AP Microeconomics

Alan Haley

Course description: The AP Microeconomics course is the study of how scarce resources in this world get distributed.  It seeks to answer questions like why some people have more wealth and others less, it tries to explain how people exchange goods and services, and it develops models that describe how markets work. Micro economics focuses on how productive organizations make decisions of how much they will produce and what price they will ask. Micro economists have a wide range of study interests such as how law enforcement effects drug dealing, how cigarettes can act like money in prisons, how Apple decides what price to ask for its iPhone, and why people will walk a mile to save five dollars in purchasing a pair of shoes but not for purchasing a 46″ T.V. Download a copy of the College Board’s description of AP Microeconomics (PDF).

Teacher: Alan Haley, Waterville HS. Alan lives in Skowhegan with wife and human-like dog named “Hazel”. Likes to hunt, fish, make cabinents and teach. Alan has been a full time social studies teacher at Waterville High School since 1987.  He received a Bachelors degree from the University of Maine Presque Isle in 1972, a Masters from the University of Toledo in 1974, and did doctoral work at Tufts University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1974 to 1976.  He attended the University of Southern Maine between 1986 – 1987 to become certified in K-12 technology and industrial arts education.

Suggested student preparation: Before studying AP Microeconomics, students should be reading at grade level, and be ready to put in around 3 to 5 hours a week of study. Although math is the language of economists, this course only requires that you be able to do things like calculate simple percentage problems, understand line slope on an X-Y graph, and solve for a single unknown in an equation.

Start date: September 4, 2012

End date: one week following the AP Exam for this course.

How to enroll: More information on enrolling students in this course.