Prof. Dr. Peter Schmidt


Economics & Statistics

Fall 2015


  Economics & Society (Foundation Year)

Basic Material / Links:

For course description, grades and other information please refer to the Syllabus.
Partial Grades:
The total grade consists of three parts (percentage weights in brackets):
     • Midterm Exam (25%)
     • Team presentations and individual participation in class (35%)
     • Final Exam (40%)
Attendance policy: You are expected to attend each class. Students may miss only 7% of a course (including tutorials) unexcused without their grade being penalized. If a student misses 50% of any course, excused or unexcused, he/she automatically fails. There will be a 5% reduction of the "Team presentations and individual participation in class" portion of the grade for each class missed unexcused above the 7% allowance.

Tentaive schedule - depending on the intensity of our classroom discussions we might decide not to cover all topics (the exam only covers the topics discussed in class).
Nr Date Teamwork tasks: please prepare (for the session) Unit / contents Material / Remarks / Exercises
1

(normally on Wednesdays if not indicated differently)

2 Sept
1.30-3.30

Teams:
1) Marius Gassner, Amili Targownik, Tianhong Zhang
2) Dani Altajem, Nick Gutmann, Suriah Helle
3) Hidir Altun, Rubie Helle, Alexander Keim
4) Mikhail Loksha, Andreas Müller, Taro Julius Tominaga

Teamwork in the session
1. Mankiw Principles 1 - 3
2. Mankiw Principles 4 - 5
3. Mankiw Principles 6 - 7
4. Mankiw Principles 8 - 10

Section I: Introduction

- Basic Questions: Why Economics?
  -> Basic Concepts of Economics

- 10 Principles of Economics (Mankiw) [Reader]
- Teamwork about Mankiws "Ten Principles of Economics"

- Goals in Economics and Economic Policy
- Economic systems and Hierarchy of goals

Welcome.ppt

- "Basic Concepts"
- Economics @ Wikipedia 

- Hierarchy of goals in market economies
- "Wall Street" @ Wikipedia
- See also the quotations of T. Friedman

2
9 Sept
1.30-3.30

Homework: the teams prepare a presentation (~5 min) showing the results of last week`s teamwork. Please upload the files with your presentation up to today, 10.00 am.

- Chapter 1: Economics for Business

Section II: Understanding Markets
- Chapter 2: Consumers in the Market Place (part I)

 
 3
16 Sept
1.30-3.30

(no homework but:
Teamwork in session: We'll practice some computations on chapter 2)
- Chapter 2: Consumers in the Market Place (part II)

{"Chapter 3: Firms in the Market Place" ->  "The Production Process") }

 - "The Production Process"

see also the Excel file with some Figures from the book

4
23 Sept
1.30-3.30

Homework: Mankiw: "Problems and Applications":
  1.) 11, 12, 13  + 17 - only one story
  2.)  8, 9, 10  + 17 - only one story
  3.)  5, 6, 7  + 17 - only one story
  4.)  1, 3, 4  + 17 - only one story
Homework: the teams prepare a presentation (5- a maximum of 7 min). Please upload the files with your presentation up to today, 10.00 am.

- Chapter 4: Markets in Action

Section III: Competition and Profitability
Chapter 5: Market structure and Firm Performance

5
Thur.,
24 Sept
1.30-6.30

Tasks for exercises IN class (NO homework):
End of chapter questions ("eoc") or exercises ("exc") from Begg&Ward -> EoC, ("eoc x-y" = question y of chapter x):

-> all students please prepare exc 2-2 (esp. plot and think about the Total Revenue (TR=p*q), what do we learn?)

Teams: (EoC)
1. eoc 2-1 + task 2 from Examples for Economics Exams
2. eoc 2-2 + task 3 from Examples for Economics Exams
3. eoc 2-4 + task 4 from Examples for Economics Exams
3. eoc 2-4 + task 4 from Examples for Economics Exams

(you might also look at the eoc of the chapters we discussed up to now as well as the MC questions on the editors webpage)

(Make sure you understand the answers to the Mankiw applications we discussed as well as the eoc questions of chapter 2 -- don't forget: quizzes and other resources on book webpage)

Midterm Exam (60 minutes -
topics: Mankiw 10 principles + Begg/Ward chapters 1,2,4)
Before taking the exam, I will answer your questions.
 Sources for your preparation:
- Examples for Economics Exams (questions 1-10 and 12)
- MC questions on the editors webpage (there will be 8-10 MC questions worth 12-15 points)

Chapter 5: Market structure and Firm Performance (cont'd)
 

Section IV: Domestic Macroeconomics
- Chapter 9 : An introduction to the macro economy
      -> the business cycle
- Chapter 10: Measuring Macroeconomic Variables and Policy Issues
(we might start discussing chapter 11)

 

 

- German National Accounts
- GDP to NNI and summary of National Income accounting
- Consumption Function
- Eurostat with National Accounts
- Source OECD - The OECD's Online Library of Statistical Databases, Books and Periodicals (accessible from the campus net)

current issues:
- Ifo Business Climate Germany
- Joint Economic Forecast
6 
30 Sept
1.30-3.30

Team-homework:
ALL teams please prepare exercises 9-1 and 9-2 (EoC End Of Chapter questions and exercises) and we'll decide in class which team presents which parts.
(attention: do the EXERCISE, not the questions)
- 5-7 min per team (not more than 7 min !!)
- each team prepares one ppt for their solutions
- the ppt has to be sent to me via email until 10 am on Wednesday.
- Please make sure that everyone participates in the presentations as they are part of the mark.
Section IV: Domestic Macroeconomics (cont'd)
- Chapter 11: Expenditure and Fiscal Policy
- Chapter 12: Money, banking and interest / ECB
 
7
Thur.,
1 Oct
1.30-3.30

individual reading
- Figure 9.10. - questions?
- Why is some (up to ~2%) better than deflation?
- read the obituary Michele Ferrero
from the READER please read:
- Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2014 (reader)

Outlook: "Monitoring economic performance, quality of life and sustainability"

-> (don't forget quizzes and other resources on the book webpage for your individual exam preparation)

Section IV: Domestic Macroeconomics (cont'd)

- Chapter 12: Money, banking and interest / ECB
- Chapter 13: Inflation, Output and Economic Policy

 

(Section V Global Economics
- 15: Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments
- 16: Globalization )


Review and YOUR questions (exam preparation)

Annenberg Video @ learners.org:
5. John Maynard Keynes

Monetary Policy in Europe: ECB homepage - videos - presentations - definitions of monetary aggregates - MFI information - Inflation Monitor
 
NN
 (90 minutes)

                                    Final Exam
Topics covered:     (tentative, will be discussed in class)
- topics covered by the midterm:
     - Mankiw principles (esp. 5-7)
     - chapter 2, incl. Elasticities
+ chapters 9 and the parts of chapter 11 that we covered in class: AD, PE, C = Caut + MPC * Y -> explain the model and be able to compute the equilibrium and the multiplier.        Know the two types of economic policy

  

International and Global Economics:

Data Sources:

 
Bremen University of Applied Sciences
School of International Business
Economics & Statistics