Principles of Macroeconomics Economics
11C
Professor Woolf Fall 2009
General Information:
Phone:
656-0190
Office:
339 Old Mill
Email:
Website:
http://www.uvm.edu/~awoolf/classes/fall2009/ec11/ec11.html or go to www.uvm.edu/~awoolf
and follow the links
Class meeting time: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday
Required Materials:
1. N.
Gregory Mankiw, Brief Principles of
Macroeconomics (5th ed.)
2.
Aplia on line materials. The instructions for pricing of Aplia and
the Mankiw text are at the end of this syllabus and are also on the class
website. Aplia consists of on line practice and graded homeworks that
will account for 20% of your course grade.
Some questions from the Aplia assignments may appear on exams. You will receive an email reminder when they
are due, generally weekly. Any Aplia quizzes that are not completed by
the due date and time will not be accepted by the Aplia system or by me.
I will drop the two lowest Aplia grades when I calculate your Aplia grade.
About The
Course:
Economics 11
is a survey course in macroeconomics, the study of how the overall economy
behaves. The course has three parts. The
first part of the course is a general overview of what economics is all
about. The second part is a survey of
microeconomics, which is the study of how individual actors in the economy
(consumers and firms) behave, including demand and supply analysis. Part 3 is an analysis of the macro economy,
which looks at the determination of broad economic aggregates, including the
level of output and income, how and why an economy grows, why growth is
important, the role and importance of money and banks in the economy, the
problems of unemployment and inflation, how exchange rates are determined in an
interdependent world, and what appropriate macroeconomic policies are.
The course has
three basic goals: (1) to introduce you to the tools and concepts of economic
reasoning; (2) to give you an understanding of basic economic theories; and (3)
to use these theories to explain and understand the workings of our economic
system. We will do that by examining four important macroeconomic variables:
output, growth, unemployment, and inflation.
This course syllabus
can be found through my home page on the internet at http://www.uvm.edu/~awoolf. If you lose this
syllabus, you can print another one from that web site. All readings other than
the text are hyperlinked through the online syllabus.
Economics 11 covers a great deal of material;
it is like learning a new language or learning to use new tools. You should
expect to at least one hour, and probably two hours, outside of class for each hour
you spend in the classroom if you want to do well in this class. A word to the wise (and to those of you who
want to get a good grade): read each chapter before the lecture on that chapter.
A further word to the wise: If
you let yourself fall behind, it will be very difficult to catch up. Each
lecture and each topic in economics builds on previous concepts.
By the end of
the course you should be able to read and understand economics articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the business and
economics pages of The New York Times, and
other publications with an economic content and have an intelligent conversation
about questions like:
·
What are the
causes of economic growth? Why are some nations more developed than others?
Fifty years ago,
·
The
·
Why did the
·
What determines
the level of unemployment in the nation? How much control does the government
have over the unemployment rate? Should we be worried about unemployment? Why?
·
What is
inflation? What determines the level of inflation in the nation? How much control does the government have
over the rate of inflation? Why is
inflation a problem?
·
Why is money
important in an economy? What determines
the value of a dollar? What role does
the Federal Reserve (the Fed) play?
·
Why isn’t there
enough gold in
·
In 2000, the
federal government had a budget surplus of $240 billion. In 2008, the federal government spent $459
billion more than it received in taxes, running a large deficit. In the current federal fiscal year, which
ends September 30, the federal deficit is projected to be $1,825 billion
($1.825 trillion). What is deficit and
why do we have one? What is the federal debt? Why should we be concerned about them?
Ancillary
Material:
1.
To apply the economic concepts you are learning, I recommend reading the
following
- The New York Times (www.nytimes.com) including the business
section, as well as other economics articles in the Times. You need
to register for the Times, but it is free.
- The Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com), not free but well worth the $35
semester subscription price for the paper copy. You can read parts of the Journal online
even if you are not a subscriber. If you are serious about
economics, you should read the WSJ for good discussion of economic
issues.
2.
If you are serious about learning and truly understanding economics, read some
economics blogs. By reading a couple of these blogs each day, you will
get a great exposure to how economists think about the world. Some of my
favorites are:
Greg Mankiw’s Blog A Harvard
economist (and author of your textbook) who maintains a website for his principles
of economics students. You should bookmark this site or use an RSS feed
to keep up with it.
Freakonomics
Economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner and others collaborate on
a very readable and interesting New York Times blog focusing on economics.
Economix The New York Times economics blog
Vermonttiger A blog I contribute
to that looks mostly at
Café Hayek Economics from a
libertarian perspective.
Grasping Reality With Both Hands Economics and a lot of politics from a left
of center perspective.
Exams
and Grading:
You will be evaluated on two midterm exams, a
cumulative final exam, and Aplia assignments. They will be weighted as follows:
|
Course Component |
Weighting 1 (MT1 is lowest
score) |
Weighting 2 (MT2 is lowest score) |
Weighting 3 (Final is lowest
score) |
|
Aplia Assignments |
20 |
20 |
20 |
|
Midterm 1
(MT1) |
0 |
30 |
25 |
|
Midterm 2 (MT2) |
30 |
0 |
25 |
|
Final |
50 |
50 |
30 |
|
Total |
100% |
100% |
100% |
I will calculate your final exam grade using each of
the three weighting schemes and your final grade will be determined by the
highest score. If you miss or do not take one of the midterms, your
final grade will automatically revert to the other midterm weighting.
Your final grade is based on your knowledge of the
material, not based on how hard you work or how much you study. My general grading standard is as follows:
A Understands the material in a comprehensive
manner; understands subtle distinctions and clearly comprehends the concepts
and applications we have discussed.
B Has a
good grasp of the material covered; generally understands most of the concepts
discussed and covered in class and readings.
C Shows an
average comprehension of the material but cannot explain basic concepts well or
apply concepts to slightly different cases.
D Understands
some of the material, but does not have a grasp of basic concepts or issues we
have discussed.
F Does not
show an understanding of the basic material in the course.
Course Schedule:
The following is a timetable
for the course. I will try to stick to
the schedule but it may change. I expect
you to do the assigned readings before the class period. If you do, you will better understand the
material we cover in class and you will do better on the exams. All chapter assignments refer to the Mankiw
text. Most required readings are hyperlinked
directly. Wall Street Journal readings
are available through the Bailey-Howe
Library course reserves at <http://accesscanada.uvm.edu>
(click on Course Reserves under Find). I
may also email you additional readings.
|
Date |
Topic |
Required |
Recommended |
|
Aug 31 |
Introduction to class What is Economics? |
|
|
|
Sept 2 |
Basic Economic Principles |
Ch 1 Leonard Reed, I Pencil Sassa Issenberg, The
Sushi Economy (The American,
July/August 2007) Steven Levitt (TED video), Why Do Crack Dealers
Still Live With Their Moms? |
Bruce Gottlieb, Why Don't Buses Have Seat Belts?,
Slate David Goldhill, How American Health
Care Killed My Father, Atlantic
Monthly |
|
Sept 4 |
Models in Economics |
Ch 2 and Appendix |
|
|
Sept 7 |
NO CLASS |
Labor Day |
|
|
Sept 9-14 |
Trade and Comparative
Advantage |
Ch 3 Frédéric Bastiat, A Petition
(1845) Nicholas Kristof, Two
Cheers for Sweatshops, NY Times |
Russell Roberts, The
Choice: A Parable of Free Trade and
Protectionism (sample chapters here) |
|
Sept 16 -21 |
Demand and Supply |
Ch 4 Steven Levitt and Stephen
Dubner: The
Economy of Desire, ( Steven Levitt and Stephen
Dubner: Flesh
Trade (NY Times, Alan Krueger, Seven Lessons About
Super Bowl Ticket Prices, New York Times ( |
Russell Roberts, Thinking Outside the
Box (Chapter 1 of The
Price of Everything) |
|
Sept 23-25 |
|
Ch 5 Virginia Postrel, The Economic Meaning of
Manicures, Reason (October 1997) Betsey Stevenson GDP and Happiness
(Nightline) |
|
|
Sept 28-30 |
Inflation |
Ch 6 Uncle
Sam’s Eyes in the Aisles (Washington Post |
|
|
Oct 2 |
EXAM I |
|
|
|
Oct 5-9 |
Growth and Productivity |
Ch 7 Hans Rosling, Debunking
Third World Myths (TED video, |
Robert E Lucas: The
Industrial Revolution: Past and Future
( |
|
Oct 9 |
No Class |
Fall Recess |
|
|
Oct 12-16 |
Financial Markets, Saving,
and Investment |
Ch 8 John Steele Gordon, A Short
History of the National Debt (Wall Street Journal, |
|
|
Oct 19-21 |
Tools of Finance |
Ch 9 Greg Mankiw, Expert
Coil Flippers, (blog Matthew Philips, The Monster That Ate Wall Street
(Newsweek, |
Burton Malkiel, A
Random Walk Down Wall Street (book) |
|
Oct 23-26 |
Unemployment |
Ch 10 Jason DeParle, Jobless Checks
for Millions Delayed As States Struggle (NY Times, |
|
|
Oct 28-30 |
Money, Banks, and the
Federal Reserve |
Ch 11 Michael Phillips, In
Some Places U.S. Currency Isn’t Sound as the Dollar, (Wall Street
Journal, Kevin Hassett, How
the Fed Works (American Magazine, Sept/Oct 2007) |
Roger Lowenstein, The
Education of Ben Bernanke (New York Times, |
|
Nov 2-4 |
Money and Inflation |
Ch 12 Steven Hanke,
RIP Zimbabwe Dollar, (Cato Institute, Steve Gjerstad and |
|
|
Nov 6 |
EXAM II |
|
|
|
Nov 9-11 |
International Economy I |
Ch 13 Big Mac Index
(The Economist) Paul Krugman, In Praise of Cheap Labor,
Slate (March 20, 1997) Hal Varian, An
Ipod has Global Value, New York Times ( |
Brook on
Vermeer’s Hat and the Dawn of Global Trade (podcast) |
|
Nov 13-18 |
International Economy II |
Ch 14 |
|
|
Nov 20-30 |
Aggregate Demand and Supply |
Ch 15 |
|
|
Nov 25-27 |
No Class |
Thanksgiving Break |
|
|
Dec 2-4 |
Monetary and Fiscal Policy |
Ch 16 David Altig, Did
the Stimulus Package Actually Stimulate?
Macroblog, Gregory Mankiw, Fair
Taxes? Depends on What You Mean by Fair
(NY Times, |
|
|
Dec 7-9 |
Macro Tradeoffs and Policy
Issues |
Ch 17-18 |
|
|
Dec 15 |
FINAL EXAM
|
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|
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|
Student
Registration and Payment Instructions |
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