[CORE] [EC3101] Microeconomic Analysis II (by AP Mcgee)

The module is graded by:
Midterm- 30%
Final- 45%
Homeworks -15%
Class Participation -10%

EC3101 is basically a lot of built up on 2101. The textbook by Varian is followed closely, and the homeworks are all from the accompanying workout (its answer can be easily found online).The contents are pretty manageable, but the exams can be quite different from homeworks. A lot of maths are expected - especially taking first order conditions and manipulation LONG equations. For the final the lecturer gave equations with alphabets rather than numbers, so the equations can get a bit long. Must be comfortable in dealing with such long equations.
The lecturer tend to give long homeworks which tests the very basics, so it could get really boring. Class participation is a must. For Tong's class, you must be prepared to present every class.
My tutor, Tong, was a really good tutor. He explains the problem well and usually provide additional, harder problems at the end of the tutorial, which is very helpful in preparing for exams.

In my opinion, AP Mcgee's lectures are not very useful to learn new concepts, but are very good if you have done your readings and go for lecture as a review. He provided webcasts upon request so it was really useful. He is very approachable for consultation, just walk in during his office hours.

Overall, to ace this module, prepare become VERY GOOD friends with your VARIAN, the little but expensive - and slightly overrated- orange book.

On a lighter tone, think twice before printing the lecture slides. The lecturer has a very unique way of presenting animations, so you might want to consider trim and edit the powerpoint slides before printing.

Hi,
Tong was my tutor as well. He utilizes his time well and gives us additional practice questions during tutorials to check on our understanding. Overall, he is a good tutor and rather approachable.

Mcgee's lecture slides are basically for reading purpose (printing is not entirely necessary unless you dun mind killing more trees). Time management is needed to complete his exam papers.

Hi,

if you are preparing to take this module under McGee, get ready to do alot of independent learning as you probably will not understand what he is going through.

Personally, I find the content learnt in this module very interesting and very applicable in real life such as game theories, oligopoly and aysmmetric information. You learn the reason why criminals will choose to confess for their crimes rather than denying, the circumstances that they will cooperate with their accomplices to deny as well. You also learn why the value of 2nd hand goods depreciate so much and there is a high probability that the quality of 2nd hand goods is low ie. they turn out to be faulty and require servicing.

That means to say you will learn why economic activities and things turn out to be the way they are in real life and perhaps you will become a smarter consumer after this course.