Economics - EFA 3. Semester

Economics & Statistics
Winter term 2017/18 - 16 January 2018

ECONOMICS I -- Introduction to Economics, National Accounting and Microeconomics -- EFA 3rd semester WS 2017/18

Basic Information

First klick HERE for the Assessment.
It's a Learning Portfolio.
Required parts of the Learning Portfolio will be discussed at the beginning of the semester.
They might be subject to change / discussion during the semester.
If you want to present an Individual Assessment it has to be proposed not later than 19 December.

Literature:

The course is based on the textbook of Sloman: Economics.
8th/ 9th edition - Links to Pearson-bookshop and catalogue).
7th edition - access the material on the book webpage.
To find other sources the University Library provides helpful tools: Economics & Business Studies.
Selected Resources - Faculty 1: International Business.
Data Bases (for example EconLit), OECD iLibrary), RefWorks, ...

Student Platform Aulis:

AULIS will be used for our internal communication and uploads of students.
Faculty 1: Business Sciences (School of Int. Business - SIB) European Finance and Accounting (EFA BA) EFA 3 - Economics I WS 2017/18

Presentation:

Klick HERE for further information about the presentation

Preliminary Schedule:
(there might (will) be changes to the schedule during the class)

7th. ed.:

No	week	date (week starting on ...)	presentation	Unit - topics (Preliminary Schedule)	Material
1	1	03. Oct		(national holiday)
2	1	04. Oct		Introduction: Basic problems (In classs: Teamwork about Mankiws "Ten Principles of Economics" & Part from B. Obama "The Audacity of Hope" (p. 176-184)	Reader 2017 Welcome.ppt "Basic Concepts" Economics @ Wikipedia
3	2	10. Oct		PART A: INTRODUCTION Mankiws "Ten Principles of Economics" 1: Introducing economics Economic systems Objectives of economic policy and political systems.	- Hierarchy of goals in market economies - "Wall Street" @ Wikipedia - See also the quotations of T. Friedman Please use the online resources, tests and case studies on the Sloman webpage (see above)
4	2	11. Oct 14:30	(no pres. 1)	PART A: INTRODUCTION Mankiws "Ten Principles of Economics" 1: Introducing economics Economic systems Objectives of economic policy and political systems. Outlook to Part D: Foundations of Macroeconomics 14 The National Economy National Accounting, Concepts and Critiques of GDP in MÜ part: Teams' Presentation of Mankiws "Ten Principles of Economics" Introduction: Basic problems; economic systems	- Hierarchy of goals in market economies - "Wall Street" @ Wikipedia - See also the quotations of T. Friedman Please use the online resources, tests and case studies on the Sloman webpage (see above) - EconLit - OECD iLibrary: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/ - Web of Science: http://isiknowledge.com/wos Additional tools Write’N’Cite (short guide) - http://youtu.be/qObr6QoBh2c OneLine/Cite View (alternative to Write’n’Cite) - https://www.library.ohiou.edu/find/refworks/oneline-citeview.html RefGrab-It (web pages) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25yPHGyx3T4 Example from another class: Corrected Version of a Reference List
			Current Macroeconomic issues:	On September 28 2017 the Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2017 was published: Upturn Remains Robust – Amid Mounting Tensions Press release with Summary with Key Forecast Figures (PDF, 192 KB)
5	3	17. Oct		Outlook to Part D: Foundations of Macroeconomics 14 The National Economy National Accounting, Concepts and Critiques of GDP	German National Accounting @DeStatis: - Important economic indicators & publications - current figures: "GERMAN ECONOMY (last) quarter" ( In German: "Wichtige Zusammenhänge im Überblick") IN FOCUS @ Destatis: Overall economic equilibrium: 50th anniversary of the Magic Square -> Overall economic equilibrium: 50th anniversary of the Magic Square - Eurostat with National Accounts - Economic indicators at the OECD - OECD iLibrary - The OECD's Online Library of Statistical Databases, Books and Periodicals (accessible from the campus net - or via VPN) OECD-report: „How's Life? November 2015: Measuring Well-being“ Other sources of data and information: o U.S. Department of Commerce: www.commerce.gov o Bureau of Economic Analysis: www.bea.gov o Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.bls.gov o Federal Reserve System: www.federalreserve.gov o The World Factbook (CIA): www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook o For data on Europe, visit europa.eu (European Union home page) and o the European Central Bank home page on www.ecb.int o International sources include the - International Monetary Fund www.imf.org - and the World Bank www.worldbank.org
6	3			Presentation methods and strategies (What makes a good presentation?) 14 The National Economy National Accounting, Concepts and Critiques of GDP +++ OECD Centre +++ ------------------------------------------------------------- How's Life? 2015: Measuring Well-being How`s Life? 2016: Measuring Well-being Germany OECD Better Life Index	- German National Accounting @DeStatis: - Eurostat with National Accounts - Source OECD - The OECD's Online Library of Statistical Databases, Books and Periodicals (accessible from the campus net - or via VPN) OECD-Bericht „How's Life? November 2013: Measuring Well-being“ - GDP to NNY and summary of National Income accounting Debate at the Economist about GDP as a measure of welfare "Monitoring economic performance, quality of life and sustainability" by the German Council of Economic Experts in association with the french Council of Economic Analysis - Joint Report 2010 requested by the Franco-German Ministerial Council to Chancellor Mrs. Angela Merkel and french President Nicolas Sarkozy (deutsche Übersetzung: Wirtschaftsleistung, Lebensqualität und Nachhaltigkeit: Ein umfassendes Indikatorensystem). This report (and request) was based on the ... -> Report of the commission on the measurement of economic performance et social progress 2009 The German Statistical Office (DeStatis) publishes Environmental indicators and also an "Indicator Report 2016: Sustainable Development in Germany", also see "Wie misst man Wohlstand?"
7	4	24. Oct		15 Macroeconomic Issues and Analysis: an Overview
8	4			PART B: FOUNDATIONS OF MICROECONOMICS 2: Supply and demand
9	5	31. Oct	- no class -	- national holiday -
10	5			2: Supply and demand 3: Markets in Action	Review: (Contents_of7th_edition.doc)
11	6	07. Nov	- no class -	- due to a business journey -	Topics of Midterm: Introduction, basic questions, objectives (hierarchy of goals), 10 Principles of Economics, chapters 1-3.1 -> EconomicsExamExamples_Micro.doc
12	6		- no class -	- due to a business journey -	(just a reminder: there are many textbook-resources available online)
13	7	14. Nov		3: Markets in Action -> Elasticity Repetition and questions Part A and B	External links: ERS Glossary, Price Elasticity of Demand, Income Elasticity, Excel-File with empirically measured Elasticities (xls 13 MB, zip 1,3 MB) from Defra
14	7		Midterm test	PART C: MICROECONOMICS 4: Background to demand
15	8	21. Nov	Pres. 4	4: Background to demand	Review of old exams
16	8		(no pres. 5)	5: Background to supply	The production process
17	9	28. Nov		5: Background to supply 5.6 Profit Maximization 6: Profit maximising under perfect competition and monopoly
18	9			6: Profit maximising under perfect competition and monopoly
			EFA-Symposium 2017!!!!	30. Nov - 1. Dec..: ALL EFA students have to attend the ->	EFA-Symposium 2017!!!!
19	10	05. Dec	Pres. 6	6: Profit maximising under perfect competition and monopoly 7: Profit maximising under imperfect competition
20	10		(no pres. 7)	7: Profit maximising under imperfect competition
21	11	10. Dec	- no class -	- due to illness -
22	11		- no class -	- due to illness -
23	12	19. Dec	Pres. 8	(7) ... imperfect competition - Oligopoly -> Game Theory	Bundeskartellamt - Control of abusive practices - Ban on cartels Information brochure: Effective cartel prosecution - Benefits for the economy and consumers Curr. example: Deutsche Bahn AG to make changes to ticket sales - do you like a coffee? - Movie "A beautiful Mind" about John F. Nash - "Split or Steal" and "From Stealing to Trust"
24	12		Pres. 9	Review / Repetition and questions - chapters 4-7 (and also 1 (Mankiw) - 3) 9: The theory of distribution of income	Some Videos "Fight of the Century" / Fear the boom and the bust - "Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem - Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two and more information like "The Tale of the Dueling Economists". Texts of the videos ... and why not enjoy Deck the Halls with Macro Follies
25	13	09. Jan	Pres. 10	8: Alternative theories of the firm 9: The theory of distribution of income	HAPPY new Year 2018!
26	13			10: Inequality, poverty and policies to redistribute incomes
27	14	16. Jan		Review, questions + outlook: 11: Markets, efficiency and the public interest	Videos about economic approaches: "60 Second Adventures in Economics" (Open University)
28	14		Indiv. presentation: Postkeynesian approach in Venezula	12. Environmental Policy	The German Statistical Office (DeStatis) publishes Environmental indicators and also an "Indicator Report 2016: Sustainable Development in Germany". Just published: the OECD Better Life Index Review: (Contents_of7th_editionEFA_Final2017_30min.doc)
29	15	23. Jan	Pres. 12 & Pres. 13	13. Government Policytowards Business	in ME: Review and conclusion + YOUR questions Exam preparation - summary and questions
30	15		Final test pres. 11	Review and conclusion + YOUR questions Exam preparation - summary and questions	We'll discuss the topics for the exam in class. The resulting file "Contents_of7th_edition EFA Micro.doc" will be available in our AULIS group.

Groups (Module exercise): The "Module Exercise" takes place every week <45-90 minutes every week integrated into our class on Wednesdays> We formed 6 groups and every group is assigned tasks for the next session and is expected to present the results (=prepared at homework)
The module exercise is part of your individual workload, it isn't marked and the lecturer won't deliver new information; he will only moderate the sessions. The tasks of the module exercise normally refer to the topics discussed in the last week(s). The numbers in the table below normally refer to the chapter in the textbook (Sloman: "End of chapter questions"). At the end of the module exercise there is room for general questions about the topics, terms, ... .
The exercises discussed in the module exercise are relevant for the exam. If the students deliver results or approaches to the solution, we'll discuss the correct solution in class. If no approaches are presented, the task will not be discussed in class but nevertheless stay relevant for the exam.

Teams: week/date:	All students / photos	Alpha	Beta	Gamma	Delta	Epsilon	Zeta
	names of students / pictures	Berrit Josie Lars Jan	Laura Mareike Jonas Dominic Maxime	Hürdes Ezgi Asli Lin	Esar Peer Arne Markus Thomas	Igor Eduard Dominik Abbdulah	Chrissy Sebastian Robin Laura
04. Oct.	Mankiws "Principles" & - presentation in class: -> What's it about?	1-2	3-4	5-6	7-8	9-10	Obama
11. Oct.	Mankiw: "Problems and Applications" reminder: presentation by the teams (=homework)	Sloman p 29 (End of chapter 1 questions) 5 and 6	13-15	10-12	7-9	4-6	1-3
18. Oct.	Mankiw: "Problems and Applications"	No. 17 ONE example !	+ No. 17 ONE example !	+ No. 17 ONE example !	+ No. 17 ONE example !	+ No. 17 ONE example !	+ No. 17 ONE example !
25. Oct. Critiques of GDP - Measuring Sustainable Development (See also the Joint Report for the Franco-German Ministerial Council: "Monitoring economic performance, quality of life and sustainability"), esp. the dashboard on p. 27	In the Report of the "Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi commission" on the "Measurement of economic performance and social progress" (2009) the authors deliver 12 recommendations. Each team is requested to present a brief (~ 5-7 min.) summary of two recommendations --------> In the Executive summary (p.7-18) each recommendation is described in one paragraph but you are also requested to refer to the more detailed part of the report or/and other sources.	1) Recommendations 1 and 2 2) Select one macroeconomic indicator of your choice and briefly present the development of this indicator on 1 or 2 slides (up to 5 minutes) (each team should present for a maximum of 10 minutes)	1) Recommendations 3 and 4 2) Select one macroeconomic indicator of your choice and briefly present the development of this indicator on 1 or 2 slides (up to 5 minutes) (each team should present for a maximum of 10 minutes)	1) Recommendations 5 and 6 2) Select one macroeconomic indicator of your choice and briefly present the development of this indicator on 1 or 2 slides (up to 5 minutes) (each team should present for a maximum of 10 minutes)	1) Recommendations 7 and 8 2) Select one macroeconomic indicator of your choice and briefly present the development of this indicator on 1 or 2 slides (up to 5 minutes) (each team should present for a maximum of 10 minutes)	1) Recommendations 9 and 10 2) Select one macroeconomic indicator of your choice and briefly present the development of this indicator on 1 or 2 slides (up to 5 minutes) (each team should present for a maximum of 10 minutes)	1) Recommendations 11 and 12 2) Select one macroeconomic indicator of your choice and briefly present the development of this indicator on 1 or 2 slides (up to 5 minutes) (each team should present for a maximum of 10 minutes)
01. Nov	We will do tasks IN CLASS: VWL1-MicroExamWS11-12.doc - Micro Exam (WS 06/07)
no ME on 08. Nov	(no class)	=> time for you to prepare	the midterm	=> time for you to prepare	the midterm	=> time for you to prepare	the midterm
15. Nov	EoC Chapter 2 (=End Of Chapter questions)	1 (recommended to ALL students)	2	4	3 and 5	6- and 8	7 (recommended to ALL students)
22. Nov	EoC Chapter 3 all students task 2 !	3-1	3-4	3-5	3-6	3-7	3-8
29. Nov	EoC Chapter 4 + task 4 from: VWL1-MicroExamWS11-12.doc	4-8	4-7	4-6	4-2, 4-4 - use (own) illustrations for your answer	4-1	Describe the income and the substitution effect using figures like 4-16 to 4-18
06. Dec	no homework, we'll do exercises in class -> VWL1-MicroExamWS11-12.doc (test of last semester) Additionally we might discuss some tasks from the Microeconomics WS 05/06 EFA 3 (English) (90 min)	all teams should please look at the whole exam - we'll roll the dice which team presents which task ;-)	all teams should please look at the whole exam - we'll roll the dice which team presents which task ;-)	all teams should please look at the whole exam - we'll roll the dice which team presents which task ;-)	all teams should please look at the whole exam - we'll roll the dice which team presents which task ;-)	all teams should please look at the whole exam - we'll roll the dice which team presents which task ;-)	all teams should please look at the whole exam - we'll roll the dice which team presents which task ;-)
13. Dec	EoC Chapter 5 ALL students: questions 1 & 2	3	4	5	6	7	8
20. Dec	EoC Chapter 6 ALL students: question 1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Jan 2018	tba
Jan 2018	Review of old exams	Review of old exams, e.g. the exam of last year. Microeconomics WS 14/15
Jan 2018	YOUR questions

Top

Links:

Links:
- WIKIPEDIA, the free Encyclopedia (english)
- Leo - Online Dictionary
- odge.de: Online-German-English-Dictionary
Links to other online-dictionaries
- English by James Mc Cabe @ Wirtschaftswoche oder auch hier Language skills: The Real Voices

Learning / Improving your English:
- See the tips on the web page of the "Fremdsprachenzentrum", especially "Internet Quellen", "Medien", and "Englisch in Bremen"
- Somewhat less actual are the English Language Resources (ELR) web site of Hochschule Bremen (Bremen university of applied sciences)
with many useful tips, among other things: "How can I improve my English outside class?" (with tips for going out: English Club ... and more).
- also useful a list of English radio stations: http://www.surfmusik.de/land/england.html
Various articles Business English in the 'Wirtschaftswoche', the author points out characteristics, pitfalls, idio-ms of (business) English ... - fun to read.
Mathematical (and statistical) Vocabulary

Economics: Tests, Quiz, Infos and more (also from the Standard Deviants :)
Economics: 2 videos (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics) from "the Standard Deviants"
Course Description Economics & Statistics: Contents Macroeconomics (Videobeilage), Contents Microeconomics (large file (1MB))
Link to the Website of Mankiw "Principles of Economics": http://www.swcollege.com/econ/mankiw/

Quotations form the book of Thomas Friedman: "The World is flat":
- For some, particularly among the older generations, this was an unwelcome transformation. Communism was a great system for making everyone equally poor. In fact, there was no better system in the world for that than Communism. Capitalism made people unequally rich, and for some who were used to the plodding, limited, but secure Socialist lifestyle--where a job, a house, an education, and a pension were all guaranteed, even if they were meager--the fall of the Berlin wall was deeply unsettling. (p. 51/52)
- ... to some degree Mikhail Gorbachev's hapless efforts to reform something that was unreformable brought communism to an end. But if I had to point to one factor as first among equals, it was the information revolution that began in the early- to mid-1980s. Totalitarian systems depend on a monopoly of information and force, and too much information started to slip through the Iron Curtain, thanks to the spread of fax machines, telephones, and other modern tools of communication. (p 54)

-You are visitor number:

Hochschule Bremen Fachbereich Wirtschaft VWL und Statistik