Economics 100A

Intermediate Economic Theory

Welcome to the Economics 100A Website. Here you will find the course syllabus, a schedule of lessons, homework and examinations, and some bits of advice. If you are taking Econ 100A, you will be expected to check this site regularly.  We will routinely use this site for posting announcements and answering questions.
 


 

Instructor:          Ted Bergstrom 

Office:  North Hall 2052 

Office Hours:   T 2-4.  Also, after Classes (just outside classroom)  and by appointment.

Email: tedb@econ.ucsb.edu

Course Introduction

Click Here to Learn the Ground Rules for Econ 100A
Diagnostic Math Quiz (Adobe Acrobat pdf file)
Answers to Diagnostic Math Quiz
 

Course Schedule

Click Here to See the Course Schedule
 

Announcements:


Course grades are now posted.
Congratulations to the many of you who did well.
And my good wishes to those of you who didn't do so well.

Have a happy holiday, everyone.
 
 

Additional Homework Help
The economics department has provided us with an extra person as a resource to help you with problems from Workouts and answer any questions about course material.  This is Kang Cao, a graduate student in economics.  Starting next week, any of you are welcome to drop in on Cao at his office during his regular office hours on Weds  from 4-6.  You can also email him to set up an appointment.  Kang is able to make appointments
on Monday or Wednesday mornings or afternoons.  He has classes pretty much all the time on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. In addition, he will hold special office hours on the evenings before quizzes.

Scantron Sheets
Buy yourself a bunch of  Parscore scantron sheets.  These should be the large reddish ones like we used for the math quiz. They are called Form F-1712 and are available at the bookstore and at the Arbor.   Do not get your scantron sheet crumpled and torn. Damaged sheets don't go through the machine properly and may cost you points on your quizzes.
 

Answers to Quizzes and Grade Distribution

Answer Keys for Quiz 1         Grade Distribution for Quiz 1
Answer Keys for Quiz 2         Grade Distribution for Quiz 2
Answer Keys and Grade Distribution for Quiz 3
Answer Keys and Grade Distribution for Quiz 4
Answer Keys and Grade Distribution for Quiz 5
Answer Keys for Final Exam and Distribution of Scores

Distribution of Scores on best four quizzes
 
 

Your Score on Quizzes

To find your score on quizzes, click on the picture below,  then type your perm number in the space where it is requested and select the quiz whose score you want from the Test box.

Wake-up Quizzes

Wakeup Quiz 1, Fri Oct 9         Answers to Wakeup Quiz 1
Wakeup Quiz 2 (with answers), Fri Oct 25
Wakeup Quiz 3
Wakeup Quiz 4
 

Office Hours of  TAs and Instructor

Ted Bergstrom                North Hall  2052     Office hours:  T 2-4 pm in my office and by appointment.  Also if you want to chat or ask a question, I will be available just after class on MWF in the area outside the classroom.
 

                                    Section Times                   Office  Location        Office Hours
Doug Herman            W. 6pm,   Fri 1pm                North Hall 2020             MW 10-11:45
Marick Sinay             W. 5pm,   Th 7pm                 North Hall  2021           T Th 12-1:45
Leopoldo Soto          Tues 8am,   Fr  8am               North Hall  2018           T 9-10:30, F 10-12
Kang Cao                                                               North Hall  2021         W 4-6 or by appointment  (M or W are best days for appointments)

You can address an e-mail message to any of the above by clicking his name.

Lecture Slides

Some people have expressed the wish that they could see copies of the lecture notes because they weren't able to write everything down.  It is not important to write everything down.  What you should do is to pay attention to the class discussion and try to understand as much as you can during the discussion. I believe you will be better off reading the textbook carefully and working problems than trying to memorize the lecture notes.   But for those of you who really, really want lecture notes, here are some notes. These notes are similar to but by no means identical to the classroom lectures.

Chapter 2, Budgets
PowerPoint2
Chapter 3, Preferences
PowerPoint3
Chapter 4, Utility
PowerPoint4
Chapter 5, Choice
PowerPoint5
Chapter 6, Demand
PowerPoint6
Chapter 7,  Revealed Preference
PowerPoint7
Chapter 8, Slutzky
PowerPoint8
Chapter 9, Buying and Selling
PowerPoint9
Chapter 10, Intertemporal Choice
PowerPoint10
Chapter 11, Asset Markets
PowerPoint11
Chapter 12, Uncertainty
PowerPoint12
Chapter 14,  Consumer's Surplus
Powerpoint14
Chapter 15, Market Demand
PowerPoint15
PowerPoint16
 

Review Notes

Practice Exercises

Practice Exercise on Revealed Preference and price indexes.

An old final exam for practice (Answers are listed on last page)
Don't worry about Questions 35 and 36.  They come from a chapter that we did not cover this term.

Explanation of the answers to two  tough Questions on practice final

Study Aids and Features

The Iowa Electronic Market. An actual contingent-commodity market in which the contingencies are outcomes in political elections or events in the business world.  If you want to speculate with some real money, the website explains how you can buy and sell contingent commodities in this market.
The UBC Election Stock  Market  A contingent-commodity market on political outcomes in the Great White North. (home of  the  McKenzie brothers, Wayne Gretzky,  and Professor Garratt)
Paul Krugman's Home Page Most  economic journalists don't know much economics and most economists can't write worth a damn.  Paul Krugman is a very competent professional economist who also writes about economics for the popular press.  His home page has links to many of his popular articles. Take a look.  I think you will find at least  some of them  both entertaining and instructive.

News Items

Varian's Book inspires UCSB grad's  Science Fiction
 
 
 

Need a Little Study Break?

Visit Calvin and Hobbes