Course Meetings

Tuesdays

Section 10: Tuesdays, 3:30-5:20, PHIL 108
Section 11: Tuesdays, 6:10-8:00, MON 250

Both sections cover the same material. In exceptional circumstances, you may attend the section for which you are not registered. You must clear any attendance of the section for which you are not registered with the instructor before attending.

Instructors

Professor: Leah Brooks

Media and Public Affairs Building, Room 601F.
Office Hours: Wednesdays 10:30 am to 1:00 pm and 7:30 to 9:00 pm. By google meet unless we arrange otherwise.
Use the scheduler to book these times. A google meet link is included in the confirmation email. The scheduler requires you to book at least four hours in advance.
lfbrooks at gwu.edu

Contact policy: I strive to answer emails within 24 hours during weekdays, or within 24 hours on the soonest weekday if you email on the weekend. If you do not hear from me within this time frame, you should assume that your email has been lost and you should re-send.

If you have missed a class, your first line of defense to ask what you have missed is another student. I do not need advance notice if you are missing a class. If you need to miss more than one class, then we should have a discussion about whether this is the right timing for you to take this class.

Graduate Assistant: TBD

Office Hours: TBD.

Course Description and Objectives

Description

Policy decisions are usually motivated by economic conditions, mediated by economic conditions, or yield economic consequences. To be a policy-maker or offer coherent policy advice, you must understand the likely economic motivations for and economic consequences of policy actions. This course is the first step toward analyzing the economic factors that motivate decisions, and gives you a framework to anticipate likely consequences of policy choices.

Objectives

As a result of completing this course you should be able to

Appreciate the role of economics in policy
Explain how the market arrives at a price
Use the graphic logic of supply and demand to trace out consequences of policy choices
Apply supply and demand logic to proposed economic policies
Predict how a new tax will impact the equilibrium price and the distributional consequences for market participants
Explain why public goods are different than private goods and what this difference means for economic outcomes
Critically evaluate economic arguments in media and policy sources

Prerequisites

None. If you have already taken microeconomics elsewhere, I suggest that you skip this class and enroll directly in Microeconomics for Policy II (PPPA 6014). If you have never taken economics and are a MPP student, this course is required. If you have taken a principles level economics class before, taking this class is your choice. If you remain unsure, please email me.

This course requires a basic knowledge of algebra. Specifically, you need to know how to graph linear equations of the form y = mx + b, and how to solve two linear equations for two unknowns (this means find y and x in terms of a, b, c, and d, given y = ax +c and y = d - bx). If you have not mastered these skills before the beginning of class, it will substantially hinder your ability to understand the economics. I want to be sure that you spend the class thinking about how math helps you tell an economic story, and not trying to understand how to manipulate algebra.

If you are concerned about your algebra abilities, or if you would like a refresher, I recommend the link to the math review that came as part of your school welcome letter (this links to last year's letter). You may also use this link with additional material to prepare.

Course Material

Required textbook: Goolsbee, Levitt and Syverson, Microeconomics, Fourth Edition. The course ID is jmtwer.
Required online learning platform Achieve, purchased with textbook. See instructions on how to integrate with Blackboard here. Still have trouble? Contact their support
Required reading packet available at the bookstore. First needed for Week 6 (September 29): Selected chapters from Gruber, Public Finance and Public Policy, Second Edition (Chapter 7, pages 184-189; Chapter 19, pages 557-586) and from Rosen and Gayer, Public Finance, Tenth Edition (Chapter 4, pages 54-64).

Readings are available at the bookstore and elsewhere online.

You are welcome to use earlier editions of the Goolsbee et al textbook, but it is your responsibility to figure out which sections in the earlier editions correspond to those in the fourth. Similarly, you are welcome to find alternative sources for the material in the reading packet. Whether or not you purchase the reading packet, you are responsible for the material it contains.

Weekly Plan

Before Class

You do the assigned reading.

During Class

Administration overview
Ripped from Headlines activity
Interactive lecture

After Class

Do homework to practice and review material covered in class
Ask questions of classmates, instructor or TA if problem sets pose difficulties

Online

I expect that you will attend the majority of classes in person. Research finds that in-person attendance creates substantially better learning outcomes.
If there are one or two weeks when you cannot make it to class, you are welcome to attend via zoom using the link posted on Blackboard. You do not need to tell me in advance. If you miss more than two in-person classes, you should start to be concerned about your ability to understand the material and your participation grade.
Mute yourself on zoom.

Evaluation

Midterm Exam (30%)
- This is an in-person exam covering all material in the course through this point.
- The exam is timed, and is held during the course session.
Final Exam (35%)
- This is an in-person exam covering all material in the course through this point, but with an emphasis on the latter half of the class.
- The exam is timed, and GW does not confirm a date for the final exam until late in the semester.
Big Ideas and Data (7.5%)

Two three-question quizzes
Goal of the quiz is for you to apply economic logic to data
Quiz time limit of ten minutes
Quizzes are at the beginning of class
If you miss the quiz or come in late, the weight for this portion of the grade transfers to the midterm (quiz 1) or the final (quiz 2)

Class Participation (5%)
- You receive full credit if you regularly attend and participate in class.
Ripped from the Headlines (7.5%)
- This assignment asks you to find and reflect on articles that relate to the course content
- During the semester, you will be both a finder and a presenter; both count toward your grade on this assignment
Problem Sets (15%)
- Problem sets are designed to practice the skills we learn in this course and prepare you for the exams
- The semester has 12 graded problem sets
- We grade weekly problem sets as zero, check minus (B+), check (A-) or check plus (A, very rare)
- Unedited AI problem sets receive a grade of B.
- We will drop the three lowest problem set grades.

Advice for Success

Complete the assigned reading before class and investigate concepts that you might not initially grasp.
Ask questions if something doesn’t make sense.
After class, re-write the answers to problems that we went over in class. Treat your notes during class as a first draft, not a final one.
Do or re-do problems with a group if you find this helpful.
Review your work and discuss differences with fellow students or TAs. If you don't understand the answers, speak with the TAs or instructor.
Use the TA and instructor office hours.
Do practice problems in preparation for exams. Use questions we have not done from the textbook and follow up with the instructor or TA if the answer is not clear.
Use AI to help you study, including making you quizzes. Remember that you will not have AI access for exams.

Course Material Copyright

Course materials posted on this website, Blackboard, or elsewhere are intellectual property belonging to the author. Students are not permitted to buy or sell any course materials without the express permission of the instructor. Such unauthorized behavior constitutes academic misconduct.

Accommodations

We want to provide an environment that helps every student in this course succeed. If you have accommodations of which the instructor should be aware, please inform the instructor no later than the first week of the course so we can plan together for a successful semester.

In order to receive accommodations on the basis of disability, you need to provide proper documentation to the Office of Disability Support Services, Student Center 436, 202-994-8250. We accommodate students based on the recommendations of the DSS Office.

Course Policies

The Syllabus
This syllabus is your guide to the course. If any questions arise, please check the syllabus before contacting me or the TA. Sound educational practice requires flexibility and I may revise content and requirements during the semester. University policies, academic support, student support, and campus emergency information
Late or Missed Class
If you are late or absent from class, it is your responsibility to obtain all announcements, assignments, and handouts from this website or from your classmates. As participation is part of your grade, and because attendance in class helps you learn, missing many classes will be detrimental to your final grade. Missing one class should have no effect. You do not need to notify me in advance if you are going to miss class.
Exam Dates
Please notify me in the first two weeks of class if you are aware of a pre-existing conflict, such as a religious holiday you observe, that will preclude you from taking either exam at the assigned time. To the extent possible, we will work together to reschedule the exam as close to the original date as possible.
Submission of Written Work Products Outside of the Classroom
It is your responsibility to ensure that I receive your assignment on time. If you encounter difficulties with an online portal or submission, it is your responsibility to notify the instructor or TA immediately.
Collaboration on Assignments
You are welcome to work in groups; however, you are expected to write up your answers individually. This means that no phrases on your assignment should mimic phrases on any other student's work.
Submission of Written Work Products after Due Date
All work must be submitted by the assigned due date in order to receive full credit. Only extreme circumstances warrant exceptions. Late assignments have penalties as noted above.
Incompletes
You must consult with me to obtain an incomplete no later than the last day of classes in the semester. I grant incompletes only in exceptional circumstances. If you do receive an incomplete, it requires both you and me to to sign the CCAS contract for incompletes and submit a copy to the School Director. Please consult the TSPPPA Student Handbook or visit this link for the complete CCAS policy on incompletes.
Changing Grades After Completion of Course
No changes can be made in grades after the conclusion of the semester, other than in cases of clerical error.

GWU Policies

University Policies

University policies are located here.

Out of Class Learning: Average minimum amount of independent, out-of- class, learning expected per week: In a 15 week semester, including exam week, students are expected to spend a minimum of 100 minutes of out-of- class work for every 50 minutes of direct instruction, for a minimum total of 2.5 hours a week.
With many thanks to Bobby Kleinberg, from whom this webpage borrows liberally.