Introduction to Macroeconomics
Syllabus
(Web CT)
Spring 2011
"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 a macroeconomics course and I am confident the
course material will prove to be important far after the course is over. You
should think of this course as I do, An
Intelligent Citizen's Guide to Macroeconomics. At the end of the semester
you should have a much better understanding of many important public policy
issues we will face in the near future plus an insight into the heated debates
over the economic stimulus package and the unprecedented efforts by the Federal
Reserve to bail out the financial system. In fact, at the center of the
course is the basic question: what is the proper role the government can play
using monetary and fiscal policies to manage the economy? The role of the
government is also a central question in microeconomics, but here you will note
early on that macroeconomics, much more so than microeconomics, focuses on
concepts that show up on the nightly news or in the daily papers - inflation
and unemployment, economic growth and recessions, exchange rates, interest
rates, budget deficits and trade deficits.
You also need to know 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.
If you are still with me, than you should review the course's
goals to see what it is that you need to accomplish in the course, the
structure of the course, and the method of evaluation since these are the
"rules" for the semester - rules you need to understand if the
experience is to be a rewarding and successful one.
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 use interpret tables, graphs, and some simple equations |
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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 and identify the pros and cons of free trade |
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demonstrate an understanding of the supply and demand model
of prices |
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define the important macroeconomic variables and describe their
strengths, weaknesses, and track record |
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describe the evolution of economic theory and economic policy
including the key roles played by the Great Depression, the Great Stagflation,
and the Great Recession |
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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 role of a monetary system in a modern economy including
the role of the Federal Reserve |
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explain the role of fiscal policy in a modern economy |
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explain the process of economic growth, identify economic growth
successes and failures, and identify policies that could affect growth rates |
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better contribute to discussions on public policy and election
issues |
Structure
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 Web CT, an interface between you and the material. Once you are
into Web CT 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 you need to meet during the semester.
- Readings 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.
- Practice Quizzes are questions that have been asked in the past and they
provide you with some idea of what you might expect on your exams and
quizzes. 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.
The Discussions and Private Message link is for on-to-one communications and it is the email you
should use to contact me about course related material. You should check it on
a regular basis.
Evaluation
You will be asked to
demonstrate your command of the course material in online exams and
discussions. There are four (3) semester exams and a final exam that will
contain questions based on the required readings. The 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 exam 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 the exams will tend to be difficult and
the scores somewhat lower than if the questions had been recall questions.
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,
SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT DATES AND TIMES. I MEAN IT; CHECK OUT THE
DATES AND TIMES.
There will also be weekly
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 6 of the 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 |
80 |
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Worst semester
exam |
10 |
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Best semester
exams |
40 |
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Final exam |
30 |
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Discussions |
20 |
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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. If you do not like reading the material online, or if you
simply want to have a hard copy, you could also purchase a copy of the ECN202 Readings at i-copy
in the Emporium. 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.
How to Succeed
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 "Psst! 'Human Capital," a very brief
op-ed piece from the New York Times, and then think
about some of the following suggestions.
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, 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.