risks be eliminated from economic life?
Who can best weigh the costs and benefits of risks?
The answers are not always obvious.
The Ford Pinto was a small car in the 1970's that was thought unsafe after twenty-nine deaths occurred in rear end collisions.
Demand, Supply, Equilibrium and Equilibrium Examples
These presentations explain how demand and supply determine prices and quantities in markets.
ASYNCHRONOUS
Watch "The Demand Curve" at the Marginal Revolution University
Watch "The Supply Curve" at the Marginal Revolution University
This presentation describes how specialization and trade allow communities to create a greater economic output.
PRACTICE PROBLEMS
COMPLETE Demand, Supply and Equilibrium Assignment #1 This assignment does not need to be turned in.
ASSIGNMENTS
COMPLETE Demand, Supply and Equilibrium Assignment #2 after completing Demand, Supply & Equilibrium Assignment #1
This is a graded assignment that is due by 11:59 PM on March 24, 2024 - submit on moodle or by email
WEEK TWO : March 26 - April 1, 2024
ECONOMIC COORDINATION; MARKET INTERVENTIONS
HOW TO PREPARE
A short film based on the 1958 essay by Leonard Reed the uses a pencil to illustrate the complexity of the network, which no one overseas, necessary to produce it.
In the 1930s, economists debated how a socialist country like the USSR could make economic calculations without free markets, prices and private ownership of the means of production. The "Use of Knowledge in Society" explains the critical role that prices play in an economic system to make economic calculations possible.
READ: Increased Tuition Subsidies Increase The Price Of College Tuition, by Tim Worstall, Forbes, 2015
The cost of college has gone up significantly in recent years. Why? Part of the reason is because subsidies drive prices up.
The cost of healthcare has gone up significantly in recent years. Why? Part of the reason is cross subsidization that interferes with the market process.
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday March 26, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
This presentation explains how market interventions create unintended consequences.
This presentation explains how changes in prices affect quantity demanded and total revenue.
ASYNCHRONOUS
Output and Cost: this presentation explains how firms maximize profits by balancing the two opposite dynamics of economies of scale and decreasing marginal returns.
PRACTICE PROBLEMS
ASSIGNMENTS
COMPLETE Demand, Supply, Equilibrium Assignment #5 after completing Demand, Supply, Equilibrium Assignment #4
This is a graded assignment that is due by 11:59 PM on April 1, 2024 - submit on moodle or by email
WEEK THREE : April 2 - 8, 2024
FIRMS, MARKET STRUCTURE, COMPETITION
HOW TO PREPARE
This is a famous Harvard Business School article that uses microeconomics market structure theory to explain how businesses should view and formulate their strategy.
This presentation explains how economic profit differs from accounting profit, and why economic profit is important to understanding entrepreneurship.
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday April 2, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Imperfect Competition
These presentations explain the different types of market structures economists use to analyze competition.
ASYNCHRONOUS
Game Theory
This presentation explains how economists use game theory to analyze strategic situations with interdependent players, such as an oligopoly market structure.
Oligopoly
This presentation explains a market structure with a few firms and barriers to entry.
ASSIGNMENTS
(Part 1) COMPLETE Knowledge Check 3 and submit one slide by 11:59 PM on April 7, 2024 submit on moodle or by email
(Part 2): PRESENT your slide in class on April 9, 2024
WEEK FOUR : April 9-15, 2024
FIRMS, THE COMPETITIVE PROCESS, MICROECONOMICS SUMMARY
HOW TO PREPARE
This business strategy paper uses microeconomics market structure theory to explain how the market process generates low prices, differentiation and high value for consumers.
This famous Harvard Business School article encourages readers to broaden their thinking when considering a firms place in an industry over time.
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday April 9, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
Market Structure and Competition
This presentation explains how competition and the market process drive economic activity over time.
ASYNCHRONOUS
WATCH "Chasing Work: A Florist's Business Survived Breast Cancer, but AB5 Might Kill It ", Independent Women's Forum
ADDITIONAL REVIEW MATERIALS
ASSIGNMENT
WEEK FIVE : April 16-22, 2024
MACROECONOMICS: AGGREGATES, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, UNEMPLOYMENT, INFLATION
HOW TO PREPARE
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
Gross Domestic Product, Economic Growth, Unemployment, Price Indexes and Inflation
These presentations explain the three important economic aggregates used in macroeconomics.
PRACTICE PROBLEMS
COMPLETE Macroeconomic Aggregates Practice Problem #1. This assignment does not need to be turned in.
ASSIGNMENTS
COMPLETE Macroeconomics Knowledge Check #5 - Aggregates Quiz
This is a graded assignment-quiz that you have to complete ON MOODLE - Due by 6PM on April 23, 2024
WEEK SIX : April 23 - April 29, 2024
AS-AD MODEL , FISCAL POLICY
HOW TO PREPARE
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Wednesday April 23, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
Keynes General Theory, The AS/AD Model, Fiscal Policy
These presentations explain Keynes original system of macroeconomics, the contemporary macroeconomic model and how government spending is used to achieve macroeconomic objectives.
ASYNCHRONOUS
ASSIGNMENTS
This is a graded assignment that is due by 11:59PM on April 28, 2024
WEEK SEVEN : April 30 - May 6, 2024
MONEY, BANKING, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, MONETARY POLICY
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday April 30, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
ASYNCHRONOUS
ASSIGNMENTS
This is a graded assignment that is due by 11:59PM on May 7, 2024
WEEK EIGHT : May 9-13, 2024
INTERNATIONAL TRADE; EXCHANGE RATES
HOW TO PREPARE
SYNCHRONOUS LECTURES - Tuesday May 9, 2024 6:30-9:00 PM
International Trade, Exchange Rates
These presentations explain how international trade works, and how exchange rates of currencies facilitate international trade.
ASYNCHRONOUS
Keynes proposes that Britain suspend it's use of gold to back its currency as a way to help the country expand exports. Suspending "gold backing" will allow Britain to devalue its currency, making its exports cheaper to people in other countries. He also suggests that it should have little to no effect on prices.