(http://zia.hss.cmu.edu/miller/teaching/syll220.html)

88-220 Policy Analysis I, Fall 1998

Goal: The goal of the course is to give you a deep understanding of the microeconomic approach to policy analysis.

• Schedule: Here is the tentative schedule, last updated 24 August, 1998.

• Teachers:
  • Professor: John H. Miller , contact information.
  • Teaching Assistant:
    • David Rode, contact information.

• Students: Get to know your fellow classmates by looking at these lovely photos! 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32.

• Some thoughts on teaching .

• Announcements: Important course announcements, last updated 24 August, 1998.

• Discussion Board: You can read (and post) comments on the class discussion board .

• At any time feel free to provide some anonymous feedback via the on-line course evaluation .

• Make sure you complete a student information form within the first week of classes.

• Meeting Times and Location: MW 2:30--3:50, Adamson.

• Recitation: TBA, in PH 223D. Please complete a recitation form if you are planning on coming to recitation this week.

• Materials:

  1. [EEP] Theodore Bergstrom and John H. Miller, Experiments with Economic Principles, McGraw-Hill, 1997. You should also keep track of the errata for this book. (Available at the fine CMU book store.)

  2. (Strongly Recommended) Robert H. Frank, Microeconomics and Behavior 2nd or 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1994. (Also available at the CMU book store. In the syllabus, readings for the second edition are designated [MB2]. For the third edition look under [MB3].)

  3. On occasion, you may need to download some files.

  4. An important part of the class is connecting the material we learn with the real world. For each chapter of Experiments with Economic Principles, we have a collection of relevant newspaper articles, make sure you read them as we work through the material. You may also want to keep track of the Time daily news summary, The Economist, or similar services for news about real policy making. You can also search the web for general public policy sites or look at the site maintained at CMU. Here is a link to the Iowa Political Stock Market. If you're interested, you can get information on all of the Nobel prize winners in economics (a particularly interesting story is the one about the "Lost Years" of John Nash). Of course, you also may want to know a few economist jokes.

• Course Policies: Make sure you fully understand all of the important course policies.

• Grading and Assignments:

  • Make sure you understand the general grading and deadline policies.

  • Your grade will be based on the following requirements .

  • Performance Chart Data.

  • Midterm Grade Information.

  • If you are getting a C or below in this class, or just want to improve your grade, you should read and act on these suggestions for doing better.

• Brownie Points: If you would to earn some extra credit, come and see me about developing web resources for others in the class. Anything from finding some good pointers to related material to developing a web-based experiment would be appreciated.

• Schedule: Here is the tentative schedule, last updated 24 August, 1998.

John H. Miller , miller@zia.hss.cmu .edu.

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