Review Slides

Review Slides

Last Homework Assignment

Watch video below:

Market Failures 2

Homework for Tuesday, 12/2

Download outline for the unit...if you want
Unit outline

Watch and take notes over video
Monopsony

Oligopoly Homework

Please watch and take notes over this video.

Video

Homework and Unit materials

Please watch and take notes over the video.  Additionally, I've included the outline - divided up into two parts and a problem set that will be due on test day.

Video:  Due Monday
Monopoly intro

Outline:  Parts 1 and 2
Part 1 - Monopoly
Part 2 - Mon Comp and Oligopoly

Problem Set
Problem Set

Homework due Tuesday 10/7

Students,

Please watch and take notes over the rest of the video.  Start on minute 25 and continue to its completion.  Use the outline to help take notes.  We will have a quiz in class on Tuesday.


Video
Production costs - Remember - Start on minute 25.

Production Costs

Students,
Below is the outline for the entire unit and the video homework.  Remember, the homework is to watch and take notes over the first 24:40 minutes of the video.  Again...only the first twenty-four minutes and 40 seconds of the video will be assigned.

Enjoy


Unit 3 Outline

Production Costs Video (only the first 24:40 minutes)

Ashoka's Catapult Program

Students,

Please view this great opportunity to network and collaborate between like-minded students from around the country.  The deadline for this experience is the 21st, so act quickly.

Ashoka Overview

Homework #7

Please watch the video below.

Consumer Choice

Elasticity Homework

Read 356 - 363

Optional Video
***the first 6 minutes of the video is an overview of the reading***
Stop at 6:20

Homework due Thursday

Please watch the video from minute 20:00 - 34:00.  There will be a quiz in class.

Tax video

Message to Seniors

Seniors,

There is no longer a requirement to view the video.  The in-class review took longer than expected.

4th Homework - Supply

Watch the supply video and take the quiz.

Supply Video

Supply Quiz

3rd Homework Assignment

Trade Video

Trade Quiz

2nd Homework Assignment

Please read 24-33 - the links for the book and quiz are below.
Reading: 24-33
Reading Quiz: 24-33

1st Homework Assignment

Scanned copy reading

Reading Quiz

 

**the answer to question #5 was entered incorrectly, so the correct answer will initially show as incorrect.  I will make the adjustment on each persons score manually. **

Micro and Macro Review Sheet

Micro Review Sheet

Macro Review Sheet 

 

 

Micro Review Schedule

Below is the schedule for review for Microeconomics.  All are welcome. 

Microeconomics Review Schedule

Tariff homework

Read 697 - 703
Watch tariff video:  Tariff Video

Homework due Friday - Monetary Policy 2

Monetary Policy Video 2

Monetary Policy I

Monetary Policy Unit Notes

Monetary Policy Video I

Study Guide

Study Guide

Homework Due Friday

Watch and take notes over the video below.  There will be a quiz in class.

Tax Video

Aggregate Supply and Inflationary Gaps

Aggregate Supply and Inflationary Gaps

Unit 3 Outline

Aggregate Supply and Demand Quiz

A couple practice questions

Practice Quiz

Study Guide - Unit 2

Below is the link to download the study guide.

Unit 2 Study Guide

Enjoy!

Unemployment Video

Unemployment Video

Unemployment Quiz

 

Unit Outline - If you're interested 

Homework - GDP Introduction

GDP Outline

GDP Video

GDP Quiz

Article about Majors and Unemployment

6 Majors to Avoid

Supply and Demand Video

Supply and Demand Video

Supply and Demand Quiz

3rd Homework Assignment

Enjoy...

Trade Video

Trade Quiz

Homework 3/8

Read 24-36:  Scanned Copy of the Reading

 Reading Quiz

Greg Mankiw on Changes in Income

Monday, December 16, 2013

On Measuring Changes in Income

To divert attention from the disastrous rollout of his health reform, President Obama has decided to change the national conversation to discuss increasing inequality.  This phenomenon is not new--the trend started about four decades ago--but it is real and important.  In case you are a new reader of this blog, you can find my personal views on the matter in this paper.

This national conversation has generated renewed attention to the highly influential Piketty-Saez data.  It is worth pointing out, therefore, some limitations of these data, which have been stressed by Cornell economist Richard Burkhauser: The data are on tax units rather than households, they do not include many government transfer payments, they are pre-tax rather than post-tax, they do not adjust for changes in household size, and they do not include nontaxable compensation such as employer-provided health insurance.

Does this matter?  Yes!  Here are some numbers from the Burkhauser paper:

1. From 1979 to 2007, median real income as measured by pre-tax, pre-transfer cash income of tax units rose by only 3.2 percent.  That is a paltry amount for such a long period.  You might conclude that middle class incomes have been stagnant. But wait.

2. Households are more important than tax units.  Two married people are one tax unit, whereas a couple shacked up are two tax units.  We would not want to treat the movement from marriage to shacking up as a drop in income.  If we look at households rather than tax units, that meager 3.2 percent rises to a bit more respectable 12.5 percent.

3. Now consider government transfer payments. If we add those in, that 12.5 percent number becomes an even better 15.2 percent.

4. What about taxes? The middle class received some tax cuts during that period.  Factoring taxes in, the 15.2 percent figure rises to 20.2 percent.

5. But not all households are the same size, and the size of households has fallen over time. Adjusting for household size increases that 20.2 percent to 29.3 percent.

6. There is still one thing left: employer-provided health insurance, an important fringe benefit that has grown in importance. Adding an estimate of that into income raises the 29.3 percent figure to 36.7 percent.

So, during this period, has the middle class experienced stagnant real income (a mere 3.2 percent increase) or significant gains (a 36.7 percent increase)?  It depends on which measure of income you look at.  It seems clear to me that the latter measure is more relevant, but the former measure of income often gets more attention than it deserves.

Take this as a cautionary tale.  When people talk about changes in income over time, make sure you know what measure of income they are citing.