Grades are Posted!

I just entered your grades.
I really enjoyed teaching this semester. I learned a lot and I hope you did, too.
I may post the solution to the final if anyone is interested.
Grades on the exam:
A: 10
B: 4
C: 4
D: 3
F: 5

Average was a 78%.

Earlier in the semester grades were fairly evenly distributed about the mean. On this last test they were certainly skewed towards the higher end. Well done!

Grades for the course:

A: 8
B: 5
C: 8
D: 3
F: 4 (includes some who dropped.)

Overall, not bad.

Send me an email anytime if you have questions about econ, ethics, or liberty!
ndsnow@gmail.com

Nathan

Calculator

You will want to bring a calculator with you Wednesday night for the exam.

Final Exam

Okay,
I have written the exam, and will take it to the copiers soon.
I've decided to include some multiple choice, 10 questions.
Then there are several short-answer questions.
Some math questions follow.
And there are a few extra credit problems.
Everything on the exam has been covered in class, and most of it was also touched upon in the text.

I am accepting Extra Credit essays by email now. Actually, it is easier to grade them on-screen than on paper.

See you @7:30 on Wednesday
Nathan

Extra Credit, and HW Solutions

For extra credit, you may write a 2-3 page essay describing an example of the "Bootleggers and Baptists" phenomenon. In class I said it will count as an extra 3.3% of your grade. If you do it, you can earn an extra 3.3 points toward your final grade for the course, not for the test.
You might want to download this podcast and listen to it to better understand the idea.
Please don't use bootleggers and Baptists as your example. Part of how I grade this will be based on your being able to recognize unique examples of the phenomenon.

Also, your HW solution set is here.
Please feel free to email me with and questions or concerns. I will be on campus various times over the next week if you need to meet with me.
Nathan

Note of HW #3, Problem #1

I had a typo. If you have already done the problem, then disregard, but if not, the equation for the second demand curve should have read:
Q2 = 10 - 0.05P2.
You can see I got the decimal in the wrong place on the assignment.
Again, if you have already done the problem, don't worry about it, this was my mistake, but if you have not done it yet, this correction could make the problem a little more straightforward, and I daresay, interesting.

The Final Exam

I will offer some discussion about the final exam this week in class, and perhaps here at the blog before the exam.

For now, I will say that the exam is cumulative. There will be questions based on the material from every portion of the course. I am thinking that there will be 12-16 problems total, with a structure similar to the midterms.
You should look back on your old exams and homework assignments, look at questions from the ends of the chapters in the text, and make sure you know the graphs, and what belongs on which axis.

There will be at least one, if not two extra credit questions, which should help any of you who are struggling to improve your grade.

That's all for now,
Nathan

On Q #4 from HW #3

For part b of question 4 on HW #3:

4. Savings and interest:

a. How much money should I save each year if I want to have $100,000 saved in 10 years, if I put the money into a savings account earning 5% interest compounding annually? If I can earn 10% in the stock market?
b. How much should I be willing to pay for a $1,000 bond redeemable in 5 years if my personal interest rate is 5%? 10%?

Assume that you will be redeeming the bond for its face value in 5 years, with no payments until then.

Nathan

Christmas?

Some of you may have begun shopping for Christmas. If you really want to bless people this year, you can tell them exactly what you want.
Read this 5 pager for more.

Game Theory at Yale

Find the Yale Game Theory lectures with video here. Really great stuff, and fun.

Also, if you really want to see them again, the Golden Balls videos are here and here.

Enjoy!

HW 3 and some comments

Okay, so we have 2 more class meetings and then a final exam.
Tonight I will discuss a little monopoly (Chapter 8), some oligopoly and game theory (Chapter 10), and perhaps a bit of the economics of time (Chapter 15), Gumballs paper. You should download this paper and read it. It is an easy read.
I have your homework assignment written, and you can download it here.
You should also have read J.D. Rockefeller and the Oil Industry by Burtom Fulsom, Competition (Except where Prohibited by Law) by Thomas DiLorenzo, Occupational Licensure by Milton Friedman, and Outrageous CEO Pay by Hans Sennholz.
For next week you will want to read Bootleggers and Baptists by Bruce Yandle.
Please don't hesitate to email me with questions.
Nathan