Cmty Dev & Apld Econ: Principles of Comm Dev Econ

Introduction to principles of microeconomics and their application to food and agricultural markets, resource management, and community development.

Open to Degree and PACE students

We all participate in the economy, as workers and consumers, buyers and sellers. This course aims to empower you to grasp the economic forces at work creating the conditions we live in. We will learn to apply elementary concepts from microeconomics to our everyday experiences and world events. We will also practice critiquing these ideas, and seeing our economic lives through political, cultural, historical, and ecological lenses. This course will explore not just how economic realities have informed the stories we tell about the economy, but also the reverse: how the stories we tell about the economy in turn shape economic reality. Course objectives: ● See how mainstream economists think and how their ideas have shaped the world. ● Predict how quantities and prices of goods might change given external changes. ● Apply these microeconomic tools to questions involving community development. ● Examine the assumptions that underlie microeconomics. ● Situate economic concepts in real-world social, political, and environmental contexts. ● Debunk common misunderstandings about how the economy works. ● Demystify the workings of markets and firms in a capitalist system. ● Understand the economy as social, material, political, cultural, historical, and ecological. ● Prepare for later CDAE coursework and, hopefully, life.

Students in this course are expected to come to class. Paper and a writing implement are required, as attendance will be taken randomly (10 times throughout the semester) by collecting student free-writing responses to in-class prompts. (If you must miss class, you can get your absence excused by emailing your TA ahead of time, and still respond to the free-writing prompt.) Readings will be posted on Brightspace for each class session. Expect to do 1 to 2 hours of reading per week. There will be 10 multiple-choice assignments during the semester, each with 5 to 10 questions. These assignments will test your knowledge of the basic concepts that students will need to understand in order to continue to upper level economics courses. A take-home exam and an in-class exam will test students' critical thinking skills and their ability to apply economics ideas to novel scenarios.

Showing up is half your grade. Grades are based on: - attendance & free writing (50%) - multiple choice assignments (20%) - take-home mid-term exam (20%) - in-class exam (10%)