Economics & Statistics  Summer term 2010 - 21 June 2010

Basic Material: Literature: The course is based on the textbook of Sloman: Economics. (I used to work with the 6th edition 2006, but the new edition was published in June 2009. As the new edition will include updated material, e.g. about the financial crises, I'll change to the new edition. It should be possible to use the old one if you can buy a used one cheaper (The CONTENTS of the 6th ed. of the book with the highlighted parts we discussed in class), but if you buy a new one you should wait for the 7th edition). In this module, we use the AULIS, the E-Learning-Platform of the Hochschule Bremen. The group is Magazin > Fakultät 1: Wirtschaftswissenschaften (School of Int. Business - SIB) > Kategorie European Finance & Accounting (EFA BA) > Gruppe EFA Jahrgang 2008 > Semester 4 > Economics II SoSe 2010. We are going to use this group for our internal communication and the uploads of the students. Assessment: The Assessment consists of a presentation during the semester and a written examination at the end of the term. Both parts will be marked separately and the overall mark will be a weighted average with the presentation counting for 33.3% and the written exams 66.7% of the final mark. Both parts have to be passed!! 1) The presentation will be about one chapter of the book, it is expected, that you present additional material and examples. Presentations should be delivered by groups of 4 (to 5) students and take between 20 and 30 minutes. The groups are formed in June to give you the possibility to prepare your presentation during the summer. It is expected that you provide a handout. No additional paper has to be delivered. See here for the Marking Criteria for Presentations and the result of our discussion "What makes a good presentation" from October 8th. If you did not enrol for a presentation up to now please do so as soon as possible - using the AULIS forum mentioned above. After the term 2) a written exam (60 min) will take place. For further information please see below.

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PRELIMINARY Time Schedule
the classes will take place on Wednesdays (2 pm - 3.30 pm) and Thursdays (9.45 - 11.15), the Module-Exercise on Thursdays (11.30-1 pm)
To register fo the presentations topics please refer to the FORUM in the AULIS group!

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Links:

 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)

 Interesting Economics-related links (arranged by Christopher Langelage - thanks a lot!)

• :: Krugman :: Wells :: .- Website for Krugman & Wells Micro & Macro Books [check out the Micro related video clips with Krugman]
• AEI - Events American Enterprise Institute
  Which economic ideas are the most powerful, and which are the most frequently misunderstood?
• Amazon.co.uk: Economics: Books
  Economics, Paul Krugman, Robin Wells, Worth Publishers
• Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal – University of California, Berkeley
• Brad DeLong's Website Home Page
• Campus Experts : University of Vermont
  On a hill overlooking the shores of Lake Champlain, at the foot of the Green Mountains, the University of Vermont combines faculty-student relationships most commonly found in a small liberal arts college with the resources of a major research university.
• Chapter 22: Developing Countries: Growth, Crisis, and Reform Krugman-Obstfeld Online Resources for „International Economics Theory & Policy“
• Cowen, T.: Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures.
  Description of the book Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures by Cowen, T., published by Princeton University Press
• Dismally, as it relates to the markets.
• EclectEcon -
• Ecological Economics
• Economic Dreams - Economic Nightmares
• Economics, 17th Edition - Samuelson & Nordhaus – Online Resources for „Economics“ by Paul Samuelson & William Nordhaus
• Economist's View
• Environmental Economics
• Explaining the great Xbox shortage of 2005. By Tim Harford
  Gaming enthusiasts camp outside electronics stores, desperate to buy the hot new game console. Corporate flacks are deployed to fend off PR calamity: "Consumer demand for the new console has exceeded our expectations, and we are doing all we can to fulfill
• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - William Morrow, 2005 – a book highly worth reading [check the website for the study guide]
• Greg Mankiw's Blog
• Hamilton Project
  Hamilton Project Main Page
• http://chicagoboyz.net/ [In-] Famous Chicago School Graduates
• Institutional Economics :: Home Page
• John Kenneth Galbraith, 97, Dies; Economist Held a Mirror to Society - New York Times
  Mr. Galbraith, an iconoclastic economist, teacher and diplomat, was one of the most widely read authors in the history of economics.
• MacroMouse
• Marginal Revolution Tyler Cowen – George Mason University
• Mises Economics Blog: Austrian Economics and Libertarian Political Theory
  The Ludwig von Mises Institute is the research and educational center of classical liberalism and the Austrian School of economics. Working in the intellectual tradition of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) and Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995), with a vast array of publications, programs, and fellowships, the Mises Institute seeks a radical shift in the intellectual climate.
• Neuroeconomics
• Online Study Guide – Todaro's Development Economics
• Oligopoly Watch – A good and informative site
• Pindyck Pindyck-Rubin-feld „Microecomics“ Online Resources
• Post-Autistic Economics Network and Post-Autistic Economics Review
• Radio Economics: Book Reading - Tim Harford - The Undercover Economist
• Reason: Why Poor Countries Are Poor: The clues lie on a bumpy road leading to the world’s worst library. by Tim Harford
• Roubini Global Economics (RGE) Monitor
• School of Public Affairs | Nelson Title Page | University of Maryland
• TIM HARFORD | Books – A book worth recommending „The Undercover Economist“ - on par with Freakonomics but more about economic theory than Applied Microeconomics
• Why are Xbox 360s so cheap? By Tim Harford
  Last week I wrote that the shortage of Xbox 360 consoles seemed inexplicable, at least to me and my fellow economists. I invited readers to provide better explanations, and you did.
• Why do lobbyists spend so little? By Tim Harford
  There are now 35,000 registered lobbying groups in Washington, and they spend more than $2 billion every year trying to influence what Congress does. Only an economist, then, would ask why there is so little money in politics.
• Writing by Tim Harford
• I,Pencil

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Hochschule Bremen

Fachbereich Wirtschaft

VWL und Statistik