Syllabus
Text: Required: Macroeconomics: Public and Private Choice, 13e, Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel, Macpherson; South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2010. The study guide is recommended, but not required. It is a new edition for this text, but macroeconomics changes often and the texts even have trouble keeping up. (Note: Save money! You can rent the textbook ($69.99), purchase access to a cheaper online version of your textbook ($86.49), or buy only the chapters we cover through CengageBrain.com. You can also purchase access through Coursesmart.com for $82.99.)
Grades: Grades will primarily be based on four tests (75 points each) and in-class assignments and/or homework plus attendance (50 points). Students who miss class are responsible for finding out about homework and due dates (before assignments are due). Late homework is not accepted. Extra credit is occasionally offered. Students must be present to receive credit.
Attendance Policy: According to the University Attendance Policy, registering for this class "obligates" you to "regular and punctual attendance." Since this class will rely heavily on in-class lecture and discussion, it is essential for you to abide by this policy, for your own sake. Daily expectations in this class include regular attendance, class discussion and participation. I welcome current events applications to the concepts discussed in class. Class time spent discussing current events will become potential examination material.
We will have regular in-class activities. These activities cannot be made up. I will offer two extra credit activities that can be used to make up for up to two missed activities. This policy in nonnegotiable except under extreme excused conditions discussed with me in advance or immediately during the affected time period where two or more assignments are missed. Verification will be required.
Reading Assignments and Exam Dates: It is recommended that you stay at least one chapter ahead of me at all times. Reading ahead will help you understand the challenging topics in this course. Exams will be multiple choice and problem solving in nature. They will cover material from lectures, any additional reading assignments, in-class work, homework and the text covered prior to the test date. Exam dates are Friday, September 24, Friday, October 22, Friday, November 19 and either Monday, December 13 at 10:30 a.m. (Section 004) or Thursday, December 16 at 10:30 a.m. (Section 003).
Incompletes and Late Withdrawals: Incompletes and late withdrawals will be given only when there is a reasonable possibility that a passing grade will result from the completion of the work. Neither is given because a student is doing poorly in the course. The last day to withdraw from a course with a W is October 20.
Missed Exams: Students who have a valid reason for missing an exam may take a make-up. Valid reasons include a University-excused absence, illness or a personal emergency (e.g., a death in the family). I must be notified of these occurrences as soon as possible and verification is required. Failure to provide an excused absence may result in a zero for the exam.
Students with Disabilities: In compliance with university policy, students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course just contact the Office for Student Disability Services in DUC A-200 of the Student Success Center in Downing University Center. The OFSDS telephone number is (270)745-5004 V/TDD. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services
Course Description and Outline:
Description: This course fulfills one requirement for General Education category C -- Social and Behavioral Sciences. It is designed to provide an understanding of the concepts, ideas, policy issues, and methods of analysis which are central to understanding economies at the local, regional, national, and global level. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to apply concepts to contemporary issues and understand the impact that economic decisions and actions have on individuals and society.
Objective: The objective of Economics 203 is to acquaint students with the fundamentals of macroeconomic theory and with the economist's way of thinking about national issues such as the economy’s production possibilities frontier, supply and demand as it impacts the macroeconomy, economic growth, inflation, unemployment, international trade, fiscal policy, and monetary policy. Among other things, you will learn how a market economy allocates products and income, to compute rates of inflation and unemployment, the causes of inflation and unemployment, how government spending and taxation may affect the economy, the way in which the Federal Reserve's monetary policy actions may affect the economy, and alternative viewpoints about the desirability for government intervention in the economy.
Brief Course Outline:
Chapter 1: The Economic Approach
Chapter 2: Some Tools of the Economist
Chapter 3: Supply, Demand, and the Market Process
Chapter 4: Supply and Demand: Applications and Extensions
Chapter 7: Taking the Nation’s Pulse
Chapter 8: Economic Fluctuations, Unemployment, and Inflation
Chapter 9: An Introduction to Basic Macroeconomic Markets
Chapter 10: Dynamic Change, Economic Fluctuations, and the AD-AS Model
Chapter 11: Fiscal Policy: The Keynesian View and Historical Perspective
Chapter 12: Fiscal Policy: Incentives, and Secondary Effects
Chapter 13: Money and the Banking System
Chapter 14: Modern Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy
Other chapters as time permits.
