Goal of Course

Key Items from Syllabus

Refresher on Key Concepts
Producer Surplus
Domestic Resource Cost
Consumer Surplus
Tuesday: Chapters 1,2,2A


Week 1 (Thurs., 8/21/2014)
Very Simple Goal
Generally understood that the world is now
more interconnected than at any time since
end of World War II.
Goal of the course is to increase your
understanding of how this interconnectedness
shapes our economy and influences our
standard of living.
Office Hours
Office: Computing Commons 415C
Office hours:
Tues & Thurs 9:00-10:00 am
Wed & Fri 11:00 am 12 noon
or by appointment (24 hr prior notice)

Contact: Jose.Mendez@ASU.EDU
with subj line: STUDENT ECN 306_Time




Announcements
Primary method: Lecture
You are responsible for being aware of any
announcement I make in class regarding
changes in the course material or exam
dates.
Secondary method: Blackboard
I do rely heavily on Blackboard so check it
regularly.
Lecture Format
PowerPoint slides
Slides will be generally be posted on
Sunday at 4 PM
Note that slides include factual,
descriptive material but not analytical
material such as diagrams. Slides will
simply make reference to a similar
figure in the text, e.g., Figure 2.7
Grading
Examinations and Online Homework Sets
80 percent of grade
2 exams (@26%)
Non-comprehensive final (@28%)
20 percent of grade
9 online homework sets (may drop the lowest score)
20 multiple choice questions
Due Friday at 5 pm
TWO WARNINGS
Course material at times is very difficult
As an economics course, we will cover many
challenging economic concepts
To understand these, you will have to invest a
great deal of time
The HOUR is AWFUL for both of us
relative to my other courses, my evaluations
suffer a lot and students on average score 10
- 15% lower on exams
To Help You Learn the
Material
Exams will draw many questions from
the homework sets
Please be sure to work through the
problems and now how to obtain
the solution.
Problems will be similar but not
necessarily identical.
To Help You Learn the
Material
The class period before each, I will
hold a Q&A session where you can
ask me any relevant question
Course syllabus has Q&A to remind
you that I wont usually lecture on
that day.
On rare occasions I may need a
small part to finish up material.
To Help You Learn the
Material 2 TAs
Sajad Vahedi [sajad.vahedi@asu.edu]
CPCOM 415D
Andy Zhizhuang Ge [gzhizhua@asu.edu]
CPCOM 415F
Each TA is available to help 3 hours prior
to exams and each week to help with
study problems.
I will shortly post their office hours.

Posting Exam Grades
Tests are on Thursdays, so grades
posted no later than Monday
All grades posted in an excel file by
ASU posting id so you can see how
you did relative to others in the class
XXXX-YYY
Keys are also posted at that time

1
2
3
Any Questions?
Some Key Concepts

1. Producer Surplus*
2. Domestic Resource Cost
3. Consumer Surplus*
(*See page 30 of your text or any
principles of economics text.)
Why These Concepts?

These concepts are essential for us
to assess the impact
(1) of international trade and
(2) of policy changes
on nations and different groups
within society.
Short definitions

1. Producer Surplus
The excess of revenue received by a supplier of a good
over the minimum amount they would be willing to accept to
maintain the same level of supply.
2. Domestic Resource Cost
Value of domestic resources used to produce a given
quantity of domestic goods.
3. Consumer Surplus
The difference between what a consumer is willing to pay
for a good and what she actually pays. The net dollar
benefit from consuming a given quantity of goods.

Quick definitions

These concepts will prove essential
since we need a way to judge the
impact
(1) of international trade and
(2) of policy changes
on nations and different groups
within society.
P S
Consumer surplus

Po
Producer surplus
D
Domestic Resource Cost

Qo Q
Figure 2.7 in Text