Economics 2: Spring 2014

1. Economics 2: Spring 2014 J. Bradford DeLong, and... http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/econ-2-spring-2014/

2. Economics 2: Spring 2014: Course Intro http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/econ-1-spring-2012/ January 22, 2014, ??? ???, U.C. Berkeley

3. Things to Notice About This Course I • This is one semester • Everywhere else this is a two semester course: • We go fast • This is the University of California at Berkeley • Certainly the finest public university in the world • Perhaps the finest university in the world • Others could be in your seats • They would take advantage of the opportunities here • Don’t waste your opportunity here

4. Things to Notice About This Course II • This is Econ 2 • Econ 1 here—because it is one semester—goes fast • We go faster • We do more • This is a lecture hall • A pre-Gutenberg educational technology for a post-Gutenberg age • There is a Course Policies document • Read it

5. iClicker • Power light shows when you turn it on • Question: Do you know what an iClicker is? • A. Yes • B. Not yet Administrative Matters

6. iClicker • Power light shows when you turn it on • Question: Do you have an iClicker? • A. Yes • B. No Administrative Matters

7. iClicker • Power light shows when you turn it on • Question: Have you registered your iClicker at iclicker.com? • A. Yes • B. Not yet Administrative Matters

8. Who Are You? • A. First-year • B. Second-year • C. Third-year • D. Fourth-year • E. Other

9. Who Are You? II • A. Republican • B. Democrat • C. Communitarian • D. Authoritarian • E. Libertarian

10. Have You Taken Economics Before? • A. Yes, and I remember a lot from it • B. Yes, and I remember some things from it • C. Yes, but I remember nothing at all from it • D. No • E. I’m not sure...

11. Do You Expect to Take More Economics Courses After This One? • A. Yes • B. No • C. NO!! • D. Maybe… • E. Depends on my grade…

12. Winter Break Assignment Quiz

13. Winter Break Assignment I • Winter Break Reading: Before you show up here in the spring for Econ 2, please: • Read: ParthaDasgupta, Prologue to Economics: A Very Short Introduction http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/10/prologue-to-partha-dasgupta-economics-a-very-short-introduction.html • Read and Consider: Possible Discussion Questions for ParthaDasgupta, Economics: A Very Short Introduction http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/10/possible-discussion-questions-for-partha-dasgupta-economics-a-very-short-introduction.html

14. Winter Break Assignment II • Also read: • The "Introduction" and chapters 1 through 5 of Book I (i.e., I:1-5) of Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (available for free on the web or free for Amazon Kindle or Apple iBooks; you can also buy a copy) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300/3300-h/3300-h.htm • Pp. 1-31 of Paul Seabright, In the Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life (ISBN #: 978-0691146461 Publisher: Princeton) http://www.amazon.com/Company-Strangers-Natural-History-Economic/dp/0691146462/ • Pp. ix-69 of Milton Friedman and Rose Director Friedman, Free to Choose (ISBN #: 978-0156334600 Publisher: Mariner) http://www.amazon.com/Free-Choose-Statement-Milton-Friedman/dp/0156334607/

15. Winter Break Assignment III • Yes, there was a quiz… • And then, before your first section meeting: • Read: Partha Dasgupta, Economics: A Very Short Introduction http://www.amazon.com/Economics-A-Very-Short-Introduction/dp/0192853457

16. Next Steps… • Assignment for Section 2: • 400-word introductory letter to your GSI • Further reading: • Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers • Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations • Python[?] • Lecture • Intellectual history • Introduction to microeconomics

17. What You Should Know… • This is a go-faster, do-more course… • Grades will be equivalent to what you would get if you had decided to take Econ 1 instead… • Can’t slack off and wait until the end of the semester to get a handle on this course—there is just too much to do…