EC 270 - Lecture 01 - 2026-09-10

Overview

This was the first meeting of EC270 — course introduction rather than content. Dr. McLeod introduced the teaching team (two graduate TAs and two undergraduate IAs), set out his two expectations (effort in proportion to what you want out of the course, and punctuality/deadlines), and walked through the structure, assessments and schedule. The one piece of economics was a motivating example: using the EC120 supply-and-demand framework, with a vertical (fixed) short-run supply curve, to explain student rents in Waterloo and around Conestoga College. He closed by explaining that math — differential calculus and grade-10-level graphing — is the language the course will use, and deliberately skipped lecturing the Math Appendix slide deck, assigning it as self-study instead.

Key concepts

• Economics as a toolkit — EC270 is the first upper-year intermediate micro course in a sequence (paralleled by the EC290/291 macro sequence and EC295/395 econometrics) whose purpose is to give you the tools of the discipline, which you then apply to a field of interest. McLeod's own field is health economics, and he described using micro and econometric tools there (little macro).
• Modelling complex phenomena — "Economists tend to think of the world through the lens of a model." A model is how you explain complex world events with theoretical tools; when rents move, you look for a supply-side or demand-side factor.
• Fixed short-run supply — The housing supply curve was drawn vertical because "the supply of housing at any given point in time is fixed." As of September 1, 2026 there is a fixed number of units; construction north of Waterloo Collegiate won't be ready in time to change that.
• Market clearing — The market clears where supply equals demand, at a market price. With supply fixed, an increase in demand shows up entirely as a higher rent.
• Substitution away from the market — Roughly half the class hasn't rented (living at home), which McLeod read as students substituting away from renting; that dampens the demand increase and helps explain why one student found spring rents reasonable.
• Amenity-based price differences — A student noted a large price gap between units close to campus and units ~5 km away; proximity to campus, transit and bars is an amenity capitalised into rent.
• Math as the language of economics — EC270 restates EC120 theory in the language of MA129 (differential calculus) plus grade-10 graphing and linear equations. Explicitly: differential calculus only, no integration. "I may throw up integral signs on the board at times and I'll always pause and say, don't panic when you see an integral. We're not going to actually do integration."
• The course builds on itself — Chapters 2, 3 and 4 feed chapter 5; chapters 6 and 8 build on chapter 5. Hence the emphasis on chipping away weekly rather than cramming.
• Scaffolding (the course's design logic) — Read the chapter → lecture → assignments (a step above lecture difficulty) → tutorial questions (a step above the assignments, and at midterm/final difficulty). Each layer is a further opportunity to see the same content.
• Your grade as a production function — Grade is a function of ability and effort; since everyone has passed EC120 and MA129, ability is treated as a fixed input, so effort is the only thing that moves the outcome. "How much you get out of this course depends on how much you invest in the course."
• Separation of tutorials from grading — A deliberate design choice: Ethan and Andrew have nothing to do with grades, so you can ask them anything in tutorial without worrying it affects your mark. Grading questions go to Richard or Simran first, then to McLeod, who is "ultimately responsible for the grades."

Worked examples

• Waterloo student housing. Demand = students seeking apartments; supply = apartments available, drawn vertical because it is fixed in the short run. Rising student enrolment shifts demand right against fixed supply ⇒ rents rise. This matches the news headlines on the slide (a couple of years old, but the trend persists).
• Conestoga College. Total student population went from over 40,000 a few years ago to roughly 15,000 after the federal crackdown on international student visas. Result: demand for housing around Conestoga collapsed and apartments there are now easy to find — an external policy shock working through the demand side of the same model.
• Class enrolment. 125 students in this section (Section B), the same in Section A, 250 in EC270 total this fall.

Flagged for exams

• 80% of the grade is the midterm plus the final (40% each), both proctored. Everything else is 20%.
• The midterm covers consumer theory only; the final covers producer theory only. "None of the content from consumer theory will be on the final exam." This is why the midterm is mandatory — there is no option to shift its weight to the final, because the final contains nothing that would assess consumer theory.
• Tutorial questions are the best predictor of test questions. They are worth 0% but "will reflect the level of difficulty and complexity and the types of questions that you would expect to see on a midterm test or final exam." Assignments sit a step below them in difficulty. Full answer sets for the tutorial questions are on MyLearningSpace.
• Chapter 19 will NOT be on the midterm, even though it appears on the week 7 Tuesday. Standing promise: "I'm not going to expect you to learn new content on a Tuesday and be assessed on it by the Friday." The same rule applies to tutorials — a tutorial will not cover a chapter taught that same week.
• Derivatives. "Calculus is going to be used through the term, so you will encounter, you know, we have to take derivative of this stuff. Uh so make sure you brush up on that before we get too far into chapter two." Go through the Math Appendix slide deck between now and next week, "particularly things related to how do we take a derivative."
• No integral calculus anywhere in this course — differential only.
• The tests are hard and are designed to expose gaps. "I guarantee the way the tests are designed, it will elicit your understanding… They are challenging. And if you've done the work, you'll be fine."
• Why the AI policy exists — not an accusation of cheating: "you know what you're not going to have access to during that test? The computer, phone, that has AI." The concern is AI "fool[ing] you into thinking you know it," which "is going to come up very quickly on the assessments."
• Review sessions are student-driven. "I don't have a summary of what we've covered this term. I don't highlight anything in particular." You show up with questions; nothing will be flagged for you.
• Upper-year study skills differ from first year. The EC120 pattern (attend a few lectures, read the text, try a few questions, write a multiple-choice test) will not carry you; success requires effort outside of lecture.

Admin & deadlines

Grade breakdown

• Lecture attendance: 5% — iClicker (attendance feature only, no polling questions). Sign-in window is 20 minutes: 10 minutes before to 10 minutes after the start of class. best 16 of 21 tracked lectures (syllabus; McLeod said "22" aloud in class) (i.e. you can miss six). Tracking starts Tuesday, September 15 — today's lecture was not tracked.
• Tutorial attendance: 5% — 10 tracked tutorials, attend 8, also via clicker.
• Assignments: 10% — six assignments, best five count, all on SmartWork5. Due dates are on MyLearningSpace; all due at 11:59 p.m. on the stated date, with a 25% per day late penalty.
• Midterm test: 40%.
• Final exam: 40%.

Midterm

• Friday, October 30, 5:00 p.m. Writing the midterm is mandatory.
• Deferred midterm: Friday November 13, 2026, 5:00-7:00 p.m. — confirmed by the syllabus. (He said both "November 13" and "November 3rd" aloud; the 13th is correct.)
• To take the deferred sitting, complete the missed test quiz on MyLearningSpace stating your reason. All reasons are accepted — no proof, no doctor's note required.
• A review session is held on the last class before the midterm, and again before the final (timing of the latter to be set once the exam schedule is out, likely scheduled during the exam period).

Final exam

• Exam period runs approximately December 12–23; the schedule comes out around mid-October. Do not book Christmas travel until it is released. McLeod will post the EC270 exam date on MyLearningSpace once he knows it.

Tutorials

• Fridays, room SB106: T1 11:30 a.m.–12:50 p.m. (Ethan) and T2 1:00–2:20 p.m. (Andrew) — the lecturer garbled these times in class; the syllabus times are given here.
• No tutorial tomorrow (Sept 11) and none next Friday (Sept 18). Tutorials begin Friday, September 25, starting with chapter 2.
• Content comes from the per-chapter tutorial questions on MyLearningSpace; attempt them beforehand and bring your sticking points.
• Attendance tech problems go to McLeod, not to the IAs.

Schedule and content map

• 12-week course, split roughly in half: ~6 weeks consumer theory, then ~6 weeks producer theory and markets.
• Chapters 2 and 3 next week (chapter 2 on Tuesday — skim it beforehand for budget constraints), chapter 4 the week after, then 5, then 6 and 8.
• Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–12:50 p.m., LH1011 (Section B). Class starts at 11:30 sharp and will never run past 12:50.
• Today's lecture was labelled "Math Appendix" on the schedule; McLeod deliberately did not lecture it ("I don't think it's going to serve myself or you any good to take the next 24 minutes and run through MA129"). The slide deck is posted — work through it yourself before chapter 2 gets going.

Textbook and platforms

• Hal R. Varian and Marc Melitz (2024), Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus: A Modern Approach, 2nd edition (the lecturer said "Varian and Weltz" and "a Calculus and Modern Approach"; the syllabus spelling is used here). Access is via the Digital Textbook Access (DTA) program (he called it "PTA… digital technology access").
• SmartWork5 — required, included with the e-text; all assignments are done and submitted there.
• iClicker — required, $4.99, attendance only.
• Read the assigned chapter before lecture; lectures complement rather than repeat the textbook.
• MyLearningSpace holds everything: lecture slides, tutorial questions and answers, assignment due dates, announcements, the office-hours page with the booking link, and the missed-test quiz.

Contact and office hours

• McLeod: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:30–2:30 p.m., office LH3009B. Drop-in, no appointment needed, but there is an online booking system for guaranteed 10-minute slots (link on the MyLearningSpace office-hours page). Open-door policy literally means: if the door is open, come in.
• Email [email protected] with "EC270" in the subject line — he deletes email he can't immediately place. Response within one business day; he doesn't check evenings or weekends, so a Friday-evening email gets a Monday reply. Polite follow-ups are welcome, just not the next morning.
• Graduate TAs (grading — midterm, final, homework): Richard and Simran. Simran holds office hours Thursdays 6:00–8:00 p.m., starting next week; Richard will hold office hours right after the midterm for grading questions. TAs are the first point of contact on grades; McLeod is the escalation.
• Undergraduate IAs (tutorials and weekly office hours, no grading role): Andrew and Ethan. (The syllabus lists a single IA entry, "Ethan Andrew"; the lecturer introduced them as two people.) Their email addresses will be posted on the office-hours page.

Policies mentioned in class

• Devices are permitted as long as they don't disturb anyone else — no loud videos or distracting reels, or you'll be asked to put the device away.
• Generative AI: default is don't use it. Using it to build a study schedule, summarise a chapter, or generate extra practice questions is fine — those complement learning. Using it as a substitute for doing the work is what the policy targets.

Transcribed automatically from the lecture recording. Course info used: EC270_Math_Appendix_Lecture_Slides_WEB.pdf, EC270_Rules_of_Derivatives.pdf, EC270_Syllabus_Fall_2026.pdf. Audio archived at /mnt/porsche/configs/lectures/archive/2026-09/EC 270 - 2026-09-10 - Lecture 01.opus.