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Introduction to Microeconomics: Course Logistics and Chapter 1 Methodology

Course Introduction and Course Logistics

• Instructor Information:

  • Teacher: Federika Bergami.

  • Role: Responsible for the lectures and theoretical portion of the Introduction to Microeconomics course.

  • Teaching Team: Two assistants, Francesco and Jean Cheng, are responsible for seminars and tutorials.

• Course Structure and Code:

  • This is one of $3$ Introduction to Microeconomics courses offered this semester.

  • Two courses are taught in French (by Professor Jeremy Luchetti and Professor Giovanni Ferrouzzi).

  • Professor Bergami's course is taught in English.

  • The correct course code is $11$ (not $12$ as indicated in the initial slide error).

  • Structure: The French courses are targeted at either Economics and Management Bachelor students or International Relations (Barrie) students. Regardless of the version attended, the exam is identical for all three courses ($1$ exam across $3$ courses, translated for language).

• Schedule and Organization:

  • Wednesday: Weekly regular lecture sessions.

  • Friday: Alternating schedule between additional lectures and seminars.

  • Specific Dates for Cancelled Classes: October $10$ (Academicus event) and the Reading Week starting November $3$.

  • First Fortnight Structure: For the first $2$ weeks, students meet twice (Wednesday and Friday) for lectures. Starting October $3$, the Friday sessions begin switching to seminars.

• Seminars and Tutorials:

  • Seminars: Used to correct problem sets and exercises. Students are advised to attempt exercises before attending to benefit from the solution explanations.

  • Tutorials (Optional): Held on Mondays from $10$ to $12$. These are informal, non-compulsory support sessions to ask questions, perform group work, or clarify concepts with a Teaching Assistant (TA).

  • Math Review: The first $2$ tutorials (starting September $23$) are dedicated to a math review document posted on Moodle to ensure students are comfortable with the technical/formalized nature of the course.

Teaching Resources and Communication

• Moodle Platform:

  • Enrollment on the Moodle course page is mandatory to access materials.

  • Important Note: Registering on Moodle does not mean a student is registered for the exam. Exam registration must be completed via the Portail des Étudiants.

  • Institutional Email: All Moodle announcements are sent to the students' University email; regular checking is required for last-minute updates.

• Documentation:

  • Syllabus: Available in a condensed PDF and an extended PowerPoint version. It contains all administrative info, evaluation formats, and schedules.

  • PowerPoint Slides: Usually posted $1$ day before class. They serve as a handed-out guide (polycope) but contain blank spaces for computations and graphs to encourage active note-taking.

  • Learning Objectives: Each chapter begins with a list of objectives that acts as a checklist for student comprehension.

• Communication Channels:

  • Forums: The primary method for asking questions. There are dedicated forums for each chapter, seminars, and tutorials. This allows everyone to benefit from shared answers.

  • Email: Reserved for personal issues. Students must include the course title in the email subject. Office hours can be arranged via email if needed.

• Recording Policy:

  • Lectures and seminars are recorded; tutorials are not. Links are provided in a document on Moodle.

  • Warning: Pedagogical studies suggest that relying solely on recordings can penalize performance, particularly for weaker students. Recordings should be used for occasional absences only.

Study Materials and Recommended Textbooks

• Core Manuals:

  • Acemoglu, Laibson, List.

  • Krugman and Wells.

  • The CORE project (an open-access e-book from the CORE Association).

• Guidelines for Books:

  • All identified manuals are equivalent in level and approach.

  • They are available in English and French and include both micro and macro components.

  • There is no obligation to buy them; they are available at the library, and older editions are acceptable.

  • Final evaluation is based on material covered in classes, seminars, and problem sets.

Pedagogical Advice and Academic Success

• Active Brain Participation:

  • The instructor referenced a study tracking brain activity over $7$ days. Results showed that brain activity during passive class attendance is often lower than during sleep (specifically dreaming phases) or interactive lab activities.

  • Message: Students must switch on their brains, interact, and ask questions to avoid being passive.

• Handwritten Note-Taking:

  • A referenced study followed $4$ groups of students to compare performance based on note-taking method (laptop vs. longhand/handwritten) and revision (yes vs. no).

  • Finding: Handwritten (longhand) notes are superior because the act of writing forces the selection and synthesis of information, which is the first step of comprehension. It also prevents falling asleep and aids visual memorization.

• Study Habits:

  • Work in groups.

  • Revise notes regularly rather than waiting for the end of the semester.

  • Redo graphs and computations under opposite hypotheses (e.g., if a price decrease was modeled in class, try modeling a price increase at home).

Evaluation and Exam Format

• Components:

  • Final assessment is a written exam during the January session.

  • Structure: $30$ Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).

  • Format: $4$ answer options per question; only $1$ is correct.

  • Scoring: No negative points (students are encouraged to guess if unsure).

• Exam Rules:

  • Closed Book: No textbooks or slides allowed.

  • Permitted Aids: $1$ hand-written A$4$ sheet of notes (recto-verso, both sides). Notes must be personally written, not photocopied from others.

  • Calculators: Small, non-programmable calculators are allowed. A programmable calculator (one that can store text or solve equations/make graphs) is strictly forbidden.

  • Restrictions: No exit for toilets once the exam has started; exit implies final submission of the paper.

• Training and Preparation:

  • Problem sets from seminars are critical.

  • Chapter-end quizzes are available on Moodle.

  • Two Mock Exams: Online, non-graded. One during Reading Week (Part $1$) and one in early-January (Part $2$).

  • Archived Exams: Older exams and a bank of questions are provided on Moodle.

Chapter 1: Methodology and Core Concepts

• Economics as a Science:

  • Economics is a social science that uses a formal, technical method of reasoning.

  • Main Objective: To identify causal relationships between variables to gain predictive or "provisional" power (predicting how one variable reacts to changes in another).

• The Scope of Microeconomics:

  • Microeconomics can be viewed as a discipline (analyzing issues) or as a method (a rigorous way of reasoning applicable to various human behaviors).

  • The course is divided into $4$ sections:

    1. Private Markets: Dynamics of supply and demand.

    2. Welfare and Government Intervention.

    3. Production Theory: Market structures like monopoly vs. perfect competition.

    4. Market Failures: State interventions to solve dysfunctions.

Key Global Economic Issues and Proxies

• Current Pressing Concerns (identifed via Pingo Survey):

  • Inflation: This emerged as the top concern this year, unlike previous years.

  • Climate Change and Income Inequality: Consistently high in visibility.

  • Protectionism and Tariffs: New slides were added this year to reflect changing global trade politics.

• Economic Activity Proxy:

  • Economists use satellite imagery of the Earth at night as a proxy for economic activity.

  • Bright regions indicate high economic activity and revenue generation, while dark regions often indicate either no population or a lack of economic infrastructure.

• Income Trends and Inequality:

  • GDP per capita is the standard measure of average individual income.

  • Historical Trend ($1820$ to $2000$): GDP per capita has increased in all regions (including Africa), but the gradient of increase varies significantly.

  • Inequality Dimensions:

    1. Between Countries: Inequality between nations has increased over the long term.

    2. Within Countries: The Gini coefficient (a statistical measure of income inequality) shows that inequality within OECD countries has increased between $1985$ and $2013$.

• Climate Change and Economic Activity:

  • The Industrial Revolution marked the shift from a flat GDP per capita line to exponential growth.

  • This growth correlates with rising $CO_2$ concentrations.

  • Current Scenario: A feedback spiral where economic activity drives climate change, which in turn negatively impacts future economic activity.

Questions & Discussion

• Pingo Interaction (Identifying Economic Issues):

  • Question: "What do you think is the most pressing issue in economy should address nowadays?"

  • Student responses: Inflation, climate change, inequality, poverty, income inequality, economic stability, tax, wars, tariffs, housing.

  • Instructor Note: The result for "Inflation" was significantly higher this year than in previous years where climate change and inequality dominated.

• Audience Query (Brain Activity Graph):

  • Question: What's the message? Are people studying right before bed, explaining high brain activity at the start of sleep?

  • Instructor Response: High brain activity at the start of sleep is related to the dreaming phase (REM). The real message is the contrast between being active in a lab and being passive in class. If you are passive in class, staying home or sleeping would technically result in more brain activity.

• Inquiry on Regional Disparities (Night Satellite Imagery):

  • Question: Why are some regions on the map black?

  • Student Response: Urbanization issues; some regions are empty.

  • Instructor Clarification: It's both—some regions are empty, and some just lack the income power or economic activity to generate light, making the light a useful proxy for economists.", "title": "Introduction to Microeconomics: Course Logistics and Chapter 1 Methodology"}