• Fully explain the basic concepts, models, theories and tools used in the principles of microeconomics and use them to analyze economic decisions by individuals and by firms.
• Identify the foundational assumptions used in their own economic analysis and in the economics analysis of others.
• Predict the effects of supply and demand changes on the direction of market price and quantity. Use the tools of consumer and producer surplus to identify the gains form exchange and the gains from the ability to manipulate price or quantity (e.g., the effects of barriers to entry, market power, monopolization, price controls, taxes, subsidies, and quotas.)
• Articulate and explain the systematic nature of economic analysis and address likely secondary effects of particular policies and institutional frameworks.
• Analyze economic outcomes in terms of their contribution to recognition of scarcity and efficiency.
• Communicate, discuss, and present sound logical conclusions from their analysis of economic incentives.

The Principles of Microeconomics is the primary foundation for all other neoclassical economic theory including much of macroeconomics. Microeconomic theory principals provide insights into the behavior of both individual and collective actors (firms) in markets. This course is the introductory course in any economics curriculum.  It will provide you with an insight into how economists analyze practical problems which present themselves to policy makers in the real world. The concepts are theoretical but we will develop a "set of tools for analysis" which you will be expected to apply. The materials in this course are used extensively in economics, financial economics, and business.

Economics is ultimately about problem-solving through critical thinking. We are asked to provide logical, well-argued, defensible answers to complex questions. To do this we must strip problems down to their essential assumptions, arguments, and then critically analyze them. We do not expect you to master problem-solving or critical thinking in this one course. We do expect that you will greatly increase your proficiency at these skills. 
  
The emphasize applications because economics conditions and "answers" are constantly changing. What is transferable, fundamental, and constant is the method of economic analysis which we will develop. The ability to apply these tools to varying situations and to make the results clear to others is what gives value to economic analysis.

The primary focus of this course is on the development of analytical prowess or "critical thinking." The discipline of economics originated within philosophy, rhetoric, logic and mathematics and transitioned through political economy in the 19th century into modern economics.  As a result, economics is a very broad social science drawing upon the interconnectedness of human action. We model human behaviors within particular institutional arrangements.
 
This course focuses on the behaviors of individuals, firms, and institutional actors. Students should be able to successfully apply time-tested, empirical models of microeconomic behavior.  

Preliminary Assignment: 
(1) Read the first four chapters of the textbook and prepare questions to discuss in our first week of class meetings. 
(2) Carefully read this article: Radford, R.A. 1945. “The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp.” Economica, 12(48): 189-201.  Be prepared to participate in the discussion in the first class. Prepare written answers to the study guide questions. 
(3)  Carefully read this article: Hayek, F. A. 1945. “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” American Economic Review, 35(4): 519–30. Be prepared to participate in the discussion in the fourth class. Prepare written answers to the study guide questions. 

Class 1 
Chapter 1 - The Big Ideas
Chapter 2 - The Power of Trade and Comparative Advantage

Class 2 
Chapter 3 - Supply and Demand
Chapter 4 - Equilibrium: How Supply and Demand Determine Prices

Class 3 
Chapter 5 - Elasticity and Its Applications
Chapter 6 - Taxes and Subsidies

Class 4 
Chapter 7 - The Price System: Signals, Speculation, and Prediction 
Chapter 8 - Price Ceilings and Floors

Class 5
Chapter 9 - International Trade
Chapter 10 - Externalities: When Prices Send the Wrong Signals

NOTE: 
The Optional Midterm Assignment below opens at the beginning of Week 5 on LEARN.

Class 6 
Chapter 11 - Costs and Profit Maximization Under Competition
Chapter 12 - Competition and the Invisible Hand

Optional Mid-term Assignment
The optional mid-term assignment will be a take-home examination covering course materials up to that point and will be similar to the final examination. Its format will be multiple choice and short answer. It will be posted on LEARN a week prior to its due date - the beginning of Class Meeting 5. This midterm is best viewed as learning opportunity for students. I encourage you, and you have my explicit permission, to work with a classmate or small team. Ideally, you will learn from one another. Midterm questions are drawn from the test bank which is a supplement to your textbook. Space will be provided for you to do your analysis on the examination. 

Class 7
Chapter 13 - Monopoly
Chapter 14 - Price Discrimination

Class 8 
Chapter 15 - Cartels, Oligopolies, and Monopolistic Competition
Chapter 16 - Competing for Monopoly: The Economics of Network Goods

Class 9 
Chapter 17 - Labor Markets
Chapter 18 - Public Goods and the Tragedy of the Commons

Class 10 
Chapter 19 - Political Economy and Public Choice 
Chapter 20 - Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy

Class 11 Comprehensive Review

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

Course timetable is available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams

We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams end February 2019 at the latest.

Mandatory readings:

Articles are available through JSTOR from the CBS Library.   
Hayek, F. A. 1945. “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” American Economic Review, 35(4): 519–30.

Radford, R.A. 1945. “The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp.” Economica, 12(48): 189-201.

Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok
Modern Principles of Microeconomics
ISBN-13: 978-1429278416
ISBN-10: 1429278412
Macmillan Publishing, 3rd Edition