UNDERSTANDING OF ECONOMICS

경제는 인류의 생성, 존속, 발전을 위한 가장 기본적이면서도 가장 해결하기 어려운 문제이므로, 사회 각계 각층의 모든 사람에게 경제학의 기본지식은 이제 필수적이다. 본 과목은 가계, 기업, 정부등 한 사회를 구성하고 있는 개별 경제주체들이 자신의 목표를 추구하는 과정에서 나타날 수 있는 다양한 형태의 경제현상들을 체계적으로 분석하고 이해할 수 있도록 경제학의 기본원리를 체득시킨다.
본 과목은 크게 미시경제학 분야와 거시경제학 분야로 구성되어 있다. 전자는 가계의 소비행위에 있어서 효용극대화와 기업의 생산행위에서의 이윤극대화 문제를 다룬다. 가계와 기업은 시장에서 만나 거래를 하게 되는데 시장에서 가격과자원배분이 어떻게 이루어지는지를 다루게 된다. 그리고 생산요소시장의 거래과정에서 이루어지는 소득분배에 대해서도 고찰하게 된다. 후자는 국민경제전체의 운행과정을 다루는 분야로서 국민총생산을 결정하는 요인이 무엇인가, 물가는 무엇에 의해 좌우되는가, 그리고 실업이 발생하는 원인은 무엇인가, 그리고 경제성장과 국제수지를 결정하는 요인등 거시경제변수간의 관계를 다루게 된다.

The objective of the course is to introduce students to the way economists think; to the basic tools of economic analysis (particularly supply and demand analysis); and to have the students "learn by doing" by completing a number of take home "exams" (or homework assignments). There will also be various suprise pop-quizzes (un-announced) to test how well students have been learning the material in the take home exams. Focus will be on microeconomics although an attempt will be to maximally introduce students to basic macroeconomics. The focus on the “economist way of thinking” will be on marginal analysis (thinking on the margin) and on discerning between the long run and short run when making decisions and choices.

There will be no comprehensive midterm exam and no comprehensive final exam. There will be from 8 to 12 "take home exams" (also known as homework assignments) and pop-quizzes combined. All assignnments must be hanhanded in on time: "moderately late" assignments will be assessed a point penalty and "very late" assignments will not be accepted. Attendance is mandatory and all Keimyung University attendance rules apply. Students who are absent for 30% or more of the class hours each semester will be assigned an automatic F, regardless of their performance on the take home exams and pop-quizzes. Cheating will not be tolerated in any form and will be dealt with severely (leaving class after break and after being marked as "present" will be considered cheating.). Please always have basic calculator abilities when you come to class (bring a basic calculator or use calculators on cell phones).

There will be no comprehensive midterm exam and no comprehensive final exam. There will be from 8 to 12 "take home exams" (also known as homework assignments) and pop-quizzes combined. Each take home exam and each pop-quiz will be worth about 10 percent of the grade. In the above data on evaluation I will use absentee rates as a marginal tool to assign final grades. For grading, students will be ranked by the combined total number of points earned on the take home exams and pop-quizzes. When two or more students are “tied” in the number of quiz and homework points earned when vying for a limited number of A's and B's, the relative number of absences will be used as one of the ways of “breaking the tie” in ranking of such students. As a result, I have placed a 5% weight on absences. Keimyung University rules on absentee rates apply in my class. I have a strict rule following Keimyung University rules: students who are absent for 30% or more of the class hours each semester will be assigned an automatic F, regardless of their performance on the take home exams and pop-quizzes.

Students must speak English with moderate competency. Some knowledge of algebra and basic mathematics will be helpful for students.

This course should prepare students to analyze every day problems and deal with allocation and investment decisions. The goal is to teach students to think on the margin and to properly discern short run problems and decisions from long run problems and decisions. The course should help students to appreciate the market consequences of different public policies one often reads about in the media. The course will likely enable students to read and understand economics-related articles and issues in the media. Students will hopefully be able to critically evaluate the market consequences of alternative and/or competing policy proposals about which they will read in newspapers and in the general media.