Spring 2015

Course & Section: Econ 7100-M50 (WEB-Asynchronous Instruction)

Course Title: Economics for Global Executive - M50.

Instructor: Dr. K. K. Fung

Textbook: Your free (with charitable donation) online textbook is available at http://livingeconomics.org. See course announcements for login information.

Supplementary Readings: 10-week educational subscription of The Wall Street Journal ($15). Subscription form.

Course Description:
Concepts and tools of economic theory and their application to business and social issues in the context of a global economy; how decisions of firms, consumers, and governments interact to determine market outcomes; market structures, impact of international trade and currency markets on firms competing in a global economy.

Course Outline:
There are 16 topics covering micro and macro aspects of the economy:

Unit 1: Concepts of cost, price and goods
Topic 1. Opportunity cost
Topic 2. What price means and does
Topic 3. Type of goods

Unit 2: Theory of firms and market structure
Topic 4. Production costs
Topic 5. Single-pricing searchers
Topic 6. Price discriminators
Topic 7. Price takers

Unit 3: Pricing and competitive strategy, game theory
Topic 8. Pricing and competitive strategy
Topic 9. Games people play
Topic 10: Tastes and preferences

Unit 4: Property rights, regulation and income distribution
Topic 11. Property rights and externality
Topic 12. Market interventions and regulation
Topic 13. Income distribution

Unit 5: Output, money and trade
Topic 14. Income and output
Topic 15. Money and credit
Topic 16. Trade and foreign exchange.

Method of Instruction:
WEB-Asynchronous Instructional Method

Time Allocation:
We will cover on average 2 topics a week with one multiple-choice self-test for each topic. Short-answer writing assignments will follow each study unit. Final comprehensive multiple-choice exam will be scheduled soon after all the topics are covered.

All self-tests and writing assignments are due on Mondays and/or Thursdays at 11:50pm (That is, shortly before mid-night Central Standard Time)

Assessment:
Assessment will be based on self-tests, short-answer writing assignments, final exam, and class participation

Apart from the customary rounding of the unit digit, your letter grade will be assigned according to the following schedule without further curving. If you reach the lower cutoff point of a higher grade because of customary rounding, you will receive a minus with the higher grade. If your rounded grade is in the top quintile within a certain grade, you will receive a plus within that grade:
 

90 % & above	A
80 - 89%	B
70 - 79%	C
60 - 69%	D
59% & under	F

Attendance & Grading:
Class attendance is based on completion of class assignments  In particular, students who complete all self-study tests will have their lowest 3 grades (except the last grade) in self-study exercises dropped from the average grade in that category.   For those who do not complete all self-study tests, each of the missed self-study tests will carry a zero grade which cannot be dropped. All missed self-study tests, with or without excuses, are treated equally.

Late Assignments:
Late self-study answers will not be accepted after submission deadline.
Non-participation of surveys cannot be made up.

Incomplete Assignments:
Missing self-study assignments will be graded as zero (0) and cannot be dropped as one of three lowest grades in that category in the computation of course grades.

Make-Up Exams:
There will be no made-up exams.

Class participation

Types of participation:

1. Alert messages on mis-spellings, broken links, and grammar (not stylistic) errors on livingeconomics and self-study quiz materials (2 points for each accepted alert, up to 20 points max).
2. Updates to livingeconomics articles (4 points for each acceptance up to 12 points max).
3. At least 2 surveys (10 points each. SETE survey is mandatory)
4. Class photo (passport-type photo jpg file only using UUID as filename) submission (10 points)
5. Miscellaneous items, such as submitting an economic encounter to opus1journal.org (Submissions by invitations only. 10 points for each acceptance. Maximum one acceptance).
6. Ask-me forum and Discussion forum participation (points will be awarded based on number and quality of questions asked, number and quality of questions answered)

Students may choose their types of participation up to a total of 100 points. In other words, 100 points constitute full score for class participation.

Academic Integrity
Students are expected to follow the FCBE Standatds of Academic Integrity.

Contact
Web site: kkfung.com
E-mail: kkfung@memphis.edu