Here’s what the exam will cover (and sample problems from each chapter of the online micro book):
- Ch 10: From some to many. (You shoul be able to define “competitive market” and to differentiate between game theory and price theory.)
- Ch 11: Supply and demand. (Look at problem 11.1—this will be on the exam!—and some or all of problems 11.2 – 11.8. You should also be able to solve simultaneous equations as in section 11.3 on “the algebra of markets”.)
- Ch 12: Taxes. (Look at problems 12.1 – 12.11. These problems are really the heart of the section of the class.)
- Ch 13: Margins. (There are no problems in this chapter, but note that you can use margins to explain, e.g., how taxes shift the curves in Ch 12. You do not need to be able to explain why, e.g., supply curves are also marginal cost curves, but you should be able to discuss the basics of these curves both as supply/demand curves and as marginal cost/benefit curves.)
- Ch 14: Elasticity. (Look at some or all of problems 14.1 – 14.5. You should also be able to describe perfectly elastic long-run supply curves and explain how taxes affect them.)
- Ch 20: Supply and demand details. (Look at some or all of problems 20.1 and 20.3.)
Happy studying, and please bring a calculator to the exam!
PS. Here is the cheat sheet (which as an added bonus also includes an old exam :).
PPS. During the week of Dec 14 you will have to give a 3-5 minute oral presentation about the book you’ve read. As noted in the syllabus, your mission is to “sell” your book, i.e., try to convince the rest of the class that your book is so awesome that they should read it for fun over winter break. The best way to do this is probably to give a very quick overview of the book and then focus on one chapter or story or other little nugget that you think it particularly interesting. Relating it to material we studied in class would of course be good too. (I don’t think you need to do a PowerPoint, and I’m not sure it would help you, but if you want to do one then you need to have it ready the night before so I can load it onto my computer.)
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