GitHub page for ECON2125/8013

Australian National University, First Semester 2015

See below for practice question set 3.

The final exam details are now out.

• Date: June 11th
• Reading commences: 14:15
• Writing commences: 14:30
• Exam ends: 17:30

The midterm results are up on Wattle. Marks are out of 100. As discussed in lecture 17, there has been some upward scaling up to make the mean match historical averages.

The midterm exam paper with solutions can be downloaded here:

• Midterm with solutions

Note that the solutions are only indicative --- there are usually many ways to tackle these problems. In particular, any correct approach was treated as acceptable as long as it followed the guidelines set out at the top of the exam paper. The same principle will apply to the final.

As discussed in the lectures, the midterm exam details are as follows:

• Date: Thursday 23rd April
• Venue: COPG30
• Room opens: 18:05
• Exam commences: 18:15
• Writing commences: 18:30
• Exam ends: 20:30

• Course outline -- start here or see below for an online version
• Course notes -- covers part of the course material

• Lecture 1
• Lecture 2
• Lecture 3
• Lecture 4
• Lecture 5
• Lecture 6
• Lecture 7
• Lecture 8
• Lecture 9
• Lecture 10
• Lecture 11
• Lecture 12
• Lecture 13
• Lecture 14
• Lecture 15
• Lecture 16
• Lecture 17
• Lecture 18
• Lecture 19
• Lecture 20
• Lecture 21
• Lecture 22
• Lecture 23
• Lecture 24
• Lecture 25
• Lecture 26

• Tutorial for week 2
• Tutorial for week 3
• Tutorial for week 4
• Selected solutions for week 4 tutorial
• Tutorial for week 5
• Tutorial for week 6
• Tutorial for week 8
• Tutorial for week 9
• Tutorial for week 10
• Tutorial for week 11
• Tutorial for week 12
• Tutorial for week 13
• Tutorial for week 13 - additional

• Set 1

• Set 1 solutions

• Set 2

• Set 2 solutions

• Set 3 (Solutions in the same file)

Some links that might be of use are

• math.stackexchange -- answer for your maths questions
• Martin Osborne's online notes -- optimization for economists
• quant-econ -- mix of theory and programming in Python

The information below is identical to the information in the course outline and repeated only for convenience.

• Mathematics A (2125)

• Optimization for Economics and Financial Economics (2125)

• Mathematical Techniques in Economics I (8013)

Together with ECON2127/ECON8014, this course forms a two-semester sequence that introduces students to a range of foundational mathematical concepts and techniques routinely used in economic theory and quantitative modeling for economics, finance and business. The concepts and techniques will be derived from basic principles and illustrated using a variety of applications.

Optimization will be a recurring theme in the course, since much of economic theory involves optimization, as do a diverse range of econometric, statistical and financial problems. However, a number of other foundational topics in mathematical modeling will also be treated. These include linear algebra, dynamics and probability theory.

Upon a successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand many of the mathematical methods that are most widely used in economics, both from a formal, abstract perspective, and an intuitive perspective.

• Know how to read, understand, and construct simple mathematical proofs, and appreciate their role in the derivation of mathematical concepts and structures.

• Apply mathematical methods and techniques that are formulated in abstract settings to concrete economic applications.

The main topics of the course will be

1. Linear algebra

2. Elementary real analysis

3. Foundations of probability theory

4. Multivariate calculus and optimization

5. Introduction to dynamics

6. Orthogonal projection and its applications

7. Further applications

Topics may vary slightly at the instructor’s discretion depending on the rate of progress and level of the students.

John Stachurski

Office: Room 2006, HW Arndt Building 25a

Email: [email protected]

Contact hours: Monday 9:00–11:00 AM

Important: Lecture C as listed in the course timetable is not currently active. No lecture will take place outside the two listed above unless otherwise advised. (Lectures for graduate students are likely to be held in the C slot later in the semester. Students will be advised through both lectures and Wattle if and when this occurs.)

Tutorials are on Fridays in Room TR6 of HW Arndt Building 25a

Further details will be given in the first lecture. The two tutors for this course are

As well as the usual Wattle course page, which students should check regularly for up to date information related to the course, this GitHub page will store all PDFs and other reading material related to the course.

All of the lecture slides used through the course will be made available to students as PDF files. The lecture slides will be relatively comprehensive and self-contained, and serve as the primary source of reading material for students. Slides corresponding to each lecture will be made available to students as downloadable files on this page shortly before (best case) or immediately after the corresponding lecture.

On this page you will also find a PDF file called course_notes.pdf. These notes give additional background and practice exercises for some but not all topics treated in the course.

Finally, recording of lectures will usually be made available but unrecorded lectures are quite likely to occur and hence the recordings should not be relied upon.

Assessment will consist of one mid-term exam and one final exam. The weighting is

ECON2125 and ECON8013 students will be assessed in separate pools with possible variation in requirements and standards. Final grades may not be an exact sum of exam scores, due to post-processing by the university administration. This processing might alter the absolute value of individual scores but it will not affect the ranking.

One recommended source of material related to the course is

• Simon, C. and L. Blume (1994) Mathematics for Economists. Norton

In past years this text has been compulsory but this year it is only recommended. It will be useful as background reading and a source of practice questions for many parts of the course.

All topics are standard and plenty of useful free material can be found on the Internet on a case by case basis. For example, http://math.stackexchange.com can be very helpful. Other texts that might be useful to understand the course material—but are in no way required—include:

• Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Walter Rudin

• Linear Algebra by David Lay

• Calculus: Concepts and Methods by Ken Binmore and Joan Davies

• Optimization in Economic Theory by Avinash K. Dixit

• A First Course in Optimization Theory by Rangarajan Sundaram

See the ANU Programs and Courses guide

Please refer any administrative questions to the course administrator Karissa Carkeet, room 1013, HW Arndt Bulding (25a).

All students are welcome to discuss course material with the tutors or myself during tutorials and respective office hours. However, please do not use email for instructional purposes.