The Global Economy, ECON 2101

School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Late Short Summer 2017

Course Description
This course provides an overview of the principles of economic analysis. The topics we will cover range
from the behavior of "small" economic agents such as individuals and firms (microeconomics) to the
behavior of “large” market aggregates (macroeconomics). We will also explore some concepts and
examples from international trade and open economy macroeconomics which study the interaction
between economic agents and governments in the context of the global economy.

Learning economics is not so much a matter of acquiring knowledge of a collection of facts about the
economy but rather a process of learning to view behavior and social phenomena through the prism of
economic concepts and theories. By the end of the course, you should be able to think as economists –
that is, be able to analyze questions involving choices made by individuals, organizations, and society
subject to the constraint of scarce resources in a rigorous and logical manner. The methods learned in
this course apply to questions ranging from how a tax on a good (say gasoline) affects consumer
behavior to why couples tend to have fewer children as societies become wealthier.

Prerequisites to do well in this course are knowledge of basic algebra and graphs, but prior knowledge
of Economics is not required.

Course Information

 Instructor: Mishal Ahmed

 Class meeting time: Monday to Thursday, 9:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
 Classroom: Klaus 2447
 Office hours: Mondays 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m., in Room 140 of Old CE building and by
appointment
 E-mail: mishal.ahmed@gatech.edu

Required Textbook and Online Homework

 Title: Principles of Microeconomics

 Author: Gregory Mankiw
 Edition: 8th (older editions are fine too)
 Register for Aplia using the instructions provided in the other document.

Evaluation

 First two exams 30% (will drop the lower score)

 Comprehensive Final Exam 40%
 Homework 20%
 In-class exercises 10%
Grading Scale

 A x ≥ 90
 B 80 ≤ x < 90
 C 70 ≤ x < 80
 D 60 ≤ x < 70
 F < 60

Grading Policies

 There will be no extra credit opportunities. Please don’t ask for them.
 I will not respond to attempts in negotiation of grades. However, please do point out mistakes in
grading.
 If your final course score is between 89 and 90, it will be bumped up to an A, if and only if your
final exam score is above 90. Similar policies apply for scores between 79 and 80 etc.

Student Responsibilities

 In general, I will closely follow the textbook. But you are responsible for all materials, including
topics covered in class that are not in the book or are treated differently from the book.
Sometimes I will exclude parts of chapters and I will mention those in class.
 It is neither feasible nor desirable to cover all parts of a chapter in class. I will focus only on the
more important parts and you are responsible for learning the other materials in the chapter.
You are welcome to use office hours for clarification of all materials.

Homework

 Homework questions are designed to be different from exam questions.

 They are meant to test your knowledge in a way that would be difficult to implement in an exam
setting.
 Do not expect the exam questions to be similar to those in the homework.
 The HW labeled ‘Practice’ are optional and you are free to ignore them. But they can be useful if
the graded HW was not enough for you to understand the material.

Exam Policies

 All exams are closed-book, closed-notes.

 Basic and scientific calculators are allowed. You are not allowed to use smartphones and tablets
as calculators. Please don’t forget to bring your calculator on exam days.
 There will be no makeup exams, without exceptions.
 If you provide legitimate documentation to prove a genuine cause for absence in an exam, I will
transfer the weight to another exam.
 Failure to provide legitimate documentation will result in a 0.

Classroom Policies
 Usage of electronic devices, specifically laptops, tablets and smartphones are not allowed. This
includes note-taking. Use pencil and paper to take notes.
  I prefer that you do not eat or drink (except water) in class. If you must, kindly sit at the back to
minimize distractions for other students.

Important Dates
Thursday June 20 Deadline to drop without “W” grade
Saturday June 29 Deadline to drop with “W” grade
Monday July 4 Official Institute Holiday; no class
Tuesday July 9 Mid-Term Exam
Wednesday July 24 Last day of class
Friday July 26 Final Exam from 8:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Tuesday Aug 6 Final Grades available online at 6 p.m. EST

Important links

Aplia www.aplia.com
Georgia Tech Academic Calendar http://www.registrar.gatech.edu/calendar/
Georgia Tech Final Exam Schedules http://www.registrar.gatech.edu/registration/exams.php

Course Outline (tentative; subject to change)

Chapter no. Chapter Name
1 Ten Principles of Economics
2 Thinking Like an Economist
3 Interdependence and the Gains from Trade
4 The Market Forces of Supply and Demand
5 Elasticity and its Application
6 Supply, Demand, and Government Policies
7 Consumers, Producers and the Efficiency of Markets
9 Application: International Trade
10 Externalities
11 Public Goods and Common Resources
13 The Costs of Production
14 Firms in Competitive Markets
15 Monopoly
16 Monopolistic Competition
17 Oligopoly