Thomas Hubbard
MWF, 9:00-10:00.
This course is in the Business Econ program -- students in the program have priority. However, because the class size is small, students not in the program may apply to me to get in the class. To apply, talk to me after class.
Intermediate microeconomics is a prerequisite. You must also be comfortable enough with calculus so that you can differentiate fairly simple functions.
The readings, by week, are in the course outline. You are expected to read these before the lecture in which I cover the material. This is particularly true for the articles in the reader -- although the first time through some of them may be difficult. Lectures are much more productive if you are at least a bit familiar with the material.
You are responsible for all readings. There will be a mid-term and a final. The mid-term will count for 25% of your grade, the final for 50%. The rest will be a combination of your performance on several problem sets and in class. Problem sets will be collected at the beginning of the class on the day that it is due. I expect participation in class. This is a requirement, not an option. Class participation will come about most prominently during the cases, but there will be ample opportunity during other sessions as well.
While I will not assign it, it would be useful to get a subscription to the Wall Street Journal for the quarter. There are special student deals.
I plan to make the case discussions small so that there is room for everyone to participate. So the class may be split on these days. I will schedule extra class times in order to accomodate this.
The Ec174 site has a lot of material, and will have more as the quarter passes.
For all of the lectures which have readings from the Course Reader, there are discussion questions. You are responsible for these questions before you come to class, and cold-calling you on these is allowed.
The site will also contain all problem sets and answers, both for the current quarter and for previous quarters. The answers will appear after the problem set is due.
Finally, the site contains lecture notes. These lecture notes are not comprehensive -- if you try to use these as a substitute for going to class, you will not succeed in learning much. Basically, the lecture notes were produced for my own use when I lecture, but I decided that there was no reason not to make them available to my students. These are good for cross-checking with your own notes. But they do not contain nearly the detail I will provide in class, nor do they contain much in the way of illuminating examples and stories. Lecture notes will be available for most lectures after I give the lecture.
Any other questions? Please ask or send email to me at hubbard@econ.ucla.edu.