Lecture Notes:
Lecture 0: Introduction (1/6/25):
● Econ 1 email? –
● Wikipedia Definitions:
○ “Economics is a social science that studies the production,
distribution and consumption of goods and services”
■ Economics studies the behavior and interactions of economics
agents (households, firms, etc) and how economies work as a
whole
○ Microeconomics analyzes individual agents and their interactions,
and the outcomes of these interactions
○ Macroeconomics analyzes the economy as a system where production,
consumption, saving, and investment interact, and the factors affecting it:
employment of the resources (including labor, capital, and land), inflation,
economic growth, etc
○ But ultimately: Economics is about making decisions under constraints,
and often, in presence of uncertainty
● Why Study Economics?
○ Economics is interesting and relevant – used to study most urgent
problems in the world
■ 10 Most Critical Problems in the World (Business Insider)
● 1. Climate change
● 2. War and large scale conflict
● 3. Income inequality and discrimination
● 4. Poverty
● 5. Religious conflict
● 6. Government accountability and transparency
● 7. Food and water security
● 8. Lack of education
● 9. Safety, security, and wellbeing
● 10. Lack of economic opportunity
○ Economics approach is useful for every day decision making and can be
applied to a variety of settings
■ Economists at UCSB Study:
, ●
○ Economists are paid well
■ Jobs Held by Economics and Accounting Students:
, ●
● This Course (modules/topics)
○ Inequality
■ Poverty, discrimination, equity/redistribution
○ Making good decisions
■ Thinking like an economist
○ Demand, supply, equilibrium
■ How people make decisions and markets work
○ Elasticity
■ How price sensitive are we and why it matters
○ Government policies
■ Taxes, regulations, politics
○ Efficiency and welfare
■ Value in markets
○ Gains from trade
, ■ Winners and losers in international trade
○ Externalities
■ Pollution, vaccines, education
○ Labor markets
■ Market forces and what determines wages
● Class Materials
○ All course materials are on Canvas
■ Lecture notes, exam schedules, project questions, etc
○ Lectures every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
■ All lecture sare in person, attendance NOT REQUIRED
○ Sections once a week
■ Attendance NOT REQUIRED
○ You are responsible for:
■ The material covered in the lectures
■ The material covered in section
○ 4 Exams will in IN PERSON: 3 exams on Fridays (see schedule) during
class time + 1 final exam
● How Grades are Determined
○ 12 topics on Canvas (potential 10 points)
■ 1 per chapter
■ Each chapter worth 1 point
■ Best 10 assignments count (drop the lowest 2)
■ Practice questions are similar to questions asked on the exams
● You can retake the quizzes as many time sas you want,
Canvas will keep your highest score
○ Excel Projects (potential 30 points)
■ 6 projects, each up to 6 points
■ Best 5 projects count
■ Excel Projects apply material covered in class to practical examples
● There is a brief tutorial on Canvas on how to use Excel
● Tutors will have Excel office hours
● Projects are not very complicated but start early if you have
not used Excel in the past
■ Due at 11:59pm
○ 4 Exams (potential 60 points)
■ 4 exams, each up to 20 points
■ Best 3 exams count
■ Ex. If get 100% on first 3 exams, don’t have to show up to final
exam since that one doesn’t have to count for overall grade
■ Exams 1-3: in class on Fridays
Lecture 0: Introduction (1/6/25):
● Econ 1 email? –
● Wikipedia Definitions:
○ “Economics is a social science that studies the production,
distribution and consumption of goods and services”
■ Economics studies the behavior and interactions of economics
agents (households, firms, etc) and how economies work as a
whole
○ Microeconomics analyzes individual agents and their interactions,
and the outcomes of these interactions
○ Macroeconomics analyzes the economy as a system where production,
consumption, saving, and investment interact, and the factors affecting it:
employment of the resources (including labor, capital, and land), inflation,
economic growth, etc
○ But ultimately: Economics is about making decisions under constraints,
and often, in presence of uncertainty
● Why Study Economics?
○ Economics is interesting and relevant – used to study most urgent
problems in the world
■ 10 Most Critical Problems in the World (Business Insider)
● 1. Climate change
● 2. War and large scale conflict
● 3. Income inequality and discrimination
● 4. Poverty
● 5. Religious conflict
● 6. Government accountability and transparency
● 7. Food and water security
● 8. Lack of education
● 9. Safety, security, and wellbeing
● 10. Lack of economic opportunity
○ Economics approach is useful for every day decision making and can be
applied to a variety of settings
■ Economists at UCSB Study:
, ●
○ Economists are paid well
■ Jobs Held by Economics and Accounting Students:
, ●
● This Course (modules/topics)
○ Inequality
■ Poverty, discrimination, equity/redistribution
○ Making good decisions
■ Thinking like an economist
○ Demand, supply, equilibrium
■ How people make decisions and markets work
○ Elasticity
■ How price sensitive are we and why it matters
○ Government policies
■ Taxes, regulations, politics
○ Efficiency and welfare
■ Value in markets
○ Gains from trade
, ■ Winners and losers in international trade
○ Externalities
■ Pollution, vaccines, education
○ Labor markets
■ Market forces and what determines wages
● Class Materials
○ All course materials are on Canvas
■ Lecture notes, exam schedules, project questions, etc
○ Lectures every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
■ All lecture sare in person, attendance NOT REQUIRED
○ Sections once a week
■ Attendance NOT REQUIRED
○ You are responsible for:
■ The material covered in the lectures
■ The material covered in section
○ 4 Exams will in IN PERSON: 3 exams on Fridays (see schedule) during
class time + 1 final exam
● How Grades are Determined
○ 12 topics on Canvas (potential 10 points)
■ 1 per chapter
■ Each chapter worth 1 point
■ Best 10 assignments count (drop the lowest 2)
■ Practice questions are similar to questions asked on the exams
● You can retake the quizzes as many time sas you want,
Canvas will keep your highest score
○ Excel Projects (potential 30 points)
■ 6 projects, each up to 6 points
■ Best 5 projects count
■ Excel Projects apply material covered in class to practical examples
● There is a brief tutorial on Canvas on how to use Excel
● Tutors will have Excel office hours
● Projects are not very complicated but start early if you have
not used Excel in the past
■ Due at 11:59pm
○ 4 Exams (potential 60 points)
■ 4 exams, each up to 20 points
■ Best 3 exams count
■ Ex. If get 100% on first 3 exams, don’t have to show up to final
exam since that one doesn’t have to count for overall grade
■ Exams 1-3: in class on Fridays
