Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
3250:244 Introduction to Economic Analysis
The Department of Economics
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Akron

Well my question is not so much about the lecture but rather the home work. Will you please go over it sometime in class so i can have a better idea about what to do.

You've done half of the first home work assignment, which was to evaluate the class. The other half was to send an email with your UAnet ID, which proves that you can use email as well as Netscape forms.

Future homeworks will be announced. In previous years homework was completed and submitted via a Netscape form like the one you used to send this evaluation. (You can even go look at them, they are still up on the web.) The exact form will be located at the website, most likely with a link from the syllabus page.

Matthew Martin

I received an answer about the home work but not the one for the net home work for which I was talking about. The home work I meant was that of looking up political [parties] and compare [their ideology] with [economist's]. which is due on October 9th. Could you please go over this in class?

The web page you are referring to is dated 1996. Dr. Myers reuses the same web pages from previous years, so the due dates might or might not change. The question asked last year was :

(I don't know if the homework question will be the same this year, I'll forward this message to Dr. Myers)

If small special interest groups can unite to influence the government to the detriment of a disorganized and uninformed majority, how will the arrival of the internet change things? Thinking in terms of economics, it used to be very expensive to collect information about government and organize against say, a timber company who bribes a politician with campaign contributions to get free access to federally owned timber. The internet makes it cheap to get information and organize opposition. (Look at the uproar over the Community Decency Act) Now it seems it will be harder for special interest groups to get away with it... or maybe not?

Matthew Martin

Q: I have a question about this page, what is meant by student number is it our SSN or what? And one more thing what is the course no , if you kindly reply me back with these I will be happy.

Your student number is the number on your University of Akron ID, which for all US students is the same as your social security number.

Matthew Martin
Q: There has been a lot of material covered, what will be the main emphasis on the exam? Chapters dealing with real GDP, and AS and AD?

A: Everything is important. Typically, what I mention in class is probably more important. However, this is not a perfect rule. Look at last years exam!

Q: What I would like to see is a reading list. I have been reading a couple of pages a night and you jump around a lot. I know you said you would jump around a lot, but it would help a lot if I could know what I need to read so that I'm not spending a lot of time reading stuff I don't need to.
A: The skipping around will stop next week. You should be reading every word in the first three chapters. I appreciate the hard choice between the alternatives of reading/studying and other uses of your time, however, the opportunity cost of not reading all of the text may be greater that you will want to bear come examination time. For those not in my first lecture, I stated that all of the text and all of the media presented is "fair game" for the examinations. Why don't you look at the first examination from Fall 1994.

Q: Would you please give us an outline of what is most important to study for the second exam. There is really a lot of material here.

A: OK. I looked through the textbook and I think you should concentrate on the following pages: 97, 121, 125, 151, 157, 162, 168, 175-179, 185, 214-218, 224-227, compare 183-187 to 240-243, every word of Chapter 7, every word of Chapter 12. Additionally, if you are downloading compel presentations to re-view lectures, you might want to look at Chapter 9 because it deals with closing gaps and there are slides we did not see in class. Finally, you can rest assured that questions of debt and deficit (Chapter 9) and money creation (Chapter 11) will be either very basic or non-existent. How's that? Good luck on Monday April 3.

Q: In regard to exam questions which apply to the video segments, will the questions cover the general ideas of the clip?

A: Yes. I will not ask specific details about them, but I will ask general ideas and ask you to think about the concepts and apply those concepts

Q: Replaying the segment at the beginning of the next lecture was helpful.

A: Thanks. I didn't do that on purpose. I hope by next Fall to be able to ship the video clips to you as well as the lectures.


Dr. Myers

Q: I was wondering if you was going to have a review for exam 2 before Wednesday. There are a lot of points I'm unsure about. I would like to know what you expect us to know for the exam, before the exam. There is a lot of material you expect us to know for this exam and I would like to see a review lecture, if not in class maybe you could hold it sometime in the evening.
A: YES, Matthew Martin will hold a review session. The date will be announced on the page for announcements.

Q: On the day of the exam, could the TA's hand out the answer sheets before the class begins so we can have time to fill in the dots? This would give us more time to take the test.

A: Good idea -- we will do it. Thanks.

Q: Opposing views from the students:
  1. I appreciate that you took time on class to explain again on how to get to this system. It has helped me a lot.
  2. I think walking through how to use Netscape was a waste of my time.

A: I think the comments from student (1) and (2) points out why it is so difficult to instruct everyone in the exact same manner. Student (2) went on to explain how his/her experience made my talk unnecessary, while student (1) is still beginning. As this class evolves, as it is doing right before your eyes, I hope to have enough support in place that learners of all types will be able to take their own time with the computer.

Dr. Myers

Q: If possible, it would be great if ten minutes of every class could be devoted to asking us questions and making us debate certain issues.

A: Can't happen my friend, as much as I would like. There is so little time. However, I am ALWAYS open to questions from the floor. Just ask! In future editions of this class, I am thinking of a on-line discussion group where all of you can talk to each other, but I prefer to wait until everyone has a real account.

Dr. Myers

Q: Exactly when is the exam?

A: See the syllabus.

Dr. Myers

Q: When is the next exam?

A: See on-line sylabus where you will find the dates of the third and fourth exams and all of the lectures given to date.

Q: Where are the tests scores?

Look no further than exam results page.



Dr. Myers
The Department of Economics
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Akron
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