Econ 201 Foundations of Microeconomics Practical Assignment

Objective: The purpose of this project is to (1) encourage you to see economics at work all around you in your daily life, and (2) sharpen your analytical skills in applying economic theory to real-world events. Task: Read The Gulf News, The National, popular newspapers and magazines from other countries, listen to the radio, watch TV, scan the internet and look for news events where you can see the principles and concepts we study in class playing out in business. Collect these articles or news events, and for each one explain how it is possible to see economic forces at work in the story. I am NOT looking for academic articles that explain economics. I am looking for articles that do not even mention economics, but that you can recognize the economics in the article because of what you have learned in the course. These articles must be published after August 1, 2020. You may not use articles that we have discussed in class or that are listed on Blackboard, plus you may check Blackboard to see projects that were handed in previously to get an idea of how and what to do. Grading: Each student is required to explain a certain number of concepts to be considered for a grade. After reaching the minimum number of concepts, the project will be graded for content, grammar and spelling, neat and professional presentation, timeliness in turning it in. The final version of your project is due on the last day of classes at midnight (for instance, 13th of December). It must be submitted through SafeAssign in Blackboard. There is a 10-point per day late penalty. You do not have a “number of articles” requirement; you have a “number of concepts explained” requirement. There is a list of possible concepts on the reverse side. VERY IMPORTANT: To be considered for an A grade, each student must explain 5 concepts.

List of concepts that you can find articles to explain:

1) Principle 1: People face tradeoffs 2) Principle 2: Opportunity Cost: The cost of something is what you give

up to get it 3) Principle 3: Rational people think at the margin 4) Principle 4: People respond to incentives 5) Principle 5: Trade (or Specialization) can make everyone better off 6) Principle 6: Markets are usually a good way to organize economic

activity 7) Principle 7: Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes 8) The production possibilities frontier 9) Absolute advantage 10) Comparative advantage 11) Demand curve: a change in the price of the good itself 12) Demand curve: a change in income: normal good 13) Demand curve: a change in income: inferior good 14) Demand curve: a change in the prices of related goods: substitutes 15) Demand curve: a change in the price of related goods: complements 16) Demand curve: a change in the number of buyers 17) Demand curve: a change in tastes and preferences 18) Demand curve: a change in buyers’ expectations 19) Supply curve: a change in the price of the good itself 20) Supply curve: a change in input prices 21) Supply curve: a change in technology 22) Supply curve: a change in sellers’ expectations 23) Supply curve: a change in the number of sellers 24) A market equilibrium 25) A market surplus 26) A market shortage

27) The price elasticity of demand 28) The price elasticity of supply 29) The income elasticity of demand 30) The cross-price elasticity of demand 31) A price ceiling 32) A price floor 33) A tax on buyers and/or sellers 34) Consumer surplus 35) Producer surplus 36) The benevolent social planner and total surplus 37) Efficiency—allocating resources to maximize total surplus 38) Equality—allocating resources uniformly 39) Market failure 40) An externality (either positive or negative) and the attempt to

resolve it 41) Chapter 13 Table 3: Two of the many types of costs 42) Profit maximization in a competitive firm 43) Sunk cost 44) Monopoly 45) Price discrimination 46) Oligopoly