ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 1
Discussion
ECONOMIC THINKING AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
Initial Post (up to 10 points)
Why do we make choices? Is being rich or poor a choice? Is
living healthy or unhealthy a choice? What about having kids? Is that a calculated
choice or simply an accident? Why do rural areas have typically calmer and
nicer people than cities where you find a mix of professionals and difficult
people? Why do you bother wrapping your friend's gift knowing that the wrapping
paper is going to be thrown away? Does going to school make sense? How do you
know?
These are among countless questions that could be answered
through understanding the economics way of thinking. Economists do nothing but
watch how the world, including people, work and make calculated assumptions to
help the world become a better place.
For your initial post, answer one of the following
questions.
Share with us an example from your life where you had to
make a choice knowing that you are giving up opportunities for doing or gaining
something else. Tell us about your thinking process and how you arrived at the
final choice you made. Would you make the same choice again?
Moreover, why do consumers make choices when they acquire
something (jobs, money, friends, vacations, sleep, living places, etc.)? And
why do individual producers or nations have to choose the type, quality, and
quantity of what they produce?
Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)
Create a short, 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions include creating
an Adobe Spark Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. with
a Spark Video, Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
Opportunity cost
Trade off
Scarcity
Economic problem
Self-interested versus selfish
Production possibilities frontier
Budget line
Utility
Economic growth
The market system and the command system
Specialization
The circular flow
Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)
Respond to at least one of your peers' initial posts or
multimedia posts.
Your response should add new facts, ideas, knowledge, and/or
corrections to the initial post or the multimedia post. Also, provide examples
to support your response post.
ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 2
Discussion
DEMAND, SUPPLY, AND ELASTICITY
Initial Post (up to 10 points)
Shift in Supply & Demand: Choose a commodity (a good or
a service) that you are familiar with and discuss how and when demand and
supply have changed (shifted) for this commodity. Provide examples of
historical or current events where market demand and market supply for that
commodity have shifted significantly, and state the factors that you believe
have caused the shift in supply and/or in demand.
Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)
Create a short 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions include creating
an Adobe Spark Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. with
a Spark Video, Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
Law of demand
Law of supply
Demand versus quantity demanded
Supply versus quantity supplied
Demand determinants
Supply determinants
Market equilibrium, equilibrium price, and equilibrium quantity
Price elasticity of demand
Income elasticity of demand
Cross elasticity of demand
The relationship between total revenue and price elasticity
of demand
Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)
Respond to at least one of your peers' initial or multimedia
posts.
Your response should add new facts, ideas, knowledge, and/or
corrections to the initial post or the multimedia post. Also, provide examples
to support your response post.
ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 3
Discussion
MARKET STRUCTURE AND PROFIT MAXIMIZATION
Initial Post (up to 10 points)
Suppliers such as your local water suppliers, railroad,
restaurants, coffee shops, hairdressers, artists, gas stations, movie theaters,
airlines, universities, and so forth, operate under different market structures.
All businesses exist for one purpose, which is to make profits. Profits or
losses occur as a result of interaction between cost of production and market
price. Higher production could lead to higher revenue; however, higher prices
reduce quantity demanded and might lead to higher cost of production. In sum,
suppliers and producers will make profit only when average total cost of
production is lower than market price.
For your initial post, answer one of the following
questions.
Provide an example of a firm or a small business from the
real world that is surviving the dynamic nature of monopolistic competition,
and discuss some approaches they have used (or are currently using) to compete
and survive in the market.
Provide an example or a scenario from your personal (or
professional) experience, an observation, a story that you have read, or an
idea or thought that you might have for practical, creative, and/or effective
ways to minimize production costs in order to maximize profits.
Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)
Create a short 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions: Adobe Spark
Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. with a Spark Video,
Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
Fixed costs versus variable costs
Explicit costs versus implicit costs
Accounting profits versus economic profits
Marginal cost and marginal revenue
Production maximization output
Optimum level of output
Monopolistic competition
Perfect competition
Law of dimensioning return to labor
Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)
Respond to at least one of your peers' initial posts or
multimedia posts.
Your response should add new facts, ideas, knowledge, and/or
corrections to the initial post or the multimedia post. Also, provide examples
to support your response post.
ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 4
Discussion
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)
Initial Post (up to 10 points)
Follow the steps below to obtain real-world information
about GDP growth pattern from the Bureau of Economic Analysis to assess GDP
current situation. Use your findings to answer the questions below.
Go to www.bea.gov (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site..
Click on the National tab (on the top left-hand side).
Click on Interactive Tables: GDP and the National Income and
Product Account (NIPA) Historical Tables (Links to an external site.)Links to
an external site. (on the left-hand side under subtitle Gross Domestic Product
(GDP)).
Click on Begin Using the Data (found under GDP &
Personal Income).
Click on SECTION 1: Domestic Product and Income.
Click on Table 1.1.1. Percent Change from Preceding Period
in Real Gross Domestic Product (A) (Q).
To expand your search after you click on the Table, click on
Modify on the top middle portion of the table above the results, then change
the First Year to 2005 and Last Year to the current year, and then change the
Series to Annual, and then click on Refresh Table. Note what happened before and
after the recession of 2007–2008.
Also, explore other tables, particularly Table 1.1.2. and
Table 1.1.4 to learn about changes in prices and how and why GDP changes.
For your initial post, answer one of the following
questions.
What is the current GDP growth rate? Also, examine the trend
of GDP growth over the past few years. What stage of the business cycle is the
U.S. economy currently in given the trend of GDP growth?
What components of GDP tend to decline significantly during
recessions (particularly during the 2008 recession), and what GDP components
rise during expansion? In other words, what aspects of GDP are mostly affected
when the economy slows down? and why?
Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)
Create a short 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions: Kaltura video
post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
GDP income approach
GDP expenditure approach
Nominal GDP versus real GDP
Potential GDP
Economic growth
Determinants of economic growth
Production possibilities curve
Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)
Respond to at least one of your peers' initial posts or
multimedia posts.
Your response should add new facts, ideas, knowledge, and/or
corrections to the initial post or the multimedia post. Also, provide examples
to support your response post.
ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 5
Discussion
UNEMPLOYMENT
The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides up-to-date
statistics about unemployment and employment on the national and regional
levels. It also provides unemployment-related data by different groups such as
age, gender, ethnicity, educational attainment, and so forth.
Follow the link below to access and review unemployment
related statistics then answer the discussion question.
Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website,
www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site..
Click on and review the following links to learn about the
relationship between age, race, and gender and unemployment.
Employment Situation Summary
Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data,
seasonally adjusted
Table A-2: Employment status of the civilian population by
race, sex, and age
What interests or surprises you from the summary tables?
Discuss the differences in unemployment rates by gender, age, educational
attainment, and so forth, and provide possible explanation for the variations
in unemployment over time and the variation in unemployment by age, gender,
educational attainment, and race.
Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)
Create a short 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions: Adobe Spark
Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. with a Spark Video,
Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
Business cycles: Recessions and expansions
Unemployment
Full employment
Inflation
Aggregate demand
Shift in aggregate demand
Aggregate supply
Shift in aggregate supply
Aggregate supply and its determinants
Macroeconomic equilibrium
Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)
Respond to at least one of your peers' initial posts or
multimedia posts.
Your response should add new facts, ideas, knowledge, and/or
corrections to the initial post or the multimedia post. Also, provide examples
to support your response post.
ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 6
Discussion
MONETARY POLICY AND FISCAL POLICY
A healthy economy typically has low rates of unemployment
and steady prices. Low rates of unemployment means that the economy is
operating at its full potential. To ensure the economy continues to operate at
potential GDP (full capacity where all savings are invested in production
functions, and where all those who wish to work can find a job, and all other
factors of production are fully utilized in the production function),
governments use fiscal and monetary policies to lower unemployment rates and to
control prices (inflation).
For your initial post, answer one of the following
questions.
Discuss the primary goals of expansionary and contractionary
fiscal policies and their effects on unemployment rates, inflation rates,
interest rates, private investment, and GDP.
Discuss the goals of expansionary and contractionary
monetary policies used by the Federal Reserve Bank and the approaches (called
monetary policy tools) used to achieve each policy. Also, discuss the effect of
each policy on GDP, price level, private investment (investment in capital
acquisition by firms and housing by households), and net trade.
In your opinion, which policy is more effective—monetary
policy or fiscal policy? Why?
Multimedia Post (up to 15 points)
Create a short 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions: Adobe Spark
Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. with a Spark Video,
Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
Expansionary fiscal policy
Contractionary fiscal policy
Government budget deficit
Money supply
Interest rate and demand for money
Required reserve
Expansionary monetary policy
Contractionary monetary policy
Peer Response Post (up to 10 points)
Respond to at least one of your peers' initial posts or
multimedia posts.
ECON312
Principles of Economics
Week 7
Discussion
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND EXCHANGE RATES
INITIAL POST (UP TO 10 POINTS)
Trade is the exchange of goods for goods or labor service
for money (indirect). Trade is based on what people can do well given their
factor endowment (knowledge, abilities, skills, and resources). International
trade is the exchange of good, services, and capital across international
borders. International trade is based on the concept of comparative advantage,
which is the country's ability to produce a good or a service at a lower
opportunity cost than other countries. Factor endowment is generally what
determines the country's comparative advantage. It is assumed that if every
country is specialized in producing what they are good at producing (meaning lower
opportunity cost), every country will have more goods and services and more
income.
For your initial post, answer one of the following
questions.
1. Take a closer look at our local economy or a country of
your interest and pick a good or a service that you believe America (or your
country of choice) has a comparative advantage in producing. Discuss the
factors that you believe give America (or your country of choice) such an
advantage.
2. In addition, which is better for a country—to export more
or to import more?
3. Moreover, what is the impact of trade surplus (exporting
more than importing) and trade deficit (importing more than exporting) on GDP,
employment, and the exchange rate of the country's currency?
MULTIMEDIA POST (UP TO 15 POINTS)
Create a short 1- to 2-minute slide presentation with a
voice narration or a video using any technology you are comfortable with to
explain one of the economic concepts listed below. Suggestions: Adobe Spark
Page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. with a Spark Video,
Kaltura video post, or a narrated PowerPoint.
Start the presentation by introducing yourself (name and
your topic of choice), and then give a brief explanation of at least one of the
concepts listed below, including an example to support your presentation.
International trade
Comparative advantage
Absolute advantage
Production possibilities curve
Exports and imports
International specialization
Gains from trade
Barriers of trade: Tariffs and quotas
Foreign exchange
Flexible exchange rate
Fixed exchange rates
