14.121  Microeconomic Theory I

Hi all,

Two more announcements:
-I've uploaded a couple of waiver exams for you to practice with
-the topics from this week (including tomorrow's lecture) *will be included in the exam*. I repeat, they *will* be included. (This doesn't mean we will necessarily test them, but you should study them like you study the rest of the syllabus)

Best
Germán

Hi all,

First, a reminder that this Thursday we're having a review session from 10:30-12 (my usual office hours slot). This will be held in E18-202, hopefully we'll fit. I'm open to covering anything you'd like to see again, so send me emails with suggestions

Second, you asked me last Friday for a list of topics to "focus on" for the exam. Rob's stance on this is that all (most) of the material is worth studying and so rereading everything should be utility-maximizing in the long term (although possibly not grade-maximizing). What I can tell you is:
-there will be no questions on the "soft" material (e.g. the introduction lecture, the national accounts stuff...)
-there will be no questions on monotone comparative statics
-there will be questions on the main topics of the class, namely: pareto optimality and equilibria, the welfare theorems, equilibria with uncertainty/risk sharing, aggregation...
-other topics that don't seem so hot (e.g. equilibrium existence, bargaining foundations, anything I'm missing...) is likely to show up too, although not as heavily

As for how to study, I would tell you:
-for important results (e.g. the welfare theorems, equilibrium existence, ...) you should definitely know the statement, i.e. understand what the theorem says (and what it doesn't!) and under what conditions (we probably won't ask the details on conditions of the more esoteric theorems, but...). Knowing the proofs of long theorems by heart is not necessary, but knowing the ideas behind the proof is somewhat important.
-for the smaller lemmas and propositions that litter the notes, you don't need to remember all of them, but you should understand what they mean (and be able to prove them, if the proof is easy) if we show them to you
-ultimately a lot of problems boil down to algebra, so there is some substitutability between knowing theory and slogging through algebra (ie you may get away with doing less algebra if you can invoke some theorem to get what you want, or you can solve problems without knowing a lot of theory if you're willing to do more calculations). Since there is a time constraint, solving problems efficiently is helpful

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Good luck!

Hi all,

It turns out that starting the exam before 1pm is not feasible. Since there will be no macro recitation on Friday 10/25, we were thinking that we could start at 1 and extend past 2:30 if necessary. If anyone has conflicts with the exam extending past 2:30 please let me know (I will also ask tomorrow during recitation)

Also, I have posted some practice problems as a warmup for the exam (these are not due)

Best
Germán

Hi all,

I've fixed a few typos in Problem Set 6. Specifically:
-in question 2b, inequalities are not strict. Also, there was a typo in the hint
-in question 3b it said "value of purchases of commodity 1" twice, it's meant to refer to commodities 1 and 2
-in question 5c, rho is supposed to be between 0 and 1

Best
Germán

Problem Set 6 has been posted. It is due next Friday, 10/18. This will be the last problem set for the class. (I may post some practice problems on the topics we will see the last week before the exam, but you won't have to turn them in).

Have fun!
Germán