Office hours: Thursday, 9:00-10:30 AM or by appointment. Buchanan Hall, F.A. Hayek program office, D137-7.

Course objectives

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to some fundamental mathematical tools for economic analysis. The class will mostly focus on the application of this tool to basic microeconomic analysis.

Required Readings

Textbooks:
Sydsaeter, K. et al. (2016). Essential mathematics for economic analysis (5th edition). London: Pearson.
Instructor's notes:
I have prepared detailed weekly notes (available at the links below) with step-by-step derivations of all the main proofs and models that we will cover in class. They will help you both follow the lecture and prepare for homework and examinations. As all human endeavors, the notes will likely contain mistakes. If you happen to find one, please let me know so that I can correct fix the Author files.

Outline of the course

Week 1

Introduction & course overview. Basic algebra. Miscellaneous. Readings: Sydsaeter, chs 1, 2.
Notes

Week 2

Equations. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 3.
Notes

Week 3

Univariate functions. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 4.
Notes

Week 4

Properties of functions. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 5.
Notes (include week 5)

Week 5

Differentiation. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 6.

Week 6

Applications. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 7. ***First homework due***
Notes (a)Notes (b)

Week 7

Optimization. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 8.
Notes

Week 8

Midterm.

Week 9

Multivariate functions. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 11.
Notes

Week 10

Comparative statics. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 12.
Notes

Week 11

Multivariate optimization. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 13.
Notes

Week 12

Constrained optimization. Readings: Sydsaeter, ch 14.
Notes

Week 13

Consumer behavior. Utility maximization. General equilibrium with no production. Derivation of the law of demand. ***Second homework due***
Notes

Week 14

Final.

Other important dates