Professor Lindeblom's Spring 2016 Classes

In the coming spring semester, beginning in January, I will be teaching three classes, ECO 2013 Principles of Macroeconomics (ref 535543), ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics (ref 535543), and ECO 3703 International Economics (ref 535644).

I will be offering ECO 3703, International Economics, as a fully online section, with no in-class meetings at all.  The course is taught in session 4, which begins on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 and ends during the first week of May.   

This course is part of the BAS, Supply Chain Management program at Broward College, but students from St. Petersburg College and elsewhere may be allowed to enroll in the course.  It is a closed course to those selected programs, so if you wish to take the class from outside the Supply Chain Management program, please contact Ms. Maynel Lyttle at 954-201-8956.

The text is the premiere source in the field, Krugman, Obstfeld & Melitz, International Economics, 9th edition (Boston:  Addison Wesley).  ISBN 13:  978-0-13-214665-4.  ISBN 10: 0-13-214665-7.  The text is very expensive, so please rent the text or buy a used copy.  You can rent the text from: Amazon, Barnes and Noble (online), or Bookrenter.com.  Past students have paid somewhere in the $20 - 35 range for the semester's rental.  The retail cost of the textbook at the college bookstore is in excess of $200.  Used texts go for about half the retail price, I believe, but it may be more than that.  Rental is the way to go!

You can access the course from the college's BC Online system.  I normally open the course web site a couple of days before class begins, so that you can peruse the course outline before the first class meeting.

I will be offering ECO 2013, Principles of Macroeconomics, as a web-enhanced course on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm on South Campus (building 71, room 241).  This is a sixteen-week session 1 class.  Our first class will be on Monday, January 11, 2016 and our final test will be held on Monday, May 2.  

The text for the course is Chiang, Core Macroeconomics, 3rd edition (Worth).  ISBN 13: 978-1429278492; ISBN10: 1429278498.  You can purchase this from the bookstore on South, Central, or North Campuses.  Be sure to purchase the text bundled with LaunchPad. You can purchase an ebook embedded in LaunchPad directly from the publisher, Worth (Macmillan) at
http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/chiangcoremacro3/254432/ECommerce/Unauthenticated#/index 

This is a web-enhanced class, so there will be additional tools available through a BC course shell, but these resources will not replace the text and LaunchPad.  

I will be offering ECO 2023, Principles of Microeconomics, as a web-enhanced course on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30 to 1:45 pm, on South Campus (building 71, room 241).  This is a sixteen-week session 1 class.  Our first class will be held on Monday, January 11, 2016 and our final test will be held on Wednesday, May 4. 

The text for the course is Chiang, Core Microeconomics, 3rd edition (Worth).  ISBN 13:  978-1-4292-7847-8; ISBN 10: 1-4292-7847-1.  You can purchase this from the bookstore on South, Central, or North Campuses.  Be sure to purchase the text bundled with LaunchPad.  You can purchase an ebook embedded in LaunchPad directly from the publisher, Worth (Macmillan) at 
http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/chiangcoremicro3/254425/ECommerce/Unauthenticated#/index

This is a web-enhanced class, so there will be additional tools available through the BC course shell, but these resources will not replace the text and LauchPad.

If you have any additional questions, please contact me at glindebl@broward.edu

Professor Lindeblom Fall 2015 Classes

In the coming fall semester, beginning in August, I will be teaching two classes.

I will be offering ECO 3703, International Economics, as a blended course, meeting at the Miramar West Center on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 9:15 in session 2.  Session 2 extends from August 24 to October 16.  So our first class will be on Wednesday, August 26 and our last class will be held on Wednesday, October 14. 

This course is part of the BAS, Supply Chain Management program at Broward College, but students from St. Petersburg College and elsewhere may be allowed to enroll in the course.  It is a closed course to those selected programs, so if you wish to take the class from outside the Supply Chain Management program, please contact Ms. Maynel Lyttle at 954-201-8956.

The text is the premiere source in the field, Krugman, Obstfeld & Melitz, International Economics, 9th edition (Boston:  Addison Wesley).  ISBN 13:  978-0-13-214665-4.  ISBN 10: 0-13-214665-7.  The text is very expensive, so please rent the text or buy a used copy.  You can rent the text from: Amazon, Barnes and Noble (online), or Bookrenter.com.  Past students have paid somewhere in the $20 - 35 range for the semester's rental.  The retail cost of the textbook at the college bookstore is in excess of $200.  Used texts go for about half the retail price, I believe, but it may be more than that.  Rental is the way to go!

As a blended course, half of our activities will be conducted online.  You can access the course from the college's BC Online system.  I normally open the course web site a couple of days before class begins, so that you can peruse the course outline before the first class meeting.

I will be offering ECO 2013, Principles of Macroeconomics, as a web-enhanced course for Honors students only.  This is a closed section, restricted to those students in the Broward College Honors Institute.

Class sessions will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm on South Campus.  This is a sixteen-week session 1 class.  Our first class will be on Monday, August 24 and our final test will be held on Wednesday, December 9.  

The text for the course is Chiang, Core Macroeconomics, 3rd edition (Worth).  ISBN 13: 978-1429278492; ISBN10: 1429278498.  You can purchase this from the bookstore on South, Central, or North Campuses.  Be sure to purchase the text bundled with LaunchPad.  This is a web-enhanced class, so there will be additional tools available through a BC course shell, but these resources will not replace the text and LaunchPad.   

If you have any additional questions, please contact me at glindebl@broward.edu.

ECO 3703 International Economics -- Winter 2015

In session 4 of the winter semester 2015, I will be offering ECO 3703, International Economics, as a fully-online course.  There will be no face-to-face class sessions, nor are there any on-campus proctored tests.  So this is truly a fully online class.  Session 4 begins on Wednesday, March 11.  Orientation activities must be completed by Sunday, March 15.

This course is part of the BAS, Supply Chain Management program at Broward College, but students from St. Petersburg College and elsewhere may be allowed to enroll in the course.  It is a closed course to those selected programs, so if you wish to take the class from outside the Supply Chain Management program, please contact Ms. Maynel Lyttle at 954-201-8956.

There are eight units in the course, which we will nicely cover in our 8 week class.  You will be evaluated through three short research essays, 2 online class discussions for grade, one (primarily)  mathematic exercise, and a large group project.  Assignments will all be due on Sunday evening at 11:55 pm.   

The text is the premiere source in the field, Krugman, Obstfeld & Melitz, International Economics, 9th edition (Boston:  Addison Wesley).  ISBN 13:  978-0-13-214665-4.  ISBN 10: 0-13-214665-7.  The text is very expensive, so please rent the text or buy a used copy.  You can rent the text from: Amazon, Barnes and Noble (online), or Bookrenter.com.  Past students have paid somewhere in the $20 - 35 range for the semester's rental.  The retail cost of the textbook at the college bookstore is in excess of $200.  Used texts go for about half the retail price, I believe, but it may be more than that.  Rental is the way to go!

The course web site will formally open on Wednesday, March 11, but I will try to have it open on Monday, March 9 for your perusal and preview.  (There are no guarantees that the site will be open early, but I will make an effort.)  The last day to withdraw from the course for a full refund is Tuesday, March 17.

If you have any additional questions, please contact me at glindebl@broward.edu.

Professor Lindeblom's Winter 2014 Blended Class Notes

This coming winter semester, 20142, I will be teaching the following blended classes:
 

ECO 3703 International Economics -- ref 477104 Session 2 on South Campus
ECO 2013 Principles of Macroeconomics -- ref 474814 Session 2 -- at the Weston Center
ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics -- ref 475827 Session 4 -- at the Weston Center

Following this post are separate information and welcome pages for each of these courses in the order given.

I will not be teaching any fully online courses in the winter semester.

Welcome to International Economics, ECO 3703, Winter 2014 semester

ECO 3703 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

WINTER 2014 (20142) , Session 2

Reference Number 477104

BLENDED CLASS

The first class on Tuesday, January 7 includes an orientation to the course web site.

Your Professor

My name is Greg Lindeblom. I have been a professor at Broward College since January 2003. I have a Honours B.A. from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) and a M.A. in Economics from New School University in New York City. My academic specialties are: Macroeconomics, International Economics and Finance, Money and Banking, Microeconomics, and the History of Economic Thought.

Prior to coming to BC, I worked in banking and finance for 23 years. Throughout my career, I have had some fascinating jobs in banking. I was on the trade floor in New York for 12 years -- six years in the foreign exchange markets and six years in charge of the techology on the trade floor. Later in my career, I was responsible for web development for all my bank's trading and brokerage departments. That was at the very inception of web application development -- so I'm either a pioneer or a dinosaur depending on your perspective.

During my years in banking, I lived in Toronto; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and New York City, prior to moving to Florida in 2001. Believe it or not, I moved into my house on 9/11/01! Since moving to Florida, I have done bank consulting work, in addition to my teaching. Some of my consulting assignments have been in Canada and Mexico.

During my tenure at BC, I have taught:

• Principles of Macroeconomics
• Principles of Microeconomics
• International Economics
• Money & Banking
• Introduction to Business
• Principles of Supervision
• Personal Finance
• Quantitative Methods for Business

I genuinely enjoy teaching here at BC. I find the students very personable and eager. I'm sure you'll find this course challenges you, but you'll also find it rewarding and relevant to your life.

Course Description

BC's course outline describes the course as: "An explanation of why nations trade, the effects of trade on the economy, international commercial policy, balance of payments, exchange rate determination, the eurocurrency markets, and international trade institutions."

International Economics is a junior-level course that blends theoretical work with practical applications from the world around us. In this era of increasing globalization, it is important that the international implications of all business decisions be understood. This course will provide a framework for making those assessments.

A full description of course outcomes may be downloaded from BC’s web site

Methods of Instruction

This is a blended class. Normally, for a three-credit class, we would meet twice a week for 3 hours each meeting during an eight week session.. This class is designed to meet once a week, on Tuesday nights from 6:30 to 9:15, with the remaining material being covered online. So this course is designed with 50% of our class work in a traditional face-to-face format and 50% is done through online discussions, readings, quizzes, and assignments.

There will be four tests in the course, two taken in-class and two taken online. The remainder of our in-class time will be spent covering the most challenging parts of the material in the course. The rest of the course material is your responsibility.

During the periods where you will be engaging in online learning, there will be two discussion topics that will require you to read the relevant chapter(s) of the text, watch some videos, and apply the principles to the topic at hand. Further, there is an assigned group project. The final components of your grade will be comprised of assigned homework or an individual paper.

Learning Outcomes

BC's course outline for ECO 3703 indicates the following general course outcomes:

Unit 1: The student shall evaluate the costs and benefits of trade to a national economy and recognize the importance of international trade to the global economy.

Unit 2: The student shall explain and evaluate various theories of international trade, such as but not limited to Ricardian comparative advantage, the Hecksher-Olin model of factor endowments, and Krugman's intraindustry trade theory.

Unit 3: The student shall identify non-trade international flows, such as labor and capital, and examine the role of the multinational corporation.

Unit 4: The student shall recognize the ways in which a government can promote or impede trade through its international trade policy.

Unit 5: The student shall identify the types of free trade agreements and unions that exist and evaluate the arguments for and against them.

Unit 6: The student shall explain the elements of the balance of payments on the current account and capital and financial accounts of a nation.

Unit 7: The student shall describe the global foreign exchange market, determine how foreign exchange rates are computed, and compare the different types of foreign exchange instruments.

Unit 8: The student shall identify key components and issues in international monetary economics.

You can find the general course outcomes from the BC Course Outlines.

The general outcomes from this course are also available from the BC website (BC course outlines).

Course Requirements

The course prerequisites are ECO 2013, Principles of Macroeconomics, and ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics.  There are no exceptions to these prerequisites.  This is a third-year level course and we make reference back to the principles courses throughout our study. 

The student must have regular access to a computer and be comfortable working online.

All email in this course must be sent within our online learning system, BCOnline. Students must be able to open/save files, surf the internet, send and receive email, and post to discussion topics.

Course Technology Requirements

The only unique software you require for this course is a PowerPoint viewer, which can be uploaded at no cost. Refer to the Blackboard Plug-ins document to get find the link for the viewer.

Some discussions require you to watch and make a report on videos. Your PC must have speakers or headphones that allow you to hear the videos.

Course Materials

The text for this course is OPTIONAL. It is Krugman, Obstfeld & Melitz, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: THEORY AND POLICY, 9th edition, Boston: Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2012.

While optional, this is the best book in the field and Paul Krugman is the dean of economists studying international economics. The reason I've made it optional is two-fold: 1) the cost is very high; 2) there are many online tools that we can utilize.

Many of those online tools are available in our course web site. In addition, you will have access to the professor's notes there.

I am confident you will have the tools you need to succeed in this course. Of course, resources are only valuable when they are utilized. One of the key premises of economics is that resources must be allocated (used) efficiently to maximize satisfaction (your grade).

How to Register for this Course

To enroll for the course, please refer to BC's Student Online System. Students must be paid before they will be able to log into the course. If you register late, it may take 36 hours for you to gain access to the course after paying.

Information Contact

Students can reach me at glindebl@broward.edu to obtain more information about this course. If you wish to meet with me prior to enrolling in the course, please send an email to make an appointment with me.

How to Access the Course once you are Enrolled in this Course

Once you are enrolled and have paid, access to the course will begin on the first class on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. During the orientation, we will review login and access procedures, requirements for the course, and begin our study of economic principles.

In the meantime, refer to the BC Flexible Learning page for email lookup and login instructions.

All students must obtain and use a BC email address for this course, so please obtain a user ID and PIN code before attempting to login to BCOnline.

ECO 2013 PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS

WINTER 2014 (20142) , Session 2

Reference Number 474814

BLENDED CLASS

The first class on Wednesday, January 8 includes an orientation to the course web site.

Your Professor

My name is Greg Lindeblom. I have been a professor at Broward College since January 2003. I have a Honours B.A. from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) and a M.A. in Economics from New School University in New York City. My academic specialties are: Macroeconomics, International Economics and Finance, Money and Banking, Economic Development, and the History of Economic Thought.

Prior to coming to BC, I worked in banking and finance for 23 years. Throughout my career, I have had some fascinating jobs in banking. I was on the trade floor in New York for 12 years -- six years in the foreign exchange markets and six years in charge of the techology on the trade floor. Later in my career, I was responsible for web development for all my bank's trading and brokerage departments. That was at the very inception of web application development -- so I'm either a pioneer or a dinosaur depending on your perspective.

During my years in banking, I lived in Toronto; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and New York City, prior to moving to Florida in 2001. Believe it or not, I moved into my house on 9/11/01! Since moving to Florida, I have done bank consulting work, in addition to my teaching. Some of my consulting assignments have been in Canada and Mexico.

During my tenure at BC, I have taught:

• Principles of Macroeconomics
• Principles of Microeconomics
• International Economics
• Money & Banking
• Introduction to Business
• Principles of Supervision
• Personal Finance
• Quantitative Methods for Business

I genuinely enjoy teaching here at BC. I find the students very personable and eager. I'm sure you'll find this course challenges you, but you'll also find it rewarding and relevant to your life.

Course Description

BC's course outline describes the course as: "An introductory course in macroeconomic principles covering basic economic problems and concepts. Topics discussed and analyzed include the role of government in various economic systems, aggregate measures of economic performance, aspects of economic instability, macro equilibrium, fiscal and monetary policies, and the imparct of both the public debt and international trade."

Over and over, I've had students tell me this is a course in which they learned a great deal. Principles of Macroeconomics is a challenging course that blends theoretical work with practical applications from the world around us. By obtaining a good grounding in economics, students can better understand the political, social, and financial issues that confront us and our society every day. An economic issue is on the front page of the newspaper most days of the week and it would be hard to find a televised newscast that doesn't include a key story on the economy. By the end of this course, you should be able to see through the political rhetoric and journalistic simplifications to make your own decisions about economic issues and the direction of our economy. On a personal level, understanding the economic issues of our day provides students with important tools to make financial decisions that affect their own lives.

A full description of course outcomes is on hard-copy reserve in the periodicals section of the library and may also be downloaded from BC's web site.

Methods of Instruction

This is a blended class. Normally, for a three-credit class, we would meet twice a week for 3 hours each meeting during an eight week session.. This class is designed to meet once a week, on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 9:15, with the remaining material being covered online. So this course is designed with 50% of our class work in a traditional face-to-face format and 50% is done through online discussions, readings, quizzes, and assignments. 

 

If you are a student who learns best over a longer period of time and with an instructor covering all aspects of the course, this is NOT the section for you. 

There will be four tests in the course, two taken in-class and two taken online. The remainder of our in-class time will be spent covering the most challenging parts of the material in the course. The rest of the course material is your responsibility.

During the periods where you will be engaging in online learning, there will be two discussion topics that will require you to read the relevant chapter(s) of the text, watch some videos, and apply the principles to the topic at hand. Further, there is an assigned group project. The final components of your grade will be comprised of assigned homework or an individual paper.

Any student who earns a grade of C in this course will earn writing credit as well. Therefore, you will have to verify that your wiriting skills are at a college level during the course. You will accomplish that through the online discussions during the semester.

Learning Outcomes

This is an introduction to Macroeconomics.

BC's course outline for ECO2013 indicates the following general course outcomes:

"Course Overview -- Upon successful completion of this course, the students should be able to describe macroeconomic principles and concepts, the impact of fiscal and monetary policies, and macro-equilibrium; calculate measures of aggregate economic performance; a discuss elements of international trade.

Unit 1: The students should be able to explain the fundamentals of economic analysis, as well as the role and functions of government in the modern mixed economy.

Unit 2: The students should be able to list the various types of fluctuations (seasonal, cyclical, trend) and their impact on variou groups in society; describe and analyze how equilibrium levels of national income and output are determined, as well as their expected impact on the price-level.

Unit 3: The students should be able to evaluate methods of demand management, their shortcomings, and their impact on the deficit.

Unit 4: The students should be able to define the importance of the U.S. monetary and banking system.

Unit 5: The students should be able to evaluate alternative macroeconomic theories and policies."

 

Practically speaking, the course can be logically divided into the following sections:

• Introduction to Economics
• Fundamentals of Economics
• Fundamentals of Macroeconomics
• Macroeconomic Models
• Fiscal Policy
• Monetary Macroeconomics

By the end of the course you should understand the following basic economic principles:

• The definition of economics and the economics perspective
• The production possibilities model
• The circular flow model
• The laws of demand and supply
• A brief economic history to illustrate some current debates in economics
• Market and market systems
• The role of government in the economy
• Key measures of national income accounting, such as GDP, CPI, unemployment, etc.
• The significance of unemployment and inflation
• The Aggregate Expenditure Model
• Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply Model
• Fiscal policy and its resulting deficits or surpluses
• Money and banking
• Monetary policy

The general outcomes from this course are also available from the BC website (BC course outlines).

Course Requirements

There are no special requirements or admission criteria for this course. 

The student must have regular access to a computer and be comfortable working online.

 

All email in this course must be sent within our online learning system, BCOnline. Students must be able to open/save files, surf the internet, send and receive email, and post to discussion topics.

Course Technology Requirements

The only unique software you require for this course is a PowerPoint viewer, which can be uploaded at no cost. Refer to the Blackboard Plug-ins document to get find the link for the viewer.

 

Some discussions require you to watch and make a report on videos. Your PC must have speakers or headphones that allow you to hear the videos.

Course Materials

The required text for the course is Miller, Roger Leroy, ECONOMICS TODAY, 16th edition, Boston: Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2011

 

If you plan to take both ECO 2013 and ECO 2023, purchase the full version hard cover text (ISBN: TBD) or a loose-leaf "a la carte edition" (ISBN: TBD). As an alternative, you can also purchase an eBook that is good for both ECO 2013 and ECO 2023 (ISBN: TBD). You must take ECO 2013 and ECO 2023 in successive semesters if you purchase the eBook. Please note, the bookstore will buy back the hard cover text, but WILL NOT buy back the a la carte or eBook versions.

If you are just taking ECO 2013 at Broward College, you can purchase ECONOMICS TODAY -- THE MACRO VIEW, 16th edition in an "a la carte" edition (ISBN: TBD).

You are NOT required to purchase access to MyEconLab. You can choose to do so and you will be have access to excellent online homework.  My course syllabus gives you an option of doing the online homework or doing a research paper. 

 

Within our course website, you will have access to the professor's lecture notes, homework, practice quizzes, videos and additional information. The lecture notes are in PowerPoint, and you can print them in handout format (3 or 4 slides to a page), so you can print them out prior to class and make your own notes right on the slides themselves.

I am confident you will have the tools you need to succeed in this course. Of course, resources are only valuable when they are utilized. One of the key premises of economics is that resources must be allocated (used) efficiently to maximize satisfaction (your grade).

How to Register for this Course

To enroll for the course, please refer to BC's Student Online System. Students must be paid before they will be able to log into the course. If you register late, it may take 36 hours for you to gain access to the course after paying.

Information Contact

Students can reach me at glindebl@broward.edu to obtain more information about this course. If you wish to meet with me prior to enrolling in the course, please send an email to make an appointment with me.

How to Access the Course once you are Enrolled in this Course

Once you are enrolled and have paid, access to the course will begin on the first class on Wednesday, January 8, 2014. During the orientation, we will review login and access procedures, requirements for the course, and begin our study of economic principles.

In the meantime, refer to the BC Flexible Learning page for email lookup and login instructions.

All students must obtain and use a BC email address for this course, so please obtain a user ID and PIN code before attempting to login to BCOnline.

 

Welcome to ECO 2023 Weston Session 4 Blended Class Winter 2014

ECO 2023 PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS
WINTER 2014 (20142) , Session 4
Reference Number 475827
BLENDED CLASS

The first class on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 includes an orientation to the course web site.

Your Professor

My name is Greg Lindeblom. I have been a professor at Broward College since January 2003. I have a Honours B.A. from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) and a M.A. in Economics from New School University in New York City. My academic specialties are: Macroeconomics, International Economics and Finance, Money and Banking, Microeconomics, and the History of Economic Thought.

Prior to coming to BC, I worked in banking and finance for 23 years. Throughout my career, I have had some fascinating jobs in banking. I was on the trade floor in New York for 12 years -- six years in the foreign exchange markets and six years in charge of the techology on the trade floor. Later in my career, I was responsible for web development for all my bank's trading and brokerage departments. That was at the very inception of web application development -- so I'm either a pioneer or a dinosaur depending on your perspective.

During my years in banking, I lived in Toronto; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and New York City, prior to moving to Florida in 2001. Believe it or not, I moved into my house on 9/11/01! Since moving to Florida, I have done bank consulting work, in addition to my teaching. Some of my consulting assignments have been in Canada and Mexico.

During my tenure at BC, I have taught:

• Principles of Macroeconomics
• Principles of Microeconomics
• International Economics
• Money & Banking
• Introduction to Business
• Principles of Supervision
• Personal Finance
• Quantitative Methods for Business

I genuinely enjoy teaching here at BC. I find the students very personable and eager. I'm sure you'll find this course challenges you, but you'll also find it rewarding and relevant to your life.


Course Description

BC's course outline describes the course as: "An introductory course stressing microeconomic theories. Topics studied include theory and application of supply and demand elasticity; theory of consumer demand, utility; production and cost theory including diminishing returns; the firm's profit-maximizing behaviors under market models ranging from pure competition to pure monopoly; the theory of income distribution; and other international economic issues."

This is an introduction to Microeconomics. Principles of Microeconomics is a challenging course that blends theoretical work with practical applications from the world around us. By obtaining a good grounding in economics, students can better able understand the political, social, and financial issues that confront us and our society every day. The focus in this course is on the actions of the individual economic actors -- households and businesses. We investigate how and why economic actors behave the way they do. By the end of this course, you should be able to see through the political rhetoric and journalistic simplifications to make your own decisions about economic actions that affect us all. On a personal level, understanding the economic issues of our day provides students with important tools to make financial decisions that affect their own lives.

A full description of course outcomes is on hard-copy reserve in the periodicals section of the library and may also be downloaded from BC's web site.

Methods of Instruction
This course is a blended class. Normally, for a three credit course taught over an eight week semester, we would meet twice a week for 3 hours each meeting. However, this class is designed to meet on campus once a week, on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:15, with the remaining activities being conducted online. Therefore, this course is taught in a blended format, where 50% of our class work is done in a traditional face-to-face format and 50% is done through online discussions, readings, practice quizzes, and homework. 

There will be four tests which you will take, two in-class and two online. The remainder of our in-class time will be spent covering the most challenging parts of the material in the course. The rest of the course material is your responsibility.

During the periods where you will be engaging in online learning, there will be four discussion topics that will require you to read the relevant chapter(s) of the text, watch some videos, and apply the principles to the topic at hand. A significant portion of your grade will be based on the quality of your participation in these online discussions. Further, there is assigned homework and extra practice quizzes that will help you evaluate your progress in the course.

Any student who earns a grade of C in this course will earn writing credit as well. Therefore, you will have to verify that your wiriting skills are at a college level during the course. You will accomplish that through the online discussions during the semester.

Learning Outcomes

BC's course outline for ECO2023 indicates the following general course outcomes:

"Course Overview -- Upon successful completion of this course, the students should be able to describe the behavior and interrelationships of individual decision-making units (firms and households) in the U.S. economy, and discuss theories and problems of international economics.

Unit 1: The students should be able to calculate elasticity and apply the concept in various supply and demand situations.

Unit 2: The students should be able to describe the analytical basis of consumer behavior in using goods and services.

Unit 3: The students should be able to determine the theoretical optimum behavior of the firm as it seeks to maximize total profit in various market models ranging across the competitive spectrum, from pure competition to pure monopoly.

Unit 4: The students should be able to describe the basic production theory, the marginal productivity theory of income distribution, and the relationship of the latter to theories of rent, wages, interest, and profit.

Unit 5: The students should be able to describe the theories and problems of international trade.... "

Practically speaking, the course can be logically divided into the following sections:
Introduction to Economics

• Consumer Behavior -- Utility Theory, Indifference Analysis, and Elasticities
• Behavior of Firms -- Costs of Production and the Supply Curve, and Profit Maximization
• Product Markets -- Pure Competition, Pure Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition & Oligopoly
• Government's role in Anti-trust
• the Labor Market --theory and current issues
• International Economics

By the end of the course you should understand the following basic economic principles:

• The definition of economics and the economics perspective
• The production possibilities model
• The laws of demand and supply
• Demand and supply elasticities
• Marginal utility theory and its relationship to consumer choice
• Costs of production and the supply curve
• Principles of Profit Maximization
• Optimal behavior of firms in: Perfect Competition, Pure Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition, and Oligopoly
• The role of the government to encourage competition (anti-trust)
• Payments for resources based on marginal productivity
• The labor market
• Basic elements of international economics

The general outcomes from this course are also available from the BC website (BC course outlines).

Course Requirements
There are no special requirements or admission criteria for this course.  Nor is there any academic pre-requisite.  We strongly advise that you take ECO 2013, Principles of Macroeconomics, first.  But you are welcome to take this course prior if you wish. 

It is advisable that students have regular access to a computer and be comfortable working online. Students should be able to open/save files, surf the internet, send and receive email, and post to discussion topics.

All email in this course must be sent within our online system, BCOnline (also known as D2L). 

The complete syllabus for the course will be available on our D2L website on the first day of class.

Course Technology Requirements

The only unique software you require for this course is a PowerPoint viewer, which can be uploaded at no cost. Refer to the Blackboard Plug-ins document to get find the link for the viewer.

Some discussions require you to watch and make a report on videos. Your PC must have speakers or headphones that allow you to hear the videos.

Course Materials

The required text for the course is Miller, Roger Leroy, ECONOMICS TODAY, 16th edition, Boston: Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2011

If you plan to take both ECO 2013 and ECO 2023, purchase the full version hard cover text (ISBN: TBD) or a loose-leaf "a la carte edition" (ISBN: TBD). As an alternative, you can also purchase an eBook that is good for both ECO 2013 and ECO 2023 (ISBN: TBD). You must take ECO 2013 and ECO 2023 in successive semesters if you purchase the eBook. Please note, the bookstore will buy back the hard cover text, but WILL NOT buy back the a la carte or eBook versions.

If you are just taking ECO 2023 at Broward College, you can purchase ECONOMICS TODAY -- THE MICRO VIEW, 16th edition in an "a la carte" edition.

You are NOT required to purchase an access key to MyEconLab. You can purchase it if you wish. MEL gives you access to homework, news and videos which will prove useful in the course.  My syllabus provides an alternative of doing the online homework OR doing a full research paper.   

Within the online portion of the course, you will have access to online tutorials, practice quizzes and additional information from the textbook publisher. In addition, you will have access to the professor's lecture notes. The lecture notes are in PowerPoint, and you can print them in handout format (3 or 4 slides to a page), so you can print them out prior to class and make your own notes right on the slides themselves.

I am confident you will have the tools you need to succeed in this course. Of course, resources are only valuable when they are utilized. One of the key premises of economics is that resources must be allocated (used) efficiently to maximize satisfaction (your grade).

How to Register for this Course

To enroll for the course, please refer to BC's Student Online System. Students must be paid before they will be able to log into the course. If you register late, it may take 36 hours for you to gain access to the course after paying.

Contact Information

If you wish to meet with me prior to enrolling in the course, feel free to send me an email (glindebl@broward.edu) to make an appointment.

How to Access the Course once you are Enrolled in this Course

Once you are enrolled and have paid, access to the course will begin with an on-campus orientation scheduled during the first class session of the semster. During the orientation, we will review login and access procedures, requirements for the course, and begin our study of economic principles.

In the meantime, refer to the BC Flexible Learning page for email lookup and login instructions. All students must obtain and use a BC email address for this course, so please obtain a user ID and PIN code before attempting to login to BCOnline. You can access this course during our first class on Wednesday, March 12.