Textbook:Price Theory and Applications, Fourth Edition, by Steven E. Landsburg, South-Western College Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1999, ISBN 0-538-88206-9.

Supplementary Reading: The textbook has a study guide (ISBN 0-538-88680-3) written by William V. Weber and published by South-Western that you might want to buy. But I haven’t seen it and I cannot say whether it is any good.

I can, however, recommend The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life by Steven E. Landsburg, The Free Press (Simon and Schuster), New York, NY, 1994, ISBN 0-02-917776-6 (paperback) and 0-02-917775-8 (hardcover). I expect to make use of this book in the course. You should probably buy this book although a copy is on reserve for you at the circulation desk of the library. I also expect to use Landsburg’s writings in the online magazine Slate.

Examinations and Grading: There will be a Midterm and a Final. Apart from these two tests, several pre-announced short quizzes will be given throughout the semester.

The Midterm will be given on October 19. The Finals will be given during Finals week, December 14–20. These tests may include take-home portions.

In preparing the course grade I will use the following weights: 30% on the Final, 30% on the Midterm, 20% on the quizzes, 10% on a few homework assignments, and 10% on class participation.

Attendance Policy: Students who have more than six/eight/ten absences will most likely get a grade no higher than B+/B/C+. No make-up tests will be given for the Midterm and the Final unless there are compelling medical reasons supported by a doctor’s note. In case you cannot take a test at the scheduled time, you (or someone representing you) must inform me of the reason(s) not later than twenty-four hours after the test. Ideally, I should be told before the test.

Instructor’s Office and Office Hours: My office is at Room 206, Hoxie Hall (across from the Bookstore). My office hours are: 12.30 p.m.–1.30 p.m. and 5.00 p.m.–6.00 p.m. on Tuesdays and 12.30 p.m.–1.30 p.m. on Thursdays, and by appointment for any other hours convenient to you. My office phone number is (516) 299 2405/2321. You are encouraged to stop by whenever you need any help with your coursework.

Use of E-mail: This is quite possibly the best way to contact me. My e-mail address is uroy@liu.edu. I encourage you to e-mail me any questions you may have regarding any aspect of the course. If you have an e-mail address you might want to share it with me and with the other students taking this course. If you do not have a computer account with e-mail facilities, I would urge you to get one as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Information Technology—either go to its offices in the library building or call 516 299 2281—and ask for your account.

Buying Books: The course textbook and the study guide should be available at the campus bookstore. But you may also find those books as well as The Armchair Economist at other bookstores including several dot-com bookstores such as www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.borders.com, www.varsitybooks.com, ecampus.com, etc. If you have never done so, why not buy at least one book this semester from an online bookstore? Compare prices, taxes, shipping and handling costs and promptness of delivery before buying.

The Internet: This course has two websites: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/clas/econ/eco61.htm and http://phoenix.liu.edu/~uroy/eco61/. The second site, on which this syllabus is posted, is more closely tied to coursework. I encourage you to explore both sites and see what material they contain. I would greatly appreciate your suggestions for the further development of these websites. I need you to come up with ideas about how to make them more useful and more exciting. Your contributions in this regard will, I assure you, be greatly appreciated.

Also, the textbook has a support website at http://landsburg.swcollege.com. It has a lot of material that should be useful to you.

Let me end with a word of caution about the web. Cyberspace is a wonderful place to visit. I can scarcely keep track of time when I am surfing the World Wide Web. But it is mostly a mile wide and an inch deep. So, whatever else you do, your top priority should be the books listed above.