Math (PPE) 180 Fall 2007:
Analytical Methods in Economics, Law, and Medicine

Instructor:
Liz Storm, estorm at math dot upenn dot edu

Office hours for the end of the semester in DRL 4N63:
Wed 12/5 2-3PM, 5-6PM
Fri 12/7 12:30-1:30PM
Tue 12/11 12-1:30PM

Textbook:
Analytical Methods For Lawyers by Jackson et al.

Grades will be based on homework assignments, one midterm, and a final, each worth 1/3 of the course grade.
These may vary from problems to written assignments.
The midterm will be held Thursday, October 11 in class.
The official final exam time is Thursday, December 13, 12-2PM. LOCATION: DRL A7

Syllabus:
We will tentatively cover selected sections of Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the text, depending on time. If there are any topics that look more interesting to you than others, let me know.

Lectures will frequently introduce material which is not in the textbook. Attendance is strongly encouraged.

Homework exercises, reading assignments, and handouts will be posted here.
You must justify your answer, showing all of your intermediate computations and reasoning. Please make sure to display and label your work neatly.
Date assigned Assignment Date due
Th 9/6 Homework 1 T 9/11
Tu 9/11 Read Chapter 1 Th 9/13
Tu 9/11 Solve both problems using decision trees. Make sure to clearly draw and label your tree and show your computations pruning the tree. Write a brief paragraph explaining your conclusion so a layman who doesn't know about decision trees could make sense of your decision.
1. p. 3, Tax Deduction Advice
2. Book deal problem		 Tu 9/18
Th 9/20 Problems on Decision Analysis and Game Theory Th 9/27
Th 9/27 Problems on Game Theory Th 10/4
Tu 10/2 Read Chapter 2. Th 10/4
Tu 10/9 Study for midterm on 10/11.  
Tu 10/9 More problems on Game Theory Th 10/25
Th 10/18 A problem on the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Th 10/25
Tu 10/23 Logical Interlude Problems Th 11/1
Th 10/25 Interest Theory: Terminology, Simple Interest and Effective Interest Th 11/1
Th 11/1 Interest Theory: Effective Interest, The Rule of 72, and Nominal Interest Th 11/8
Th 11/8 Interest Theory: Nominal Interest and Annuities EXTENSION:
Tu 11/20
Tu 11/13 Read Chapter 5 Sections 1 and 3 to review the finance unit.
Start reading Chapter 8.		  
Tu 11/20 & 11/27 Statistics Th 11/29
Tu 11/27 Finish reading Chapter 8. Th 11/29
Th 11/29 Read Chapter 9, Section 1. Tu 12/4
  Take-home portion of final (cumulative homework) Th 12/6
Th 12/13 Final exam, Thursday, December 13, 12-2PM
Information on final
Course grade breakdown		 Th 12/13

Information on the final exam: As we discussed and agreed upon in class, the final exam will be broken into two components: a take-home portion and an in-class portion. Both components will be cumulative.

Office hours: Wednesday 12/5 2-3PM and 5-6PM, Friday 12/7 12:30-1:30, Tuesday 12/11 12-1:30

Take-home portion
Worth 1/3 of final exam grade
Due on the last day of class - view this as a cumulative homework
Open book and notes
No group work or outside help allowed.
In-class portion
Worth 2/3 of final exam grade
Held during the regularly scheduled exam time: Th 12/13, 12-2PM. LOCATION: DRL A7
One 8 1/2"x11" single-sided handwritten page of notes will be allowed.
The test strongly emphasizes material after the midterm.
Practice problems for the statistics topics covered in the last week. For other topics, please review your homework exercises.