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COURSE SYLLABUS
School of Management
 
The University of Texas at Dallas
 Course: MECO 6215.0G2 - Distance Learning (Online) Course
The Legal and Economic Environment of Business
 
Instructor: Peter Lewin
 
Semester: Fall 2007 (2
nd
 8-week)
 
Dates: October 11 November 26, 2007
| Course Information | Technical Requirements | Course Access and Navigation
 
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Welcome to MECO 6215! This syllabus page will provide you with necessary information on the technical requirements, course requirements and expectations, materials and dates. You can use the contents links above to navigate. Please contact me with any questions. I am looking forward to meeting you online.
Course Information
 Course Description
 All business occurs within a particular legal and regulatory environment. This course will examine the structure and effects of that environment. The general theory of government regulation will be explained as it applies to various specific cases. Included will be such topics as the analysis of government regulations concerning safety, the environment, anti-trust, anti-discrimination, financial trading, health care and price controls. These topics will be examined within a general theoretical framework paying particular attention to comparisons between the impact of these laws and their apparent intent. The role of changes in technology, the political environment and other macro-global influences will be addressed. Prerequisite: MECO 6201/6303.
 
 My goal is to have students emerge from this course with a critical understanding of the regulatory environment in which business occurs. This environment is the result of the interaction between the legal structure and economic realities. Such a critical understanding would consist of the ability to assess the particular legal and regulatory structure and to understand how it works to achieve or fail to achieve its apparent purpose and how it affects other aspects of business life.
Course Format
 The online material consists of 8 lessons. See Course Outline for details. Some of the lessons are longer than others. Please consult the accompanying instructions to determine how to listen to the online lessons and view the PowerPoint slides.
Instructor Information Dr. Peter Lewin
 
Email
Instructor's Web Site
Online
 
Course Site
: http://webct.utdallas.edu (Note: requires login, see instructions below) You can contact me anytime by phone or email, or by appointment in my office.
Instructor Information
1. Instructor brief biography I was born and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. I received a BA (honors) degree in Economic and History from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1969. In September 1972, after teaching at the business school there, I left to study at the University of Chicago. I received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1979. I was fortunate to have had four Nobel prize winners as teachers. In January 1979 I moved with my family to Dallas, where we have lived ever since. After seven years as an academic, I tried my hand in an entrepreneurial venture and joined a friend in a startup business called Soft Warehouse. Today it is called CompUSA. I was one of its founding shareholders. It was a difficult but very enlightening experience. In 1992 I decided to return to academics and have  been with the UTD School of Management since 1997. I love my job. I have a passion for teaching and for economics. My wife and I were married in December 1969. We have four children and two grandchildren. To see more about my professional and personal life visit my website at http://www.utdallas.edu/~plewin/ 2. Contact information
 
My full contact information is: Email:  plewin@utdallas.eduPhone: 972-883-2729 Office: SM 3.223 You can contact me anytime by phone or email, and see me by appointment in my office. Under normal circumstances I prefer email.
Course Materials
 Each audio lesson is accompanied by
complementary visual material
(in PowerPoint format). These materials contain lesson objectives, information on recommended reading and provide required formulas, diagrams, tables and outlines. The following texts will serve as a guide to discussions and are required.
 
The Economics of Public Issues
 by Roger Leroy Miller et. al., Fourteenth edition, Addison Wesley, 2005. ISBN # 0-321-30349-0
 
 Antitrust, The Case for Repeal
 by Dominick T. Armentano, Second Edition, The Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1999. ISBN # 0-945466-25-0
 
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, Paperback - 2nd edition (February 1963) University of Chicago Press; ISBN: # 0-226-264-01-7
 
Give Me a Break  by John Stossel Harper Collins or Perennial Currents, 2004/5. ISBN:# 0060529156 or # 0060529148
 
 Note also Stossel’s new book which I highly recommend for enjoyable and informative, albeit alarming, reading:
 (Hyperion, 2006) ISBN: #1401302548. Some online materials will be included in the PowerPoint presentations and the suggested reading for each lesson will be indicated. Textbooks and some other bookstore materials can be ordered online through MBS Direct Virtual Bookstore or Off-Campus Books web ordering site. They are also available in UTD Bookstore and Off-Campus Books and may also be available online. In addition here are some helpful links
1.
 
to articles relevant to our discussion
of monopoly and anti-trust
.
 
 
 

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