By the end of the course students should be able
to:
- Fully explain the basic concepts, models, theories and tools
used in this macroeconomics course and use them to analyze economic
decisions by individuals and by firms.
- Identify the foundational assumptions used in their own
economic analysis and in the economics analysis of others.
- Predict the effects of supply and demand changes on the
direction of market price and quantity using the tools of consumer
and producer surplus to identify the gains form exchange and the
gains from the ability to manipulate price or quantity (e.g., the
effects of barriers to entry, market power, monopolization, price
controls, taxes, subsidies, and quotas.)
- Articulate and explain the systematic nature of economic
analysis and address likely secondary effects of particular
policies and institutional frameworks.
- Analyze economic outcomes in terms of their contribution to
recognition of scarcity and efficiency.
- Communicate, discuss, and present sound logical conclusions
from personal analyses of economic incentives.
|
|
The Principles of Macroeconomics is the introductory,
foundational course that gives students a comprehensive overview of
macroeconomic theory. It provides the framework for subsequent
intermediate macroeconomic theory courses and is any student's
introduction to the analysis of economies at the aggregated
(national or state) level.
Macroeconomics is the study of the behavior of an entire economy
aggregated across all of the individual decision-making units. It
deals primarily with those factors affecting production,
employment, and price levels. Topics which we will cover include:
economic growth, business cycles, the national debt, interest
rates, government spending, the measurement of economic aggregates,
monetary policy, and fiscal policy. We will also introduce
international economics and polciies along with international
finance.
There is relatively-wide agreement on the goals of macroeconomic
policy: growth in real output, full employment, and price
stability. However, macroeconomic theory is marked by diverse
perspectives concerning the appropriate policy actions required to
achieve these goals. A number of alternative schools of thought
exist including Keynesianism, Monetarism, and Rational
Expectations. Each stresses different paths and perspectives on the
proper path(s) to achieving the goals of macroeconomic success.
Students are encouraged to follow the economic and financial news
over the period of the course – the course will provide the
background necessary for formulating informed opinions on the
workings of a macroeconomy.
For the Preliminary Assignment students are required to complete a
specified reading and prepare a short report in response to several
questions for discussion in Class 3. For the Mandatory Mid-term
Assignment students will be assigned an article and required to
read and analyze it in order to produce a short paper that analyzes
a news article pertaining to a change in supply, a change in
demand, or the effects of some price control on markets. Papers
must include a graphical analysis accompanied by a solid
explanation of the issue, the assumptions, the change that is being
modelled and the observed or expected effects of the change. Papers
are to be submitted in Class 5.
Class Schedule
| Class |
Topic |
| Class 1 |
Introduction
Introductory Discussion of The Price of Everything: A Parable
of Possibility and Prosperity,
1. The Big Ideas in Economics
2. The Power of Trade and Comparative Advantage |
| Class 2 |
Supply and Demand, Price
Controls
3. Supply and Demand
4. Equilibrium: How Supply and Demand Determine Prices
5. Price Ceilings and Price Floors |
| Class 3 |
Economic Growth, National Income
Accounting
6. GDP and The Measurement of Progress
7. The Wealth of Nations and Economic Growth
Appendix: The Magic of Compound Growth: Using a
Spreadsheet
Preliminary Assignment due |
| Class 4 |
Economic Growth and
Productivity
8. Growth, Capital Accumulation and the Economics of Ideas:
Catching Up vs. The Cutting Edge
Appendix: Excellent Growth
9. Savings, Investment, and the Financial System
Appendix: Bond Pricing and Arbitrage |
| Class 5 |
Personal Finance, Political
Economy and Public Choice
10. Stock Markets and Personal Finance
21. Political Economy and Public Choice
Mandatory Mid-term Assignmentdue |
| Class 6 |
Business Fluctuations, Employment,
Money, and Inflation
11. Unemployment and Labor Force Participation
12. Inflation and the Quantity Theory of Money
Appendix: Get Real! An Excellent Adventure |
| Class 7 |
Business Fluctuations, Aggregate
Demand and Aggregate Supply, the Transmission of
Policy
13. Business Fluctuations: Aggregate Demand and Supply
14. Transmission and Amplification Mechanisms
|
| Class 8 |
Macroeconomic Policy and
Institutions - Monetary Policy and the
Fed
15. The Federal Reserve System and Open Market Operations
Appendix: The Money Multiplier Process in Detail
16. Monetary Policy |
| Class 9 |
Macroeconomic Policy and
Institutions - Fiscal Policy and
Congress
17. The Federal Budget: Taxes and Spending
18. Fiscal Policy |
| Class 10 |
International Economics - Trade,
Finance, and Exchange Rates
19. International Trade
20. International Finance |
| Class 11 |
Comprehensive Review
Analysis of Current Economic Conditions and Policies in Europe
or America
This exercise is designed to incorporate the materials that have
been developed throughout the course. Your inquiry should be within
the framework of what you have learned in this
course. |
|
Permalink