Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Few Thoughts


1. One of your colleagues generated a twitter account which can notify you whenever I post new content to the blog. This prevents you from having too check so often if I have not posted anything new. The account is: http://twitter.com/GMUECON_309_2

2. After sharing my "rant" last night with some fellow econ-geeks they think that I was not out of line at all, if anything, right on the money, if only a bit rhetorical in my presentation, which makes things a little more entertaining. I have posted the rant on my other, non-class-related, permanent blog: http://www.failuretorefrain.com/naturalaw

3. I have received most of your papers already. For those of you who turned in late, or haven't turned in yet at all, I am taking 1% off the grade for every hour it is late. That gives you practically 4 and a half days to turn it in for some credit still. I find that imposing a real increasing marginal cost creates the right incentives for students to get things done quickly.

4. Presentation:
Here is the last student-produced video for this week's material.


5. My videos. I managed to get a couple of more videos uploaded last night. (Groan) You will be responsible for all material covered in these. There are a few more things I would like to say about antitrust, but they will have to wait until after the exam. You should all have had sufficient exposure to Hayek's Use of Knowledge in Society by now, but I may still post my thoughts on the last portion of that essay at some point today.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Lecture Videos

You can watch and re-watch these as often as you find necessary.

Stay tuned as I update with more videos.

Introduction



The Firm Part I



The Firm, Part II


Hayek's Use of Knowledge In Society, Part I


Hayek's Use of Knowledge In Society, Part II
(not yet uploaded)

Antitrust, Part I


Antitrust Part II


Antitrust Part III
(not yet uploaded)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Reading # 16, New Link

The link for reading #16, Ungenerous Endowments, on the syllabus does not work.
Here is one that does, thanks to one of your resourceful colleagues.

Notes on the Exam:

1. There will be three sections. Multiple choice, Short answer, and Essay.

2. It should take you 1.5 hours to complete.

3. It will cover the readings and lecture notes.

Hints:
- End of chapter questions in Miller Benjamin North are good practice.
- Daily quizzes should provide an idea of what kind of question I like to ask.
- I think BOTH the Bootleggers and Baptists, AND the Use of Knowledge in Society are very important for EVERYONE to know.

That's all for now.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Miller, Benjamin, North Chapter 10

Please take the time to watch the video below.
We will also have an in-class presentation tomorrow.

Midterm: October 18

Yup, you read that right.
We will have our midterm on October the 18th. It should take the first 1.5 hours of class. We will have lecture after the midterm.
If you have questions about the exam, email them to me, and I will post relevant answers here on the blog for all to see.

Also, I'm thinking of doing a video-lecture for class next week, Oct 12.
The plan will be for each of you to watch the video lecture (about 2 hours long) in advance. I will divide the class into 3 groups. Then, on the night of the 12th, each group will be responsible to come in for 40 minutes for a discussion and question and answer time.
I want this time to be used to discuss the new material, but I will also save a few minutes to answer questions about the exam.