ECON 200 B

Econ 200: Introduction to Microeconomics

Instructor: Yael Midnight (she/her)

Time: TR 1:30 – 2:50

Email: yeam@uw.edu

Place: Kane 130

Course Pages:

• https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1860517

Office Hours: Tues. 3:00–4:00, Thurs. 11:00–12:00, Savery 334. I am also available by email, and if you want to schedule office hours at a different time or schedule a Zoom meeting, please just let me know.

Main References: We will be using selections from the following textbook, which is available for free online:

• The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics

Most chapters will be covered over two class periods. I encourage you to read the entire chapter before we begin covering the topic in class. The textbook includes many interactive review questions, graphs, and videos throughout; these are excellent tools that you should use as you read. Reading the book is not a substitute for attending classes.

Objectives: This course serves as an introduction to the principles of microeconomics, used to understand the behavior of individuals and firms operating in markets and in other strategic interactions. Topics covered include opportunity cost, scarcity, preferences and decision making, gains from trade, game theory, social preferences, institutions, efficiency, firms, market power, competition, supply and demand, labor markets, market failure, and more.

Grading Policy: Problem Sets (20%), Writing Assignments (20%), Midterm (30%), Final (30%). Grades in this class will be curved so that the median student gets a grade point of 3.3. As such, it is impossible to guarantee a particular grading scale for this class, as the median may be above or below what it was in the past. I will give detailed information about the distribution of grades throughout the quarter, to try to help you understand how you are doing in the class.

Problem Sets: Short problem sets will be available on Canvas each week, due at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on Mondays. These will be graded for correctness, but the lowest score will be dropped from your grade.

Writing Assignments: Each week in your TA section, you will turn in a short writing assignment. For each, you are to asked to summarize an article provided to you and analyze its content using tools from class, including a graph or other visual aid. Grades will be based on how well you relate the article to course material, how clearly and correctly you summarize the issue at hand, how clearly and correctly you explain the economics behind the topic, and the clarity and correctness of your visual aid. Your two lowest writing assignment scores will be dropped from your grade.

Table 1: Tentative Outline