RED Scantron

This is the last blog entry for this semester.

Please remember to bring a RED scantron for the exam.

I have passed out progress reports that include all your grades. Check them to make sure everything is ok. If there are any issues, staple evidence of the error to the grade report and return it to me by Thursday.

Also, I need everyone to fill out an exit survey. I'll be passing this out M and Tues.

Grade Projections

I may have given some of you wrong information if you came to talk to me about your grades. The computer program I use was putting in blank scores incorrectly. I have corrected this error, and all those blank scores have been turned into zeros. If you have turned in all your stuff, then this doesn't affect you. But if you had some missing assignments, it is likely that your score is lower than I told you.

I will print out progress reports for next week and pass them out for you to check your grades.

Please handle all grade requests next week.

thanks,

Scantron for Final

This is a reminder that you need to bring a RED scantron to the final

Remaining Answers to end of chapter questions

There are no more HW assignments due, but in case you wanted to see the answers to the back of chapter questions, here are the remaining chapters.

Micro

Chapter 14Chapter 17Chapter 19
Macro

Chapter 30Chapter 31Chapter 32

Majority Voting

Today a student asked if trading votes can solve the problem of inefficient majority voting. I said that trading votes may sometimes result in better outcomes, and sometimes result in worse outcomes. Here are some examples to illustrate that.

Suppose a project costs $600 and three people will each have to pay $200 for the project. Person 1 values it at 300,person 2 values it at 75 and person 3 values it at 175. From society's perspective, the project should be voted down, and with no vote trading, it would be. Person 2 would vote no and so would person 3. But person 1 can pay person 3 up to $100 and change his vote. This would turn an efficient vote into an inefficient one.

I think, that you can come up with many scenarios that sometimes improve efficiency when votes are traded and sometimes decrease efficiency when votes are traded. Because you can come up with scenarios on both sides, it is not logically necessary for vote trading to improve efficiency.

However, I do have to say that if vote trading came with zero transactions costs, then the Coase Theorem would seem to apply and the efficient solution would result. I think the question hinges on the restrictions and conditions you put on how votes can be traded. In the example above, that was only one way the votes could be traded. Notice that person 2 would be willing to pay up to $125 to ensure a no vote. this would result in person 2 avoiding the tax of $200. We never specified how votes could be traded, and without this specification, it's hard to draw any concrete conclusions.

please feel free to share your thoughts on this with Mr. Goldenballs :)

Final Help

Here's the worksheet explaining how to write good answers for your final

For TuTh micro classes, I'll be explaining this soon. The MW class is ahead of you. The macro class has a different assignment, but it still may help.

Quiz 3 pdf file

Here are the most recent quizzes

Micro

Macro

Final Assignment

Here are updated versions of the final. I changed the macro one a bit, so please take note.

Micro free response questions

Macro free response questions

Some HW answers

Sorry these are a little late, but here are some answers to your HW assignments

For Micro:

chapter 12
chapter 13

For Macro:

Chapter 28
Chapter 29

HW submitted by e-mail

Ordinarily, I do not accept HW submitted through e-mail, but since the Thanksgiving holiday fell right before the HW was due, many students submitted the HW on time via e-mail. I need those students who sent HW in on time to give me a hard copy for me to grade and input into the gradebook. Please do this by next class.

thanks,

Study Sessions

Macro is at 6pm
Micro is at 7:30 pm

Please RSVP at dkuo@occ.cccd.edu

so far only 1 person has RSVP'd. Look for posts on Sunday afternoon to see if I've canceled the session due to low enrollment. If this happens, we'll try again some other time.

Here's the table from the Micro class

Labor: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
marginal product: 19,17,15,,13,11,9,7,5
wage = 200
price = 20

how many workers should the firm hire?

Midterm 2 files

Here are copies of your midterms

macro

High score was 43. The multiple choice scores were low, apparently it was a difficult test

micro

High score is 42 so far. I'm not done grading all the classes. But I am happy with this result since many students did well and the free response was much improved.

HW question

A student asked in micro today about question 10d from chapter 8. I didn't know in class, so here is my response.

When a regulator sets a price that is lower than the unregulated price, it often raises the MR. To see this, take a look at figure 11.7. When the regulator sets a price of P(r), it changes the MR for the monopolist. Remember, the monopolist MR is lower than the price becuase it must "hurt itself" in order to increase output by lowering the price on all the previously sold units. But when there is a price control, the monopolist can sell more output without affecting its MR. It can sell extra units at the price control without having to lower the price. This price can be higher than the MR without the price control and can actually raise the MR the monopolist receives.

Some HW answers to help you.

Remember, these HW solutions are your authors. You must put YOURSELF into your own answers.

Micro economics:

Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11

Macro Economics

Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27

MC = MR Competition

Every semester the question gets asked. Why would a firm produce a good when the MC=MR? It wouldn't make a difference to profit, so why is there an equal sign in the equation? Generally students understand that when MCMR you should decrease output. But why produce the good when they are EXACTLY equal?


This year, I felt my answer to that was just as unsatisfying as all other semesters. I've tried to explain this many ways, and I've concluded the issue centers around mathematics. Why don't you give it a try. The best answer will get 2 points extra credit towards your midterm.

Here are the notes on why taxes are more efficient than standards.

Next Midterm

We will have our second midterm Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, depending on when your class meets. I will announce the exact topics closer to the exam date. You should be doing the HW questions as always.

Income inequality

Here is a link to some research indicating that income gains have not been spread out equally in society.

Homework Answers

A little late, but here are some answers to help you.

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Just because I want to know

Someone in my MACRO class asked why in the unemployment statistics, Asians are reported as "not seasonally adjusted." Every semester a student asked this, and every year I always say I'll find out. Someone please find out why the unemployment statistics are reported this way. Here's the link to the most recent unemployment data http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm
happy searching

Office hours cancelled on Thurs 10/20

For those of you who haven't seen the signs, the campus is having an earthquake drill on Thursday, 10/20, right in the middle of office hours. We will have to evacuate the building for some time so I'm cancelling office hours for that day.

Kuo

Quiz next week

Reminder: you have a quiz either Monday 10/17 or Tuesday 10/18 depending on your particular class.

Bring a green scantron with essay.

Kuo

Midterm Exam

Here are the questions on the first midterm, along with the answers. Please review your answers

Micro

Macro

And here is the handout on your writing assignment I discussed in class. If you want to discuss how you can write a more thoughtful and more organized essay, it would be best to try to schedule an individual appointment outside of office hours.

Missing Notebook

Someone in office hours today (WED) left their notes in my office. I have put them in the bin hanging on my office door.

Kuo

The Midterm Analysis Question

These are the quesitons I want you to work on. They are much longer and more complicated than what you would get on an in class exam. But this will help you much more. Talk about the content with other people, with tutors, with me... and then spend most of your time trying to get clear in your mind what each point is saying. When you get it clear in your mind, it comes out clear on paper. As I said in class, most of the issue I see are issues with your thinking. Think clearly, and you end up writing clearly. What you SHOULD NOT do is to try to look things up and do research. You can answer all the questions with the tools we learned in class. In fact, I expect SUPPLY AND DEMAND type answers, not professional analysis. Remember, if you do not do this, you will not get your midterm graded.

Micro analysis question Econ 170
Macro analysis question Econ 175

Chapter 4 Answers on Elasticity

Chapter 20 answers on GDP

Chapter 21 answers on growth

Error in my HW hints

I was just made aware of an error in the HW hints I posted. For chapter 2, question 4, the answer should be PS = 1/2 * 45 * 60 = $ 1350 million/day

Midterm Reminder

Remember, you have a midterm either October 3rd or 4th depending on whether you have MW or TTh classes.

Kuo

Pre test results

I will put your pre test results on the door of my office. You can take a look for the next two weeks. After that, I will take them down. The score is calcluated as follows:

pre test score = # correct - 1/3*number incorrect.

For example, if you got 12 correct and 18 incorrect, your score would be a 6.

Some of you got a negative number. This will be treated as a 0. This means that you did not come into the class with any particular knowledge of econ. I would expect most of you would be somewhere in this range, either 0 or very close to it.

This procedure corrects for the effect of guessing because you would expect to get 3 wrong for every 1 correct on the questions for which you guess.

When you establish your starting value, here is how you calculate your improvement portion of your grade:

A maximum of 15% of the class grade will be earned in improvement.

Your initial pre test score will be the percent you start with. If you got 6 points, you start with 6% towards your improvement portion.

If you score 20 or above on the pre test, you need to maintain your score on the post test so that it is at least 20 points after correcting for guessing. If you do, then you get the full improvement points. If your post test score drops, then the intial high score was due to guessing (very good guessing), and your score will be reduced by 1% for each 1 point below 20 on the post test. There are only 1 or 2 people out of more than 200 students in this category.

For everyone else, your score will be determined by taking (15-pre test)/(20-pre test) and multiplying by the improvement in your score. So for example, if you scored 12 on the pre test, after correcting for guessing, your score would be 6. This means that you will start with 6% of the improvement points already. For each additional point on the post test, you would receive 9/14 = 0.64% towards increasing your improvment points. If you got 21 correct and 9 incorrect on the post test, your score, after correcting for guessing would be, 18. This represents an incrase of 12 points, and this would translate into 7.68% added to your 6% for a total of 13.68% for improvement.

For those of you who take the time to study this procedure, basically, if you can get 20 points on the post test, after correcting for guessing, you will have earned all the the improvement points. If you cannot, then for each point you improve, you will get some fraction of a total point added to your improvement grade.

Kuo

Midterm #1

You will be having your first midterm on October 3 if you are in the MW classes or on October 4 if you are in the TuTh classes.

You have been notified.

Take care of any problems in your schedule well in advance. When you tell me one day before that you have issues, you appear irresponsible and/or indifferent about your education. Don't let that happen to you. Get time off work to study, or make the time. There aren't many good excuses if you do poorly.

Kuo

Homework Answers

Here are the answers to chapter 2 HW

Here are the answers to chapter 3 HW

Here are some helpful hints and how to think about some of the questions in chapter 2 and 3.

In general, I'll be posting the author's answers and some general comments and hints for the problem sets.

Kuo

Extra office hours

I will be in my office on MW at 1pm on most days. I've decided to tell everyone because they can be kind of like extra office hours. Some days I might not be there, but if you e-mail me the night before, I can tell you if I'll be there. There's a 95% chance on any given M or W I'll be there. So feel free to drop by. Here are my office hours:

MW 1-2 (right before my classes)
TuTh 10-11 (right before my classes)
MW 5:20 - 6:20 (right after my classes, be sure to tell me in advance for this time slot)

Kuo

Extra reading

Here is another few chapters from Roger Arnold's book on how to think like an economist. If you want to read the rest of the book, I highly recommend it.

Pre test

If you missed class, then you MUST attend office hours in order to establish your pre test score. If you do not do this by the start of the next class, your score will be determined by only your test scores. I have a feeling that most people will get sufficient improvement scores to get the full 15%, so don't miss out. If you know of people who were absent, give them a friendly reminder.

Kuo

Macro Syllabus

Here is the updated syllabus for macro. The old one had the wrong chapters for the first HW assignments. We are on chapter 2, supply and demand.

Improvement Score

This week, we will be taking a pre test that will be used to calculate your improvement. Be sure to be in class this week. Failure to do so will mean your improvement score will be disregarded and you will have a serious disadvantage compared to other students when final grade time comes around.

Kuo

Still trying to get in?

Now things are starting to settle down. But some of you are still trying to get in. Depending on where you are on my wait list, there is still room in my classes. Here's the most current info I have:

MW 3:55 - 5:20 microeconomics still has room. People have dropped, so if you have been showing up to my micro classes, either on TuTh or MW, you should see if you can take this class.

MW 2:20 - 3:45 macroeconomics still has room. If you really need a class and can take this one, you may want to consider taking econ in the reverse order of what is traditional (first micro then macro). If you have been attending my lectures so far, I will add you into this class on a first come first served basis.

TuTh 11:10 - 12:35 microeconomics. This one is the most popular class. There are still several people who have been showing up. I will try to get you into a class, but if you can enroll in one of the other micro classes for now, I can section change you later when people drop. This is your best bet to get into this class.

TuTh 12:45-2:10 microeconomics. There are a few seats left here. Again, I can fill the remaining spots if you want to wait it out. But there are no guarantees.

For all those who really want to try to get into one of the classes, be persistent and the more flexible you can be with your schedule, the better your chances will be.

Too bad for all those who came late and didn't tough it out. I guess they'll only learn 1 lesson from me.

Kuo

Additional Reading on Economic Thinking

Here are a few chapters out of a wonderful book called, "How to Think Like an Economist" by Roger Arnold. I discussed some of this in class and ran out of copies.

Kuo

Tu Th petitioners

Here is the current sitution:

TuTh 11:10 -1 12:35 Micro Econ 170

I gave no add slips on Tuesday. There were 38 students who showed up the first day. That leaves 2 official seats.

There were 20 students from the waitlist who showed up, and among those, I might be able to add 6 to 8 students, depending on what happens in the next few classes. I have decided to let students in based on their proirity on the waitlist. Here are the first few, in order of priority.

1. Daniel S
2. Liana L
3. Anthony T.
4. Valeria T.
5. Young K.
6. Gabriel B.
7. Casey S.
8. Rafeal M.
9. Ivan P.

If you are not on this list, then you have a few options.

You can continue to come to class, and hope that someone drops and space opens up.
You can try to add the MW 3:55 micro class,and then do a section change later on. While that class is also full, there are far few people waiting to get in. Right now there are about 8 people who stand a chance to get in.

TuTh 12:45 - 2:10 Update

This class has 38 enrolled students and I am still waiting on some people to use their add code.

In this class I will be able to allow some more people, I just don't know how much.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL PETITIONERS FOR MICRO

It looks like if you are flexible with your schedule, you may find a spot in one of the classes. If you have attended both lectures you may still have a chance. I will try to add you into another class of mine if there is space available. In addition, you can add, and then do a section change later on if space allows me to do it.

good luck searching for classes

Kuo

Udates on the syllabus

Please go to the first posting and download the syllabus again. I updated it on 8/31 to fix some issues in the macro class.

Monday petitioners

I have dropped the students who either were late or did not show up on time. Here are the results of that action:

MW 2:20 - 3:45 Macroeconomics

I dropped 7 students
I gave out 6 add slips which must be used by tomorrow
There are 6 names on the sign in sheet who were not on the waitlist or were dropped and still attende class. They are (first names only)

1. Vo
2. Alex
3. Ruth
4. Michael
5. Greg
6. Heejae

There are two official spots now, and if others decide to drop, there will be more later on. I will see who shows up in the class and decide how many more add slips to give out. For this class, your chances look very good.

MW 3:55 - 5:20 Microeconomics

I dropped 6 students
I did not give out any add slips
There were 10 students from the waitlist who attended
There were 9 additional students who either came late and lost their spot, or who were just tyring to get in.

I will see who shows up and then update this blog on Wednesday. It looks like it will be very difficult for me to let everyone who showed on day 1 in the class. Be persistent if you want to take this class.

Kuo

Welcome to My Econ blog

Here is your syllabus. Read it and understand what is expected of you in the class.

Micro Econ 170
Macro Econ 175