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相关阅读资料

Required Textbook

Nicholson, Walter. Intermediate Microeconomics and Its Applications. 9th ed. Stamford, CT: Thomson Learning, 2003. ISBN: 0030259169.


课程单元 阅读资料
1 Overview of the Current U.S. economy

Supply and Demand
Freudenheim, Milt. "Companies Limit Health Coverage of Many Retirees." New York Times, February 3, 2004, Section A, Page 1.

Levy, Frank, and Richard J. Murnane. "Got a Routine Job? Not for Long." Washington Post Sunday Outlook, July 4, 2004, Page 3.

Nicholson. Chapter 1 and appendix to chapter 1.

Tools: Experiment with examples 1.1 and 1.2 under Demand and Supply.
2 Supply and Demand (cont.) and Elasticity Nicholson. pp. 130-149.

Wessel, David. "A Lesson from the Blackout: Free Markets Also Need Rules." Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2003, Page 1.

Tools: Experiment with examples 1.3 through 1.5 under Demand and Supply.
3 Tutorial 1: Simple First Derivatives and Basic Calculus
4 Begin Utility Maximization and the Allocation of Scarce Resources - e.g. the Machinery Behind the Demand Curve Nicholson. Chapter 2.

Tools: Experiment with three exercises under Consumer Behavior.
5 Utility Maximization (cont.)

Individual Demand and Market Demand
Nicholson. Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 126-130.
6 The Cost of Medical Care - An Application of Demand/Supply and Utility Under Uncertainty Nicholson. pp. 503-509.

Newhouse, Joseph. "Medical Care Costs: How Much Welfare Loss?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6, no. 3: 3-21.
7 Technology, Costs and Returns to Scale Nicholson. Chapters 5 and 6.

Autor, David, Frank Levy, and Richard J. Murnane. "Upstairs, Downstairs: Computers and Skills on Two Floors of a Large Bank." Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 2002, pp. 432, ff.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 3.1 "Cost" under Producer Behavior.
8 Technology, Costs and Returns to Scale (cont.) Nicholson. Chapters 5 and 6.

Autor, David, Frank Levy, and Richard J. Murnane. "Upstairs, Downstairs: Computers and Skills on Two Floors of a Large Bank." Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 2002, pp. 432, ff.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 3.1 "Cost" under Producer Behavior.
9 Basic Logic of Profit Maximization Nicholson. Chapter 7.

Tools: Under Markets, experiment with exercise 4.2.1 "Demand and Revenue."
First Midterm (covers through Session 8)
10 Profit Maximization in Competitive Markets Nicholson. Chapters 8 and 9.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 4.1.1 "Short and Long Run Equilibria" under Markets.
11 Profit Maximization in Competitive Markets (cont.) Nicholson. Chapters 8 and 9.

Tools: Experiment with exercise 4.1.1 "Short and Long Run Equilibria" under Markets.
12 Profit Maximization Under Monopoly Nicholson. Chapter 10.

Shapiro, Carl, and Hal Varian. Information Rules. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1998, chapter 7. ISBN: 087584863X.

Belson, Ken. "In Startling Retreat, AT&T to Stop Marketing to Consumers." New York Times, July 23, 2004.

Richtel, Matt. "Bells Win Battle, Not Necessarily the War." New York Times, July 23, 2004.
13 Oligopoly and Monopolistic Competition Nicholson. Chapter 11.

Maynard, Micheline. "Pilots at Delta Offer to Take a 23% Cut in Wages." New York Times, July 22, 2004.

For an example of monopolistic competition by adding features, look at the evolution of PDA's (e.g. Palm Pilots) and Smart Phones on Palm Evolution.
14 A Taste of Simple Game Theory Nicholson. Chapter 12.

Ellison, Glenn, and Sara Fisher Ellison. "Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticites on the Internet." January 2001. (PDF)
Second Midterm (covers through Session 12)
15 International Trade and Offshoring Krugman, Paul R., and Maurice Obstfeld. International Economics: Theory and Policy. Boston, MA: Addison Wesley, 2003, chapter 2, pp. 10-37. ISBN: 0321116399.

Boo, Katherine. "Letter from India: The Best Job in Town." The New Yorker, July 5, 2004, pp. 54-69.
16 Pulling it Together - Trade, Technology and the Labor Market Uchitelle, Louis. "Surge in Jobs Mostly Bypasses the Factory Floor." New York Times, May 11, 2004.
17 Course Wrap-up
18 Final Exam