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General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
ECOND002.
Course Title (CB02)
Principles of Microeconomics
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
An introductory course focusing on choices of individual economic decision-makers. Examines fundamental microeconomic issues; the allocation of resources and the production function, pricing of output and factors of production; the distribution of wealth and income; consumer motivations and behavior; the nature and behavior of business firms and markets under various degrees of competition and market failure.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is a major preparation requirement in the discipline of Economics as well as Business Majors for at least one CSU or UC. This course meets a General Education requirement for Area D at °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSU and Area (4B) IGETC. Also, this course is part of the AA- T degree in Economics. The students learn to apply the tools of 'Economic Analysis' to understand business strategic decision making, human interaction and social issues.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Course Philosophy
The students learn to apply the tools of 'Economic Analysis' to understand business strategic decision making, human interaction and social issues.

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GDX°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area D - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
2GES°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE - Environment Sustainability and Global CitizenshipApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGDYCSU GE Area D - Social SciencesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG4XIGETC Area 4 - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
C-IDArea(s)StatusDetails
ECONEconomicsApprovedC-ID ECON 201

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Elementary algebra or equivalent (or higher), or appropriate placement beyond elementary algebra

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

  • EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.
  • Intermediate algebra or equivalent (or higher), or appropriate placement beyond intermediate algebra

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

(Not open to students with credit in the Honors Program related course.)

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Assignments

  1. Assign readings from textbook and supplementary readings to enhance understanding of the material.
  2. Assign papers, reports, essays on topics related to material on current economic applications, including topics on sustainable economic growth, ecological footprint etc.
  3. In Class discussion, group exercises and community engagement activities based on current topics, e.g. tariffs, price controls, Bankruptcies, mergers, pharmaceutical drug pricing, sustainability, plastic patches in ocean etc.

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Objective (multiple choice, true/false) portions of midterms and final exam will be used; the questions will involve quantitative problem solving
  2. Short essay quizzes and graphical analysis will be assigned in addition to the exams discussing and examining current events and will be graded based on correct responses.
  3. Oral participation/discussion on current events.
  4. Short papers analyzing Economics concepts in our daily lives will be assigned to the students and will be graded based on correct responses.
  5. Homework Problem Sets will be assigned and checked for completion.
  6. Presentations will be used to assess understanding of the material covered in class and will be graded based on the quality of the presentation.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Colander, D. "Economics". New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. 10th edition, 2016
Cowen, T., & Tabarrok, A. "Modern Principles of Economics". New York: 4th edition, Worth 2017
Hubbard, Glenn, O'Brien, Anthony, "Microeconomics" Pearson, Prentice-Hall. 6th edition, 2017.
Mankiw, N.G. "Principles of Economics". Cengage Learning. 8th edition, 2018
McConnell, C.R. Brue, S.L., & Flynn, S.M.: 'Economics: Principles, Problems and Policies". New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2ist edition, 2018

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
"Barron's"
"Business Week"
"Fortune"
"Nation's Business"
"The Wall Street Journal"
Rittenberg, L., & Tregarthen, T. Principles of Economics. Flat World Knowledge. 2018

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Recognize economic decision making within the context of social science. Analyze the role of the principles of microeconomics in the introduction to economics as a field of study, and examine the position of economics relative to the other social sciences of which it is a part.
  • Define and measure basic microeconomic phenomena - Examine the model of supply and demand analysis and recognize the usefulness of its application in comparing markets both national and international in scope.
  • Construct models of consumer behavior in relation to the development of markets and appraise the powerful role of consumers in directing the economic decisions of the worlds nations.
  • Examine the purpose of business firms as instruments for the organization of production in an economy, and evaluate the cost of production. Recognizing and defining the causal relationships between basic microeconomic phenomena, including the linkage between industry structure, decision-making and outcomes of the firm. Illustrations of these relationships will be drawn from different societies in different historical periods.
  • Analyze and define the causal relationships between basic microeconomic phenomena, including the linkage between the four basic market structures on the basis of differentiation in cost, revenue, profit, and social outcomes.
  • Assemble a model of the market for productive resources and evaluate the importance of gender, ethnicity and cultural diversity in the resulting distribution of income.
  • Interpret Market Failure and Public Policy: Analysis of Positive and Negative Externalities

CSLOs

  • Evaluate whether market efficiency exists using the supply and demand model.

  • Demonstrate the knowledge about the way perfectly competitive markets work and what happens in the presence of imperfect market structures, including monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly.

  • Identify instances of market failure including externalities such as pollution and evaluate alternative strategies to improve outcomes, including private solutions.

  • Apply the tools of Economic Analysis including opportunity cost and thinking at the margin to understand firms' as well as consumers' decision-making process.

Outline

  1. Recognize economic decision making within the context of social science. Analyze the role of the principles of microeconomics in the introduction to economics as a field of study, and examine the position of economics relative to the other social sciences of which it is a part.
    1. Distinguish social sciences from natural sciences and formal sciences (logic and mathematics. Analyze the historical evolution of Economics from a course in "Political Economy" in 1776 (Wealth of Nations) to a "Social Science" since 1890's (Principles of Economics)
    2. Summarize and evaluate different views about economic methodology
    3. Formulate and examine the role of models in economic theorizing
    4. The relationship of the principles of microeconomics to other social sciences and the principles of macroeconomics
    5. The basic resource categories
    6. The global problem of scarcity and the basic economic questions each of the world's societies must answer. Addresses the concept of Opportunity cost as one of the most fundamental concepts of Economic thinking. Discuss how the global problem of scarcity includes the opportunity cost of pollution, greenhouse gases and climate change leading to different kinds of natural disasters.
    7. The necessity of economic choice in global economic communities as illustrated through the production possibilities curve
    8. The fundamentals of Economic Thinking as it relates to Marginal Analysis, Rational behavior, Distinction between Positive and Normative statements.
  2. Define and measure basic microeconomic phenomena - Examine the model of supply and demand analysis and recognize the usefulness of its application in comparing markets both national and international in scope.
    1. The demand function and the law of demand
    2. The supply function and the law of supply
    3. Equilibrium in a market and the nonequilibrium conditions of shortages and surpluses
    4. Changes in demand and supply, and the resulting impact on prices and resource allocation
    5. Evaluate the effectiveness of the model in predicting price movements in both national and global markets
    6. Price Mechanism and analysis of Producer and Consumer Surplus. Discuss why it is essential to include the external costs into the price mechanism. Discuss how consumer surplus is reduced as a result of pollution and climate change.
    7. Analysis of Concept of Elasticity, its measurement, its interpretation and its real world applications.
  3. Construct models of consumer behavior in relation to the development of markets and appraise the powerful role of consumers in directing the economic decisions of the worlds nations.
    1. Recognizing marginal and total utility
    2. Examine the law of diminishing marginal utility and its relation to the demand function
    3. Analyze consumer equilibrium and the maximization of total utility subject to constraint (illustrated through the equimarginal rule or indifference curve analysis)
    4. Calculating price, income and cross elasticity of demand
    5. Evaluate the ability of the model to predict consumer behavior and the impact of that behavior on the structure of global economies
  4. Examine the purpose of business firms as instruments for the organization of production in an economy, and evaluate the cost of production. Recognizing and defining the causal relationships between basic microeconomic phenomena, including the linkage between industry structure, decision-making and outcomes of the firm. Illustrations of these relationships will be drawn from different societies in different historical periods.
    1. Analyze the theory of the firm
    2. Distinguish between marginal product and total output, and the application of the law of diminishing marginal returns
    3. Assess the effect of the law of diminishing marginal returns on the supply function
    4. Evaluate optimal input decisions by firms and producer maximization behavior. Calculation of Explicit and Implicit Cost. Estimation of Accounting Profit versus Economic Profit.

      Recognize the contrast between Short Run Profit maximization objective with the long run unsustainable business practices.
    5. Describe the cost of production and calculate the fixed cost, variable cost, marginal cost and total cost functions
    6. Compare short and long run production costs, and evaluate economies of scale in terms of the structure of production entities
  5. Analyze and define the causal relationships between basic microeconomic phenomena, including the linkage between the four basic market structures on the basis of differentiation in cost, revenue, profit, and social outcomes.
    1. Defining total and marginal revenue and the integration of these ideas with the cost functions
    2. Assess profit maximization as a function of revenue and cost
    3. Assemble the model of perfect competition and evaluate the resulting outcome of optimal resource allocation
    4. Identifying imperfect competition and the description of monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition
    5. Comparing the impact of imperfectly competitive market structures on efficiency, resource allocation, price and output determination, and public regulation.

      Analyze the historical development and role of Anti Trust Laws: Sherman AntiTrust Act (1890) and Clayton Act (1914), Federal Trade Commission (FTC)(1914, Anti Trust Division of Department of Justice.
  6. Assemble a model of the market for productive resources and evaluate the importance of gender, ethnicity and cultural diversity in the resulting distribution of income.
    1. Integrate marginal productivity theory into the derivation of marginal revenue product, and the choice by firms to employ productive resources
    2. Examine the motives of households in supplying productive resources
    3. Derive the payments to productive resources (wages, interest, rent and profits), and the resulting pattern of income distribution
    4. Discuss the ideas of economists like Dr. Claudia Goldin of Harvard University (see Parkin, Michael. "Microeconomics")
      1. Why average salaries of men are greater than women
      2. Why the average salaries of whites are greater than nonwhites
    5. Summarize the possible explanations for differences in income distribution based on gender, ethnicity and cultural distinctions:
      1. Discrimination
      2. Human capital differences
      3. Specialization in labor force occupations
  7. Interpret Market Failure and Public Policy: Analysis of Positive and Negative Externalities
    1. This analysis includes discussion of pollution, its environmental and social cost.
    2. Internalization(Correction) of Externalities through market solutions (E.g.Coase Theorem) and Non Market solutions like Taxes, Subsidies, and Pollution permits etc.
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