ECON 1078-003 Math Tools for Economists 1

(Fall 2003)

Instructor: Kazu Yokota

Office: ECON 306

Phone: 303-492-6023

E-mail: yokota@colorado.edu (the best way to get touch with me)

Website: http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~yokota

Class time: 17:00-18:15 Tuesday and Thursday

Class room: HLMS 201

Office hours: TBA

Course Description:

Modern Economics is based heavily on Mathematics and Statistics. This course is meant to give you the beginning tools for these two areas that you will need to further your development as an Economist. It is the first course in a two-course sequence (Math Tools for Economists 1 and 2). This first course will be divided into two parts. The first will provide you with some preliminaries such as algebraic operations, equations, graphs and functions, and exponential and logarithmic functions. In the second, we will focus on additional tools of Economics such as systems of linear equations, matrices, linear inequalities, probabilities and basic statistics. After completing this course you will be prepared to take the second course in the sequence that will focus mainly on the Calculus and you will have tools to better understand the Mathematical and Statistical framework, which are the languages of Economics.

Text:

Essentials of College Mathematics, third edition. Raymond A. Barnet and Michael R. Ziegler, Dellen-Macmillan.

Exam:

There are three midterms and one final. Tentative schedule of exams are followed:

TBA

Homework:

Homework will be assigned every Thursday (turn in next Tuesday).

You are encouraged to work with your classmates but submit separately.

Exam questions will be likely to come directly from the homework problems.

Late submission of homework will not be accepted!

Grading:

Each exam has 30% weight of total score.

The lowest score among three midterms will be dropped from your final grade.

The final is mandatory.

Each exam is not cumulative.

Homework assignments account for the rest 10% of your final grade.

General policies:

No make-ups will be given unless prior permission is obtained and only in

extremely extenuating circumstances.

The Final cannot be replaced with any other exam under any circumstances.

All University rules, guidelines, and deadlines will be followed.

We will make academic accommodations for persons with various disabilities. For more information, see the web page of the Office of Disability Services, www.colorado.edu/sacs/disabilityservices

We will make reasonable accommodations for students who have conflicts between religious observance dates and course examinations or assignments. Please talk to me at the beginning of the semester, if you think you may require such accommodation. For university policies on this and on other things, see www.colorado.edu/policies/index.html.

For university policies on cheating and plagiarism, and the university honor code, see www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/