EIU 4115G: Pop Culture Economics SUMMER 2016

 

Dr. Ali R. Moshtagh

Phone: 581- 2916

Office: 2371 Coleman Hall

E-mail: amoshtagh@eiu.edu

 

Office Hours:

9:00 - 10:00 am, MWF
8:30 - 9:30 am, TR

Course Description:

 

A study of the ways in which economics plays a role in individuals' lives as seen through the stories told in popular music, movies, and television programs. Students will explore how individuals, firms, governments, and society make decisions in attempt to achieve the greatest level of well-being possible in a world of limited resources.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

Required Textbook:

 

 

Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman, The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, [Volume One: Microeconomics], 1st edition

 

Distribution of Points:

 

Final grade will be comprised of:

 

Short Papers 25 Percent
Midterm Exam 20 Percent
Term Paper & First Draft 15 Percent
Presentation of Term Paper 10 Percent
Class Participation 10 Percent
Final Exam 20 Percent

 

Methods of Evaluation

 

1.    Desire 2 Learn (D2L)

 

Throughout the course, you will be using Desire 2 Learn (D2L): https://www.eiu.edu/online/eiuonline

 

The Student class notes and other class assignments or materials will be available for download or submission on Desire 2 Learn.

To login into Desire 2 Learn, you need your EIU username and password: https://www.eiu.edu/eiuonline/

Information and tutorials about using Desire 2 Learn are available here: http://www.eiu.edu/online/student/index.php

 

Please contact me if you are having difficulties accessing the material available for this course.

 

2.    Exams

 

You will have two ON LINE (D2L) exams: one midterm and a final exam. The final exam is not cumulative. Each exam will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions, two short comments of comic strips, and one short essay. Each exam covers 4 chapters. Questions will be taken from lectures, class discussions, and the required textbook. Before each exam, I will provide you with a study guide, and time permitting, we will have an exam review. The Midterm and Final Exams are each worth 20 percent of your final grade.

 

3.    Attendance and Class Participation

 

Regular attendance is necessary for you to understand the material covered in this course. Attendance and class participation are an explicit part of your grade (10 percent). Each day you are in class, you can earn UP TO 4 points: 1 point for attendance, and UP TO 3 additional points for class participation. At the end of each class I will grade you on your class participation. You will also earn class participation points by engaging in class experiments/games, if any. PLEASE BE ADVISED: attendance alone is not enough to get a good grade for class participation.

 

4.    Short Papers

 

You will have to write a short paper almost once a week or once every other week: at least one short paper for each chapter we cover.

This week on TV/movies/radio I saw/heard "this" and it made me think of "this economic concept"

This week, "something happened"  to me/my family/my friend that made me think of "this economic issue".

The structure of the short paper should be

Title of the paper

Introduction: define the economic concept your story will cover (30%)

Describe the story as seen on TV / movie or personal experience (30%)

Explain why and how your story conveys the economic concept (40%)

 

The short-paper grade is worth 25 percent of your final grade.

 

5.    Term Paper (and Draft of Term Paper)

 

First, you have to turn in the first draft of your paper. I will read it, write suggestions for improvement, and return it to you. Later, you will have to turn in the final version of your term paper.

The structure of the draft and term paper should be

6.    Term Paper Presentation

Cell Phones

"Each faculty member has the authority to establish the conditions for student cell phone use in his/her classroom. These conditions are at the discretion of the faculty member, but will provide that a university-initiated campus security text message can be received and disseminated to those in the classroom in a timely manner." Eastern position on cell phones in classrooms. My position: No Electronic Devices Allowed!

Please Note:

  1. No EXAM or ASSIGNMENT grades will be eliminated. No EXAMs or ASSIGNMENTs will be made up unless proper arrangements have been made prior to the scheduled EXAM or due date. 

  2. If you have a documented disability and wish to receive academic accommodations, please contact me and the Coordinator of Disability Services (581-6583) as soon as possible.
Exam Dates:

Midterm Exam: Friday, 7 March, 2014

 
Final Exam: Tuesday, 6 May, 2014

Course Outline:
 

Part 1: An introduction to the Economic Problem

  • Economics is everywhere
  • Resources: Labor; Capital; Natural resources; Entrepreneurial ability
  • Goods and services
  • Trade-offs : Guns vs. butter; Efficiency vs. equality

Part 2:  Trade-offs and Opportunity Costs

  • Scarcity: The role of scarcity in forcing individuals to make choices
  • Trade-offs
  • Opportunity cost; Opportunity cost of going to college
  • Sunk cost 

Part 3: Using marginal analysis to make decisions

  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • CONSUMERS:  Utility, Allocating budget across goods, Demand
  • FIRMS:  Costs of production, Revenue, Profit maximization, Supply, Demand and supply together

Part 4: The effects of incentives on behavior

  • "People respond to incentives"
  • Selling your house: Real-estate agent
  • Conflicting incentives, Incentives in the workplace
  • Incentives in sports, Incentives in the markets
  • Intentional vs. unintentional effects of incentives
  • Rewards vs. punishments: Children; Effective policy

 

Part 5:  Gains from trade

  • Trade can make everyone better off
  • Absolute advantage, Comparative advantage
  • Principle of comparative advantage
  • Trade between individuals / countries
  • Consumer and producer surplus
  • Effects of a tariff
  • Worker exploitation?

Part 6: The efficiency of competitive markets

  • Economic systems
  • Government spending and taxation
  • Market economies, Market efficiency
  • Perfectly competitive market
  • Effects of interference in competitive markets

Part 7: Market Failure

  • Market efficiency & market failure
  • Imperfect competition: Monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic competition
  • Public policies toward firms with market power
  • Externalities
  • Public goods and common resources
  • Imperfect / Asymmetric information

Part 8: Standards of living across the world

  • Standard of living
  • Poverty
  • Productivity – role and determinants
  • Public policy to increase standard of living