PPA 220A -- APPLIED ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

MASTER'S PROGRAM IN PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO

FALL 2003

Professor: Rob Wassmer, Ph.D.

E-Mail: rwassme@csus.edu or rwassme@attbi.com

Home Page: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/w/wassmerr

Office: Room 3037, Tahoe Hall

Class Location:  Tuesday, 6 - 8:50 p.m., 123 Calveras Hall; also rebroadcast on Saturdays 12:00 - 2:50 p.m. on various cable channels (Comcast 15 -Sacramento, Charter 14 - West Sacramento, Charter 21 - Auburn, Volcano 60/78 - N. CA, Comcast 15 - Roseville) and on the Web (details forthcoming).

Office Phone: (916) 278-6304

Office Hours: Tuesday, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. and if necessary by appointment

Required Texts:

(1) Analyzing Policy: Choices, Conflicts, and Practices, Michael C. Munger, Norton (denoted as Munger), available for purchase at CSUS bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com;

(2) Microeconomics: The Easy Way, Walter J. Wessels, Barrons Publishing (denoted as Micro), available for purchase at CSUS bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com;

(3) The Economics of Public Issues, Roger Miller et. al, Addison-Wesley (denoted as Public), 13th Edition, available for purchase at CSUS bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com.

Internet Access:

I will post outlines on material covered in class and other course related material at my web site. I will also correspond with you through e-mail and collect an address to do so on the first night's class.  Sometimes I will ask you to read things off the web.  Thus, access to the Internet is required for this class. If you do not have it at work or home, access is provided to students at the university's library.

Overview:

The purpose of this course is to expose you to the basic concepts and tools of microeconomics as they apply to public policy analysis. We will study how economists think about household decisions, business decisions, government decisions, and benefit/cost analysis.

The prerequisite for this course is the receipt of a B grade or above in a previous introductory (undergraduate) course in microeconomics (ECON1B in CSU or California community college system). Even though this is the official requirement, I will review basic microeconomic principles before assuming that you remember them. If your microeconomics is a bit rusty, Microeconomics: The Easy Way is the appropriate reference. For a more complete review, pull out your old microeconomics textbook.

Microeconomics offers many insights into understanding how business, government, and people interact. Some of the most serious problems that individuals and society face are economic based. An understanding of economics is therefore part of deriving solutions to these problems. As future public policy gurus, an understanding of the economic principles taught in this curse is essential to your ability to provide good public policy analyses.

A goal of mine has always been to try to improve the way that economics is taught to university students. I would consider myself a success if I could get you to learn some economics, appreciate its value to the career choice you have made, and to have a part of your brain think like an economist. Notice that I emphasize only a part of your brain. Good policy analysts have to also consider relevant political and administrative issues, and the social ramifications of proposed public policy. The development of these other parts of your brain will be accomplished through the other courses you take in this program. Please share with me, even before teaching evaluations are given, your opinion on any of my teaching methods.

The course consists of one 165 minute meeting a week (a 15 minute break will be given in the middle of each class). Each week you should plan on devoting at least three hours outside of the classroom to study related to this course. It is important that you try to attend all lectures. The official requirement is you attend 10 out of the 14 classes and the classes you miss on Tuesday be made up by watching it on TV or the Web. To help insure and reward attendance, I require that each Tuesday you hand in a a well-developed typed question that you still have after doing the assigned reading for the current week. (No one but you can turn in this assignment.  On the first day of class I will provide an example.) You will also be asked to complete typed exercises. Your question and exercises can only be turned in on the Tuesday that they are due (no exceptions). This acts as a form of attendance. An "A+", "A", "A-", B+", ..., "C", "C-", "D", or "F" (not turned in) will be recorded for each of these. There will 13 such assignments and only the grades earned on the top 9 will count.

Questions and comments pertaining to that night's class are encouraged during class. Other questions will be answered during my office hours. Office hours can also be used to handle a suggestion on how the class is taught, a general discussion of economics, the Public Policy and Administration Program, or your career plans.  Please make a point of stopping by to visit me at least once during the semester (a way of getting me to remember your name and another way of getting the participation part of your grade up).

At a minimum, the last 60 minutes of each night's class will be devoted to a student-centered discussion on topics relevant to that night's material.  The background material for these discussions are listed in the reading assignments.  Students will be assigned to lead these discussions.  Each of you are expected to interact during this discussion and a large portion of your classroom participation grade will be determined then.

Presentation:

Each student will be required to make at least one short presentation in class and lead a discussion on the related applied policy issue.  The material for this is highlighted in orange in the syllabus.  We will allocate these topics to students in the early part of the course.  I realize these presentations will be given with cameras rolling and believe that this  is an important part of the experience.  In this field you will almost certainly be asked to testify and make presentations before a camera and this is the experience you need to do this effectively.  For all presentations, each student should prepare a one-page outline of their presentation, discussion questions, and a possible another page that contains any figures they wish to present.  These should be sent to my e-mail address a full day before scheduled presentation and I will make a transparency that you can use in class.  Each student should also watch their presentation and write a one-page critique of what they liked and did not like about it.  This is due the week after presentation made.

Classroom participation grades will be based on quality of presentation, resulting discussion, write up of performance, and student's participation throughout other discussions held in course.

Examination Procedure:

Material for exams will be taken out of assigned reading, class time, and homework. I will provide a sample exam early in the semester.  If you have an illness or emergency, if at all possible, I expect to be notified before the exam takes place. If you fail to show up for an exam without contacting me, or if you cannot provide written documentation of why you missed, you will receive a zero on the exam.

Midterm: The first 90 minutes of class on October 14 will be devoted to taking an in-class midterm exam.  Regular lecture will follow.  More details and an example will follow in class. 

Final:  A take-home final exam will be given out the last day of class (December 9) and due December 16.  This exam will be structured as a group project in which a small group of students will work together to answer a series of questions.  Though cooperation within groups is encouraged, there can be no cooperation across groups.  More details and an example will follow in class.

Grading Procedure:

Exam grades will be calculated using the following formula:

A number grade will be assigned to everything you do. Your final grade will be calculated based on these number grades.

Your midterm exam grade accounts for 25 percent of your final grade. The final exam grade accounts for 30 percent of your final grade. The average grade earned on the 9 weekly required assignments also account for 30 percent of your final grade. Classroom participation and your presentation makes up the remaining 15 percent of your final grade. 

University policy for dropping this course will be followed. You must complete the midterm and final exam to receive a passing grade.

Schedule:

The following schedule lists the major topics covered and the assigned reading that accompanies them. I reserve the right to make minor changes and additions to the following schedule.  Underlined material is hyper linked and you should click on it from your web browser to get.

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