Honors Economics

Spring 2012

Teacher:  Mr. Homa

E-mail: dhoma@lghs.net

             david@davidhoma.com

Website:  www.davidhoma.com

Description and Objective:

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the basic concepts of both micro and macroeconomics.  Microeconomics is the branch of the discipline that seeks to explain behavior of “small” economic actors such as the individuals and firms.  Macroeconomics seeks to explain the behavior of “large” economic actors or market aggregates.  The first half of this course you will learn about these processes.  The second half of the semester we will learn how these concepts play out in the real world, specifically on the continent of Africa.  Learning and understanding economics is less a mater of acquiring knowledge of a set of facts than a process of learning to think in a new way.  By the end of this course, students should have begun to “think as an economist” that is, be able to analyze questions involving choices made subject to the constraint of scarce resources in a logical and rigorous manner.

Required Texts:

Krugman, Paul, Robin Wells and Martha Olney (2007)  Essentials of Economics  Worth Publishers:New York

You will need to purchase the following book.  Please speak with me if purchasing the book will be a hardship.

Banerjee, Abhijit V. and Esther Duflo (2011).  Poor Economics:  A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty.  New York: Publicaffairs.

Class rules:

1.  Follow directions.  You are seniors.  ‘Nuff said.

2.  Always be in the door before the bell rings.  If you come in late for any reason quietly sit  

     down and then talk to me after class.

3.  All school rules apply in this classroom.

4.  No food or drinks (water is permitted).

5.  Always have your notebook with you.

6.  Always do your own work.

7.  Be an active participant in class and your own education.

8.  NO texting in class for any reason!

In addition:

Late papers and Make-up work.  No late work will be accepted unless you have an excused absence and you have spoken to me immediately after the absence.  You have one day after the absence to speak with me or no work is accepted.  Make-up work will be dealt with on a case by case basis.  You must come and see me about make-up work.  I will not track you down.  For any quiz you have two days to make it up.

Anytime you have any problems with work PLEASE come talk with me.

Grades:

Aeries is the primary way to keep track of your grade.  I update grades on a regular basis.  You may always speak with me but make sure you have checked Aries and have been keeping track of your grades throughout the semester.

Your grade will be based on the following:

1.  Each day one student will start the class with a brief presentation of an

     economic event occurring within the past four week.  Each student will sign up for

     three presentations during the semester.  Be prepared a few days ahead of your due date.  I

     will give more details in class.

2.  Research project that will be explained in class.

3.  Quiz

     a.  A weekly quiz over the map packet you will receive at the beginning of school.  You

          only get one packet so hold on to it!

4. Unit Projects

     a.  You must read two chapter each week from the book.  There are 18 chapters in the book

          and 9 weeks in half of a semester.  Works out quite nice, don’t you think? 

     b.  Unit projects are based on the following chapters:

                Project 1:  Chapters 1-6

                Project 2:  Chapters 7-12

                Project 3:  Chapters 13-18

      c.  I will explain in greater detail what the projects will entail during class.

5.  Spending Journal

      a.  I will explain this assignment in class.

The grading scale:

A= 100-90

B=89-80

C=79-70

D=69-60

If you want to know your grade either keep track of yourself or check Aeries as I keep it updated on a regular basis.

Extra Credit:

ex·tra (µk“str…) adj. Abbr. ext., ex., X 1. More than or beyond what is usual, normal, expected, or necessary. See Synonyms at  superfluous.

Extra credit is just as the definition implies.  I do not give extra credit.  From time to time I will add a few questions on an assignment or test but you will not know in advance.  Do not ask about extra credit!  This means you had better do all your work the first time!

Notebook:

1.  Each student must keep a notebook throughout the semester. 

2.  All items handed out in this class should be kept in your notebook. 

     Keep everything in the order that it has been handed out. 

3.  Each student will need a section of vocabulary words that he or she is

unfamiliar with.  The words must come from anything we do in this class.  You will need to have 25 words each six weeks.  I will check your vocabulary each six weeks.

4.  Notebooks are to help each person be a better student.  Notebooks will not be

     evaluated on style but organization is very important.

Final note:

You are here to learn.  I do not give you a grade.  The effort you put into this class will give you your grade.  Have a great year!