Economics 33                                                                         Prof. Stephen Schmidt

American Industry and Public Policy                           Spring 2004

TTh 11:15-12:20, F 12:20-1:25                                          Social Sciences 103

 

Office: Social Sciences 211C            Office Hours: M and F 10-11:30, T 1:15-2:15, and  by  appointment

Office Phone: 388-6078                     Email: schmidsj@union.edu

Course Web page: http://www.union.edu/PUBLIC/ECODEPT/schmidsj/eco33/

 

Course Objectives:

   This course discusses antitrust policy in the United States and the way it has evolved in response to economic ideas. The first unit of the course will present the history of US antitrust policy and a basic discussion of the theory of monopoly and oligopoly behavior.  The rest of the units of the course will present important antitrust decisions from the last 25 years; we will discuss the logic behind the decisions, the influence of economic ideas on the decisions, and possible criticisms of the decisions based on newer economic thinking. The course will emphasize class discussion and short written assignments emphasizing the application of economics to American industrial policy.

 

Prerequisites:

   Students taking this course should have taken Economics 12, Introduction to Economics. Enrollment is normally not open to economics majors who are juniors or seniors, though exceptions can be made in unusual circumstances.

 

Course Requirements

     There will be two midterm exams and a final exam. There will be regular reading assignments and short writing assignments. Some of these assignments may involve the use of case documents taken from the DOJ or FTC web sites. Class discussion and the short writing assignments will count 15% of your grade. The two midterms will count 25% and the final exam 35%.

 

Textbook

     The Antitrust Revolution, John Kwoka and Lawrence White, editors, 3rd edition
The class will also use several readings on electronic reserve at the library, and there may be additional readings from the Web or from class handouts.

 

Syllabus

Note: This reading list is tentative and changes may be made.

I.                    Introduction to Antitrust
Readings: Martin, Shugart, Heilbroner (reserve), K&W Introduction

II.                 Horizontal Structure
Readings: Kwoka and White, Context and Cases 1-6

III.               Horizontal Practices
Readings: Kwoka and White, Context and Cases 7-13

IV.              Vertical Issues
Readings: Kwoka and White, Context and Cases 14-19