How can I optimize my study given a time constraint of 'x' in a quasilinear scenario? (or: Help!)

May 11, 2008 11:50 PM

Looking for resources to help me understand material from an intermediate microeconomics course. Notes, practice problems, simplified explanations, anything would help.

I'm currently in enrolled in the first course of a series on 'intermediate microeconomics'. The professor's teaching style isn't working too well for me as he never really delves into the math outside of mere basic equations which aren't what I'm being tested on.

Are there any particularly good sites online that would help make this course easier? With each week, it seems as though I'm just falling further behind. The topics that were covered recently are...

Preference and utility functions, finding optimal consumption bundles (optimal choice), perfect compliments/substitutes, demand curves, the Slutsky equation/substitution effect, endowment, etc.

Or if anyone has advice on learning the material. I have a little over a week and a half before the next midterm to get my act together; anything helps.

posted by cgomez to Education (7 answers total)

Do you have a textbook? Whenever I had terrible teachers, I focused on learning the book instead. I read my macroeconomics book cover to cover a few times to get through that class. The textbook your professor picked is far more likely to have everything he's interested in testing you on than whatever book others might recommend. (Mine was good, but I sadly cannot remember what it was called or who wrote it.)
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 1:04 AM on May 12, 2008

The Open Univercity has over 5000 hours of free tution online.
Bound to be something there.
posted by munchbunch at 1:32 AM on May 12, 2008

Varian (Intermediate Microeconomics, 6e) is very good, with the one caveat that he tries to give non-calculus proofs all the time.
posted by matthewr at 1:48 AM on May 12, 2008

That is actually the exact textbook I have assigned to me. The issue for me is that it does not focus much on actually completing the math/problems necessary to arrive at the answer. Conceptually, I get the material; I also have the companion workbook but that also doesn't give solutions or help.
posted by cgomez at 2:15 AM on May 12, 2008

My intermediate micro course used the same textbook, and oddly enough, my prof similarly glossed over the formal proofs. You might want to take a look at Schaum's Outline of Microeconomics (or a similarly titled book; they keep messing with the name at every edition change).
posted by thisjax at 3:24 AM on May 12, 2008

as is often the case with these, you might want to check opencourseware:
14.01 Principles of Microeconomics
14.03 Intermediate Applied Microeconomics.

this includes all the types of materials you were looking for above, including the textbooks. (the 14.01 textbook is a nice one - i've used the same one)
posted by n y my at 4:01 AM on May 12, 2008

Thanks folks. I purchased the suggested "Schaum's Outlines" study guide and it's working rather well. The linked lecture series also have helped, thanks again!
posted by cgomez at 11:07 PM on May 19, 2008