Course Schedule | Ripped from the Headlines | Exams

Course Schedule

Lecture	Class Materials	Assignments and Deadlines
1 8/25 Intro, Supply and Demand	Read GLS, Chapters 1 and 2, skimming 2.5 multiple equilibria in the vanilla market, courtesy of NPR Supplemental More detail on vanilla Returning to equilibrium: Hall, Jonathan, John J. Horton and Daniel T. Knoepfle, “Ride Sharing Markets Re-Equilibrate”, NBER Working Paper No. 30883, February 2023. [link] Lecture Notes [LN 1]	Handouts Problem set 1 [PS 1] Ripped from Headlines instructions [link]
2 9/1 Elasticity	Read GLS, Section 2.5 Alvarez et al, “Price and income elasticities of demand for cigarette consumption...” Public Health, 2020. [link]. read only introduction, discussion at end look at Figure 1 and Table 1 skim the rest as useful Lecture Notes [LN 2]	Handouts Problem set 2 [PS 2] Due Problem set 1
3 9/8 Supply and Demand and Policy	Read GLS, Chapter 3, but not 3.4 or 3.5 Consumer surplus from Wikipedia: “Net Benefits: How to quantify the gains that the internet has brought to consumers”, The Economist, 2013 [link], and GW [subscriber version] that requires vpn Supplemental Planet money podcast on cheese price floor Estimates of consumer surplus from Uber: economist and layperson versions Lecture Notes [LN 3]	Handouts Problem set 3 [PS 3] Due Problem set 2
4 9/15 Consumer Behavior & Quiz 1	Read GLS, Chapter 4 Lecture Notes [LN 4]	Handouts Problem set 4 [PS 4] Due Problem set 3
5 9/22 Individual and Market Demand	Read GLS, Chapter 5. Omit income Engel curves from 5.1, and skip Section 5.3. Lecture Notes	Handouts Problem set 5 [PS 5] Due Problem set 4
6 9/29 Tax Incidence	Read Gruber, Chapter 19, pages 557-586 [reading packet, on sale at bookstore] limited coverage of 19.4 Read introductions Chetty, Looney and Croft, “Salience and Taxation” NBER Working Paper 13330, 2007. [link] Bradley and Feldman, “Hidden Baggage: Behavioral Responses to Changes in Airline Ticket Tax Disclosure” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2020. [link] Supplemental great policy example of sugary drinks the corporate tax as yet another application of the policy importance of this topic Lecture Notes [LN 6]	Handouts Problem set 6 Due Problem set 5
7 10/6 Firms and Profit	Read GLS, Chapter 6, but not 6.5 or 6.6 Supplemental The Economy, 7.1 to 7.7 Lecture Notes	Handouts Problem set 7 [PS 7] Due Problem set 6
Break 10/13	Fall break: No class
8 10/20	Midterm: in person, on paper	Due Problem set 7
9 10/27 Costs	Read GLS, Chapter 7, but not 7.6; we return to 6.5 Supplemental On variable costs in The Office On opportunity costs: Demsas, Jerusalem, “Buses Shouldn't Be Free”, The Atlantic, December 9, 2022. [link] Lecture Notes [LN 9]	Handouts Problem set 8 Due Nothing
10 11/3 Economies of scale & scope + Competition 1 of 2	Read GLS, Chapter 7.6, Chapter 8: 8.1 to 8.3 Supplemental Economies of scope vs. economies of scale: Hufford, Austen, “A Soap Maker Cracks the Code to 'Made in America'”, The Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2023. [link] The Economy, 7.8 to 7.13 Lecture Notes	Handouts Problem set 9 Due Problem set 8
11 11/10 Competition 2 of 2	Read GLS, Chapter 8: 8.4 to 8.6 Lecture Notes [LN 11]	Handouts Problem set 10 Due Problem set 9
12 11/17 Market Power & Quiz 2	Read GLS, Chapter 9; omit Lerner Index Helpful examples Summary of recent research on competition, or lack thereof, in the generic drug market For those interested in price fixing Lecture Notes	Handouts Problem set 11 Due Problem set 10
Thanksgiving Break 11/24
13 12/1 Externalities	Read GLS, Chapter 17, sections 17.1, 17.2, and 17.3 Gruber, Chapter 7, pages 184-189; Rosen and Gayer, Chapter 4, pages 54-64. Supplemental Leape, Jonathan, The London Congestion Charge, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2006 Lecture Notes	Handouts Problem set 12 Due Problem set 11
14 12/8 Public Goods	Read Two podcasts on public goods Lighthouses, Autopsies, and the Federal Budget, [link] How to Stop an Asteroid, [link] Lecture Notes	Handout Problem Set 13: will not be graded Due Problem set 12
Final In person	Tuesday December 15, 3:30 to 5:20 and 6 to 8 pm Unless the university tells me otherwise Location TBD
Done!	Enjoy your break.

Exams

• Midterm
  • Midterm review -- date pending and room TBD. We will zoom record.
  • 2025 midterm for review
  • I will not be posting answers, but please ask questions
• Final
• Final review session -- date pending and room TBD. We will zoom record.
• 2025 final for review. Note that this year's class covered slightly different material.
• I will not be posting answers, but please ask questions