ECONOMICS 103 OUTLINE AND RECOMMENDATIONS
If you want to do well in this course, read this page very carefully and follow the advice given!

OBJECTIVE


This course is designed with two main goals in mind. 

1. The primary purpose of the course is to provide a sufficient understanding of the fundamental principles of economics.  This includes propositions about individual behavior, costs, output of firms, equilibrium, market structure, the organization of economic activity, and basic economic reasoning.  Given this knowledge, a student should be able to handle further courses in economics or at least understand economic issues found in a newspaper, blog, or reel. This first goal is standard for every principles course. 

2. However, I have a second "higher" goal. I  want to convince you that economics is an interesting field of study, and a systematic way of thinking that is fun and powerful. In short, I don't want to just teach you "about" economics ... I want to convert you into an economist!  By the end of this course, I'd like all of your friends to say things like "can't we just watch a movie without  you analyzing it with economic theory!"   I intend to do this by encouraging you to use economic ideas to think about a wide variety of "non-economic" applications.  Throughout this course we will  apply economics to every aspect of your life: from traffic patterns to dating;  from investments to school shootings; from gas prices to Covid policy.  I hope to surprise you, perhaps offend you*, and ultimately whet your intellectual appetite towards economics. So keep an open mind!! **

* About once every two years a student becomes so offended by an application they want to "rip my eyes out." If you do end up feeling this way, please come by my office and let's chat (or send me an anonymous gmail) ... that's what a university is for.  The source of this anger is always the confrontation of the economic "world view" against some other strongly held "world view".  This cannot (and should not!) be avoided, and the appropriate question we should always ask is "which world view is the correct one?" (or better, "which is the false one?").

I am a firm believer in the University of Chicago Statement on Freedom of Expression.  I also agree with SFU President Joy Johnson when she shared the following:
 
"Universities are comprised of thousands of students, faculty and staff who all hold unique opinions and views, informed by their scholarly work and lived experiences. I believe that universities need to be a place where people can freely engage in academic inquiry, share ideas, learn from each other, disagree constructively and peacefully protest. ...
Academic freedom, as enshrined in our collective agreements and underscored in What’s Next: The SFU Strategy, creates the conditions for scholars to freely examine, question, teach and learn within their area of study, .... To truly live by our core values of academic freedom and critical thinking, we need to hold space for difficult and controversial conversations to take place responsibly and respectfully, as well as defending and protecting the human right to express views within the bounds of the law."

If you are not a believer in academic freedom and can't handle being exposed to alternative theories of human behavior, then this is not the course for you. Indeed, you're probably not ready for a university education.

** Maybe I don't have to convert you, maybe you're already a natural born economist in need of some direction.

TEXTS

The core text is 

Making Sense: A Alternative Approach to Economic Principles, (McInnes Creek Press, 2025). 

You should use this edition of the book because the questions are new and the material is updated. However, if you have an older version, that should be adequate. 

The book sells for $85 (cdn) and is printed on demand.  That is, IT IS NOT PURCHASED AT THE BOOKSTORE!

To order the textbook for the course go here  .

The answers to all of the odd-numbered questions in the textbook are here.

While you wait for the book to arrive, you can read the first four chapters here.

I've also assigned the short book Candide, by Voltaire. Read it now for fun, and then you can read it again later in the course for the last assignment.


You can buy Candide online if you want a hard copy, or just use this free pdf version.

    




Lecture Recordings


If you miss a lecture for some reason you can go here: Lecture Recording   to find an audio recording of the class.   If you do miss a class, please do not ask for my slides.


EXAMS

There will be ONE regular midterm exam initially worth 35% of your final mark. The final is worth 45%. The regular midterm is "forgivable", so if you miss it or do poorly, the weight of that exam will transfer to the final; that is, your final will count for 80%. This is a bit of insurance for you, but remember, the final exam is cumulative and usually more difficult. 

END OF CHAPTER PROBLEMS
 

Due to the (mis)use of AI, there are no weekly problem sets that count towards your grade.   However, DOING PROBLEMS is the BEST way to learn economics. Every week you should do at least 10 problems from the relevant chapter.

Here is my recommendation for how to succeed in this course through the use of end of chapter problems

1. Every week do as many odd-numbered problems on your own as you can handle.  Sit quietly, think about the problem, slowly write out an answer. Then check your answer with the answer key.  If you're not coming close, keep going until you think you have a decent understanding.

2. I STRONGLY encourage you to form study groups of 2-4 people.  Every week you should assign the group 3-4 random EVEN numbered questions from the relevant chapter.  Work on the questions alone, and then come together to discuss your ideas.  


To help you develop your own "economic way of thinking" and to give you some suggestions for solving problems in the book, this link gives you access to 22 short videos.  Ten videos discuss particular "intuitive" questions, while the rest involve solving quantitative questions.   Please, use these videos as a guide to help you solve other problems that you've never seen before. Do no use them as
a substitute for working on new problems on your own or avoiding working with others. 

On the midterm and the final exam I will mostly ask you to solve problems you've never seen before. Therefore, don't memorize answers! Memorize the theory that's being used to arrive at the answer so that you can apply that theory to a new problem.

 


TUTORIALS: QUIZZES, ATTENDANCE, PARTICIPATION

Your TA will assign 20% of your marks for this course.  (To avoid differences in marking, the marks across tutorials will be normalized).

10% of your mark will come from (almost) weekly quizzes.  The quizzes will start in week 3 and run for the rest of the course except the week of the midterm.
Each quiz will be short (1 or 2 questions), and will be short answer questions similar to the problems at the back of each chapter.

5% of your mark will come from attendance.  Attendance in tutorial is MANDATORY.  Each tutorial that is missed reduces the attendance mark by 1%. 

5% of your mark is based on your positive participation in class.  


Your TA will elaborate on these details in the first tutorial. 

GRADES

Students always ask: "will the grades be based on a curve?" I suppose they mean, "will there be a fixed number of A's, B's, etc." The answer to this second question is "yes and no." This is a large class. I know from experience that there will be a wide range of marks by the time we reach  the end of the course. Some students, remarkably, will end up in the high 90's. Others, just as remarkably, will get below 10. The rest of the class will fall in between.

Here is how I'm going to assign the grades. The average grade in the class will be between a C- to a C+ depending on the nature of the class.
I expect a first year university class to behave as follows:

1. Show up on time.

2. Be ready to start on time. Pen ready and not talking to your neighbor. When you see me turn the projector on, I expect there to be silence in the room and all eyes on me.

3. Don't fidget until the class is over. If I catch someone watching YouTube or working on Facebook, I will make a scene and l never stop asking that person questions! In fact, I strongly recommend that you NOT bring your laptop to class. If you bring a laptop to class, you'd better be prepared to answer a lot of questions throughout the lecture.

4. Pay attention until I say the class is over. Don't start closing books and putting a jacket on at 15 minutes past the hour.

5. Generally be attentive during lectures. I love it when students ask questions, so please feel free to do so.

If, this class behaves along these lines, then I'll make the mean a C+ (over the past 10 years, this is the most common outcome). If I have to ask you to be quiet, etc. on more than a couple of occasions, then the average grade will be  a C. If, however, you constantly talk, want to leave early, show up late, and generally act like Middle Schoolers, then the average will be a C- (this has only ever happened once, in 2006).  

Next, I determine which marks get an `A' grade. I then take the average A grade (suppose it is 80%), and divide by 2. This is where the F's start. So if you're going to pass this course, you need to understand at least half as much as the A students. (This is the Peter Kennedy Rule). Then I   just fill in the rest based on the Economics department grading guidelines.  If this is what you mean by "curving the grades" then the grades are curved. Clearly, your performance relative to others in the class matters, but there is an absolute standard as well.

For the high achievers in the class, you might want to know about The Fellowship of the Rooster and The Order of  Wizards.

COMMUNICATION

You are welcome to come by my office during office hours, but often students find sending emails better. This is fine with me.  You may find that I send out blanket responses to the class, however, if I think the question might be valuable to everyone. I will also send emails out to the class announcing various things during the semester. So ... you should check your sfu email account regularly. When you email me, please use your sfu account, otherwise my filter might not let it through.

There may be times when you want to contact me anonymously.  Perhaps you're critical of some aspect of the course and think I'll be offended (I won't).  Whatever the reason, please feel free to create an anonymous gmail account and send your concern to me that way.  Don't be offended if I reply though!  At the end of the day I want you to understand the model.

CHEATING

I'm an easy going guy, but if you cheat in my class ... I will hunt you down and not rest until you are expelled or punished appropriately. 

It always amazes me that a first year student thinks they can cheat in my class and get away with it. You are, most likely, an amateur cheater. I have taught this class since 1982, and I have either sat on or been the Chair of SFU's Senate Committee on Disciplinary Appeals for over 18 years (our "supreme court for hearing cheating cases).  After years of experience, I am a professional at catching cheaters, I think I've seen every cheating trick, and  I have several tricks of my own to catch people cheating.  So, my message to you ... you amateur cheater ... is don't even think about it.

Still, I know that every semester 1-2 people will ignore my warning. When I do catch you though, don't say I didn't warn you.

I should also point out that, according to  SFU, violation of copyright and unauthorized sharing of copyright material is considered academic misconduct.  It is unauthorized for  you to share the textbook file or link, or to upload the book to any public site. If you do so and are caught, it will be treated as equivalent to cheating on an exam.

If you are unfamiliar with SFU's policy on academic conduct, please read this.


HOW CAN I DO WELL IN THIS COURSE?

Someone recently wrote the following on Rate My Professor:

"For a 100 level Econ course his tests were way to hard, as understanding concepts and applications mean nothing if you can't look at a random situation and give the exact answer he wants! "

I often hear students say "I know the material, I just can't apply it."  What they do not understand is that the ability to apply an idea is the measure of how well you understand it.  Indeed, it is university policy that grades are to be determined based on a student's demonstrable knowledge! 

And this is how it should be. If you learned and memorized in class that 1 apple + 1 apple = 2 apples, but then went to the grocery store where you were completely stumped  by 1 orange + 1 orange = ???, then despite your memorizing you didn't understand the theory of addition.

The same holds for this course. You can memorize an elasticity formula, but if you can't use it when I change the example from apples to oranges, you don't understand the concept.

SO, what strategies are you going to use to learn how to actually USE the ideas in this class?


1. Do problems and then ...  more problems.  Your book is full of questions. Do them all ... on your own. Check your answers with others. Talk to your study partners. Practice, practice, practice. And start in the first week, don't wait until exam time.

2. Take smart notes.   I challenge you to bring just a single sheet of additional paper to class. With this, just take the bare minimum of notes. No color pens! At the end of class, your sheet should be just chicken scratch. Just get the critical points. THEN, THAT DAY, write out a nice set of notes from the class, using your memory, outline, and small notes. Elaborate, explain, and use more than one color on the graphs. By the end of the semester you'll have wonderful notes that will help in future classes. You'll also have no need to study for the exam. It takes a little bit of work each day, but in the end the payoffs are enormous. The way most students take notes is a waste of time.  I have found that students who use laptops in class have the worst notes. This course is very graph intensive, and you simply cannot graph fast enough with a computer. Please leave your laptop at home.  It is fine to use an ipad or tablet, but make sure you still expand them into your own words after class. 

3. Understand ... don't memorize.  Most of you are just out of high school. You've done a lot of coloring, emoting,  and memorizing. Now it's time to start understanding. Understanding means you have to think about a concept. It is a skill that takes practice. You'll know you understand an idea when you can apply it to a context that is different from the one used to learn it. In class I'll tell a lot of stories and use examples from popular culture and the media. If, after you've heard a story you just think "that was interesting, I wonder why he told it?" then you are not catching on!  Ponder the story and try to figure out why I said it, and how it relates to the lecture material.
Again, put everything in your own words. Try to work through whatever example is given in the opposite direction. Ie. if I raise a price, you lower it and work out the consequences.

4. Come to class.  The ideas in 103 are sequential. If you miss lecture 4, you'll have a hard time understanding the rest of the course. The course follows the book, but the lecture is full of material not in the book  (and vise versa).  Over the past decade attendance in 103 has gone from 90% to about 50%.  At the same time, the number of Ds and Fs have increased from 20% to 40%.  You figure that out. 

5. Read the book ahead of time.  You'll want me to do the work for you, but if you read the relevant chapter before the lecture, and then read it again after, you'll learn a lot more in this course.

I won't lie to you. Economics 103 and 105 are probably the hardest 100 level courses on campus. They take ideas from mathematics, history, and other social sciences, and mix them all up in a model you've never seen before. They're rigorous in that they require you to think INSIDE a box. Over the past several  years, SFU has lowered its entrance requirements considerably. We now allow students from high school and college who would never have had a chance at getting in before.  Furthermore, even among the better high school  graduates, numeracy, verbal, and analytical skills have been falling over time.  However, the standards of excellence in Economics have not changed. The result has been an explosion in the number of students who fail both 103 and 105. In some semesters, the fail rate has been as high as 40%!  Many of us who teach these courses are convinced that a contributing factor is work ethic. If you were a B- student in high school, you must realize that a significant increase in effort is required for you to pass.  The good news is you can do it! Also, Economics 103 and 105 are the two most rewarding 100 level courses on campus. I hope this is a great course for you. Good luck in the course!

                           

MIDTERM EXAM  Monday March 9, 2026 (tentative)

 
Final Advice from an old professor

As noted above, I gave my first economic principles lecture (it was called Econ 200 then) in 1982 in lecture hall B9200. Over the years I've taught probably 25,000 students across four universities, and many of those students became friends and went on to have great economic careers in academics, consulting, and professional outlets. Over the past 40+ years I've witnessed many changes in the economic world, and the subsequent consequences for economic employment. For example, increases in computing power and the emergence of "big data" in the 1990s made coding and statistical skills mandatory for professional economists. Those students who took advantage of the complementarities between computing, statistics, and economic theory, did extraordinarily well in the labor market. Even "average" students were able to find meaningful "middle level" employment in the government, banking, insurance, and finance sectors.

We currently find ourselves at the beginning of a new AI revolution. AI is amazing, not just because of what it can do, but also because of the incredible speed of its development. AI, at its most basic level, summarizes and organizes information. Unfortunately, many of the basic white-collar occupations that the average SFU graduate entered into 10 years ago (basic accounting, basic law, middle management, basic economic research) did just that: organized and moved information around the firm. THOSE JOBS ARE NOW GONE.  When AI SUBSTITUTES for human labor, it runs the human over with a steamroller!    There is NO POINT in being an average student any more ... there's nothing for you to do with that degree that pays well enough. If you graduate from SFU with an average education, you're just going to be driving a truck or handing someone their coffee for a living.

The big winners in the near future (and have no doubt, the winnings will be enormous), are those who will develop skills that COMPLEMENT the almost limitless potential of AI. What will such complementary skills be? They must be general, widely applicable, and easy enough for the human mind to deal with but impossible for AI to mimic.
If, in its programmed capacity to maximize the likelihood of the next token, AI can only move to the middle in organizing information, the ability to think originally and analytically becomes extraordinarily productive.  And with such productivity will follow earnings never before appreciated.

Ironically, I believe that mastering three ancient skills are going to be the secret to success in the new AI world: i) slow, careful, full comprehensive reading; ii) elegant, witty, and coherent writing; and iii) logical analytical thinking.   Only those who master these skills will be able to ride the AI machine, point it in the right direction, identify when it is correct or wrong, and generate massive earnings.  There are many analytical tools, and economics is one of the best ones.  Never before has the future of mastering economics had such potential.

Unfortunately, there is no longer any point in being an average student.  If the best you can muster is a 2.3 GPA, then you should quit now and go find a trade where you're not going to compete with AI.  If you have the talent and intelligence to excel at university but lack the drive and ambition to do so, then you should quit as well. You're just wasting everyone's time, including your own.

AI means that in many ways we will return to the 19th century. You'll be tested more in person and on paper, and universities are going to return to places where only a small elite are trained to rule the world.  That's just the reality you live in.

Now you have to decide, are you in?