Reminders

Hello Everybody, here are a few reminders for you:

Problem Set 1 has been posted. It will be due in Section on Friday, October 6th.

Unit Test 1, starts on Monday, Oct 2nd. The deadline for our section is Monday Oct 9th.

Also, a reminder that I will hold office hours this week, on Monday 1-2:30pm and Wednesday 7-8:30.You can find details about location in the previous post.

Elasticity and Revenue

A great summary of the price elasticity of demand toghether with an example you can find here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011929781033.aspx

An applet to play around with: http://www.econtools.com/jevons/java/elastic/Elasticity.html

When the price elasticity of demand for a good is elastic (Ed greater than 1), the percentage change in quantity is greater than that in price. Hence, when the price is raised, the total revenue of producers falls, and vice versa.

When the price elasticity of demand for a good is inelastic (Ed less than 1), the percentage change in quantity is smaller than that in price. Hence, when the price is raised, the total revenue of producers rises, and vice versa.

When the price elasticity of demand for a good is unit elastic (or unitary elastic) (Ed = 1), the percentage change in quantity is equal to that in price. Hence, when the price is raised, the total revenue remains unchanged. The demand curve is a rectangular hyperbola.

When the price elasticity of demand for a good is perfectly elastic (Ed = infinity), any increase in the price, no matter how small, will cause demand for the good to drop to zero. Hence, when the price is raised, the total revenue of producers falls to zero. The demand curve is a horizontal straght line. A ten-dollar banknote is an example of a perfectly elastic good; nobody would pay $10.01, yet everyone will pay $9.99 for it.

When the price elasticity of demand for a good is perfectly inelastic (Ed = 0), changes in the price do not affect the quantity demanded for the good. The demand curve is a vertical straight line; this violates the law of demand.

(from Wikipedia)

Office Hours

Mondays: 0100pm to 0230pm :Littauer Building, Conference Room A (basement)

Wednesdays: 0700pm to 0830pm: Littauer Builsing, Room 112, First Floor

If you cannot make it for both office hours, please email me for an appointment.

Welcome!

Welcome / Guidelines Memo

Contact Details: Ioannis (Yani) Ioannou
office: Morgan Hall 228 B, Harvard Business School, 617-495-5197
office hours: TBA
email: ioannis.ioannou@gmail.com

Grading Policy - (20% Section Work)
Problem Sets (15%) – 5 best out of 6 (lowest grade is dropped)
Class Participation (5%) – Explained below

A few guidelines …

Welcome to Social Policy 10 (or Ec10), and best wishes for a wonderful academic year. Here are some rules that would facilitate the smooth functioning of our section throughout the year:

Attendance is important. If you need to miss class for any reason, you need to let me know in advance. The material moves relatively fast, thus missing a section will require additional work on your part in order to catch up with the rest of the class.

The class is Interactive. I would require every one of you to be an active player in the learning process. I will be minimizing the lecturing time and I will require your active participation in class. Cold Calls are fair game. It will ensure that everyone gets their chance to talk in class. You may pass and you will not be penalized for not-so-good comments.

Be Prepared for Section. The most clear route to success in this course, in terms of both achieving an excellent grade and mastering economic principles, involves steadily preparing for class in advance and completing problem sets in a timely fashion. If you think that you are going to be unable to do the readings for a specific section, you should let me know beforehand.

Take Advantage of Office Hours. I would be delighted to meet each and every one of you individually during my weekly office hours. I am interested in knowing for each one of you, your progress in mastering the material as well as the weaknesses and the strengths that you face in the course. This is probably the best way for me to know exactly how to direct my class teaching to best fit your needs and intellectual capacities.

Suggestions, suggestions, suggestions. I am always open to suggestions for improving your class and learning experience. If you have any suggestions about things that could improve, the pace of the course, anything you feel I should know to conduct the class in the best possible way, you should send me an email or come and see me during my office hours.