Introduction to Macroeconomics
Syllabus Fall 2009 (Web CT)
Course
Outline
Important
Graphs & Important
Equations
"Hold yourself responsible
for a higher standard than anyone expects of you”
READ ME CAREFULLY
Welcome
to Introduction to Macroeconomic Principles. It is
a wonderful time to be taking an economics course and
I am confident the material will prove to be important far after the course is
over. Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary and President of
Harvard, was right when he wrote, "[t]he language of public policy is
increasingly the language of economics," so think of this course as an
investment in the basics that will allow you to better understand truly
important public policy choices that will be made in your lifetime. It is also
a time to brush up on some important skills. This course is a General
Education course where the three required skills are your ability to Read
Complex Texts, Use of Quantitative Data,
and Use of Information Technology. To succeed you will
need to read articles from the "popular" press and "push"
around some numbers - and you will be using IT to do it.
One of the things you will note early on in the course is that
macroeconomics, much more so than microeconomics, focuses on issues and
concepts that show up in the news and are central to any understanding of the
financial crisis of 2008-2009. Some of the questions we will look into this
semester are: What is GDP, why is it so popular, and is its popularity a
danger? Should the FED raise
interest rates, how would they do it, and what would be the likely
consequence? Are the trillion $ deficits sustainable and will there be any
SS for you when you retire? There is also a large international component in
this course where we will address a number of important current issues. Some of
the questions we will examine here are: Why do countries trade, should we
expand trade agreements such as the WTO and NAFTA, is the HUGE balance of trade
sustainable, and what is the future of high wages in the industrialized
countries of the world?
Before
you move on to the content of the course, you should stop to review the
course's Goals to see
if they are consistent with your goals. You should also check out the method of
Evaluation and
Texts and a brief overview of the Structure of the
web. When you are ready you should check out the schedule for the course that
will link you to the readings and assignments for each day. And before
you get going check out a few tips on How to Succeed.
The
goals of the course are specified in terms of what you should be able to do
when the course is over and not what we will do during the course. The
course is designed to help you bridge the gap between "theory" and
"reality," and along the way you should learn quite a bit about that
"real" world into which you will be graduating. There are a few
basic economic principles that will be valuable to you regardless of your major
or career choice, and we'll start with them. Another feature of the course is
its emphasis is on thinking critically and solving problems rather than
memorizing. The good news is these are THE skills demanded in today's
dynamic work force. The bad news is this is not easy. In fact it is quite
difficult so you will need to practice at it, which is why there are many
opportunities during the semester to practice. As for the goals, when this
course is completed, you should be able to:
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effectively
utilize the Internet for finding news and information including macroeconomic
data |
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demonstrate
an ability to effectively use and interpret tables, graphs, and equations |
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translate
the information in a newspaper/magazine article into the appropriate graphs |
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identify
the economic theory that is the foundation for discussions of public policy
proposals and / or decisions |
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identify
the 'economic logic' or 'economic principles' useful in interpreting current
or historical events |
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describe
the characteristics of alternative economic systems and
the broad outlines of the major ideological views on economic systems |
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explain
the "theoretical" justification for international trade as well as
the "gap" between the theory and practice of international trade |
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demonstrate
an understanding of the supply and demand model of prices and use it to explain past changes in prices and formulate
'forecasts' for prices |
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define
and describe the strengths and weaknesses of the primary macroeconomic
variables |
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identify
the important historical track record of major macro variables and examples
of important macro policy experiments |
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describe
the evolution of economic theory and economic policy including the
key roles played by the Great Depression and the Great Stagflation |
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provide
examples of the link between macroeconomic performance, political change, and
national security |
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utilize the
AS-AD model to explain changes in macroeconomic performance and the impact of
policy decisions |
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explain
the government's policy options for managing the macroeconomy |
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explain
the role of a monetary system in a modern economy including the role of the
Fed and the relationship between money and the performance of the economy |
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explain
the role of a fiscal policy in a modern economy and identify examples of
major fiscal policy experiments |
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explain
the process of economic growth, identify economic growth successes and
failures, and propose policy options for speeding up / slowing down growth |
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better
contribute to discussions on public policy and election issues |
This course contains the material of a traditional in-class
macroeconomics course delivered in an on-line format, which means you will find
is there is considerable flexibility in terms of when you do your work, but
there are deadlines that are ABSOLUTE and you owe
it to yourself to make sure you are aware of the deadlines. I have talked with
too may instructors who comment on the "missing" students in on-line
courses, the student who disappears or who consistently misses assignments.
Make sure you get all of the dates down on your planners before you begin the
semester.
The course also requires you to use Sakai, an interface between you
and the material. Once you are into Sakai you will find the following
parts to the course that can be accessed from the home page. Each of
these links is explained briefly below.
The Schedule page is
where you will find the schedule for readings, exams, quizzes, extra credit
opportunities and practice quizzes. This page
should be monitored regularly because this includes all of
the deadlines that you need to meet during the semester.
The Readings page links
you to the textbook - or the closest you will come to one in the course. Under
the Readings heading you will find two sets of readings. The first are the
equivalent of the textbook and they are available online. Also included are
outside readings drawn from newspapers, magazine, and academic journals. You
will find links to some, and others are posted PDF files available on Sakai.
On the Practice Quizzes page you
will find links to practice quizzes. I suggest you take some time to review the
practice quizzes to get a sense of the type of questions you will find in the
exams. Think of them as diagnostic tests that let you know before the exams and
quizzes what you need to work on, since it is better to know before you are
taking the quizzes and exams that count towards your grade.
You
will find links to Messages and Forums.
You should check these on a regular basis since this is used as a means of
getting information to you regarding the course. You should use Sakai’s
messages to get in touch with me rather than my regular email and you should
monitor announcements regularly since this is where any
important information of schedule changes will be posted. Macroeconomics
tends to show up in the news frequently and during the semester there will be
postings on important issues in Macroeconomics in the News.
During the semester you will also see my postings of articles in the FYI
discussions, and I encourage you to post anything you find that you think is
interesting.
The
Imp. Equations and Imp.
Graphs links on the Schedule and Syllabus pages provides a link to
some of the more important equations and graphs you will be required to use
this semester. There are not many on these two pages, but these will show up
enough to make the investment of time into mastering them very worthwhile.
Also, you should check out the Course Outline link
that is available on the Schedule and Syllabus pages since this is the outline
of the course I use when making up the exams since included here will be most
of the concepts that I consider important for you to understand.
The
Info Sources page contains links to online
economic data and information sources.
You will be asked to demonstrate your command of the course
material in online quizzes, online exams, and discussions. There are two (2)
semester exams and a final exam that will contain questions based on the
required readings. The quizzes and exams in this course will focus primarily on
your skill at applying the principles and concepts discussed in the course
rather than on your recall skills. For many, maybe most of you,
recall questions are what you have become accustomed to in your travels through
the education system, but here you will see few of them. Furthermore, each
test is constructed based upon the assumption it is an open-book open-note exam
- which is what it is in an online course. Economics will matter to you because
it helps you understand your world, because you can relate it to your work as a
pharmacist, an accountant, or a retail buyer and no instructor can anticipate
where it will come into play in your world. This means that the
quizzes and exams will tend to be difficult and the scores somewhat lower than
if the questions had been recall questions.
In this course you will be responsible for all of exams. THE EXAMS
HAVE VERY SPECIFIC DATES AND TIMES THAT THEY ARE OPEN FOR YOU TO TAKE AND YOU
SHOULD MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW THE DATES AND WORK YOUR SCHEDULE AROUND SO YOU CAN
MEET THEM. THERE ARE NO ALLOWANCES FOR MISSED EXAMS AND QUIZZES, SO MAKE SURE
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DATES AND TIMES. I
MEAN IT: CHECK OUT THE DATES AND TIMES.
There will also be some discussions regarding current policy issues
or questions on the course readings that you will be expected to contribute to
during the semester. During the course I will post questions on the
week's reading or an article from the news to a discussion list and you will be
required to participate in a minimum of 4 discussions during the semester - and
2 of these contributions will need to be made before mid semester.
The grades in the course will be based upon the following weighting
scheme.
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Exams |
85 |
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worst semester exam |
20 |
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best semester exam |
25 |
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final exam |
40 |
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Discussions |
15 |
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Total |
100 |
So, as you begin to make your choices, keep in mind the fact your
success in the future is likely to depend less on your major or your first
employer and more on the skills you acquire, more on your creativity,
originality and ability to think critically than on your ability to store and
recall information. With a positive attitude and good choices, you can position
yourself well for entry into the new "real world" and even have some
fun in ECN 202.
Text
You should also note that there is not a textbook and that all of
the materials that you will need are available on-line. In addition to the
primary course readings for each unit, each of you will be expected to read on
a regular basis the New York Times and some
additional online articles and you can expect some questions to be on your
readings. I would strongly suggest that you subscribe to the New York Time's online
version so that you will be able to receive daily updates directed to your
e-mails since certain articles will be assigned during the semester and
material from these articles may be included on the semester exams.
If you got this far, you have already demonstrated an interest in
doing well, so think about the following "Tips for Success" that I have
learned from talking with students about their successes and failures in the
course. Isaac Newton once explained his greatness by noting that "I
stand upon the shoulders of the giants of the past," and you will have the
chance to learn from those who came before you. As a starter, I would suggest
you read
1. show
up: what do you say to a student who writes you a letter describing
the problems they had with the class and you see he/she has missed half the
classes. I am more inclined to give the F they "earned" rather than
the sympathy they seek. Also, there is a statistical relationship between
attendance and grades, so keep this in mind as you think about not showing up.
2. read: imagine
my surprise when I asked a failing student if they had done the readings and
the response was "some of them." The exams are built on the readings
and the class discussions, so I would expect the non reading student
"earned" that F.
3. practice: Every
exam question is a word problem, so you need to get good at identifying
problems - and solving them - and you get good with practice. So do the review quizzes
and the practice exams to get yourself ready for the real exam.
4. practice
more: It was worth repeating because practicing is crucial. But make
the practice useful, so when you do those exams and quizzes, do them alone. Too
often I see caring students do awful because they work with friends on the
quizzes, and not surprisingly the group does well, but there is no group when
you do the exams. Work with the group after you have done the quizzes alone and
compare results - but do them alone.
5. manage
your time: What do you tell a flunking student who works 35+ hours a week
and takes a full-time load? I tend toward telling them that Superman and
Superwoman were only imaginary superheroes. While I know school is not cheap,
this is a recipe for disaster for the overwhelming majority of students. You
need to manage your time, and why not start where most of your instructors did
when they were in college. You have 15 hours of classes, and each hour of class
"comes with" three hours outside of class - so now we are talking 15
+45 = 60 hours, which is more than a full-time job. Add on to that those 35
hours of work and you are at 95 hours - and you only have 168 hours in a week.
This gives you about 10 hours for sleeping, eating, and .... You get the
picture.
6. turn
off those cell phones: While time is scarce and must be managed, you
can also do things that help you get more out of your time. As a starter, turn
off those cell phones. How can you really study if the cell phone is
continuously interrupting you? You can't, so take some time during the day
where your friends and family know you are "off line It will not take long
for "the world" to realize you are busy and they must work around
your work schedule.
So
now let's get to the course, and take the first step toward a successful
semester.