Syllabus for Economics 3307 Spring 2002 Page 6
Baylor University
Economics 3307
Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
Spring 2002
Section 02: 2:00pm - 3:20pm TR
Room HCB 305
Dr. Steven L. Green
Office: 359 Hankamer
Phone: 710-4543
Fax: 710-6142
E-mail:
Home Page: http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/green/
Eco 3307 course materials: http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/green/3307mats.htm
Office Hours:
Tuesdays: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesdays: 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Thursdays: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
& by appointment
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course is a detailed examination of the tendencies of market economies to (i) exhibit upward trends in the volume of production over time and to (ii) fluctuate back and forth between good times and bad times. Our goals are (i) to describe the historical facts about these long-run trends and short-run fluctuations; (ii) to explore the implications of these trends and fluctuations for the decisions made by individuals, businesses, and governments; and (iii) to examine the theories that attempt to explain why market economies experience growth and why that growth is irregular and unstable.
If we are successful in this class, at the end of the semester you should be able to: (i) understand and evaluate media stories about the economy; (ii) analyze a wide range of macroeconomic issues, including those not discussed in class; and (iii) communicate clearly your understanding of macroeconomic facts, concepts, and reasoning techniques.
TEXTBOOK:
Mankiw, N. Gregory. (2000). Macroeconomics, 4th ed. New York: Worth.
Any other reading materials will be accessible on the Internet or handed out in class.
CURRENT EVENTS:
You are strongly encouraged to follow current macroeconomic developments using the source of your choice. Good options include the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times (which is especially good for foreign affairs and international trade issues), the Economist magazine, Barron's, Business Week, and "Lou Dobbs Moneyline" on CNN (6pm and 10:30pm weeknights). My home page has quite a few links to electronic news sources. If you make a reasonable effort to keep up with current events, you will have a much easier time participating in class discussions and anticipating exam questions.
GRADE DETERMINATION:
At the end of the term, I will compute a FINAL NUMERICAL AVERAGE based on the following scores:
EXAM I: 22.5%
EXAM II: 22.5%
ASSIGNMENTS: 10%
3 PROJECTS: 15% (5% for each project)
FINAL EXAM: 30%
The exam dates are given below. The final exam will be comprehensive. If you have a question about the grading of an exam, you must see me about it within one week after I return the exam to you to be eligible for any additional points that may be warranted.
I will assign course grades on the basis of the distribution of final averages. A final average over 90 will guarantee a course grade of “A”, a final average over 80 will guarantee a course grade of “B”, etc., but the actual cutoffs might be a bit lower (e.g., 89 for an A).
In awarding final grades, I normally give "consideration" (i.e., move people up who are close to but below a cut-off point for a higher course grade) for the following: a good grade on the comprehensive final, good class attendance, good class participation, consistently excellent work on assignments, and improvement over the semester. All such consideration must be fair to other students and is made at my discretion.
In the FIRST TWO projects you will be required to analyze and evaluate a published story about the economy using the models developed in class. Project #1 will involve an analysis of long-term issues and will use the models in Chapters 4 and 5 of the textbook, while Project #2 will involve an analysis of short-term issues and will use the model developed in Chapter 9. Your write-ups for these projects will be about 4-5 pages each.
The THIRD PROJECT is an "integration exercise" in which you are to explore the relationship between macroeconomics and another discipline that interests you. If you are an accounting major, for example, you might want to look at the implications of inflation for the information conveyed by financial statements. If you have an interest in finance, you can see how asset prices behave over the business cycle or how the financial policy of a firm should respond to business cycle factors. If you've taken several sociology classes, you could see how macroeconomic events influence social pathologies such as crime and child abuse. Feel free to come talk to me about this -- between us we can probably make macro relevant to just about anything. This project will usually also involve a 4-5 page write-up, though I encourage you to propose more creative alternatives -- e.g., make a video or interactive web site.
More detail about the requirements of the projects are provided in separate handouts which are available at my web site.
Assignments (along with the Study Questions available on my web site) are designed to reinforce and extend the basic concepts covered in class and to give you some idea of what to expect on the exams. Some of these questions appeared on Eco 3307 exams given in previous semesters. Unless otherwise noted, assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. There will be 4-6 assignments during the semester.
You may collaborate with one or more other students in the class on your assignments (but NOT on your projects), provided (i) each collaborating student does substantive work on all questions, and (ii) all students write up their answers separately.
"Main Points" summary sheets for each chapter are also available on my web site.
TARDINESS:
My tardiness policy is that your first two tardies each count as one-half absence each, after which each tardy counts as one absence. You are "tardy" if you enter the room after I have checked the roll (which I will never do before the official class starting time). If tardiness becomes a problem for the class, I will be inclined to give very easy pop quizzes at the beginning of class. This quizzes will be graded pass/fail, and for each failed quiz I will subtract one point from your final exam score. If you have a legitimate reason for being habitually late (a job, a class on the other side of campus, etc.), you should notify me during the first week of class. After I have verified your excuse, we can make appropriate arrangements.
ABSENCES:
Baylor policy allows me to assign you a grade of "F" for the course on the basis of excessive absences (more than 25%, meaning 8 or more absences) alone. If you have a legitimate reason for being habitually absent, you should notify me during the first week of class. After I have verified your excuse, we can make appropriate arrangements.
MAKE-UP EXAMS:
I will permit a student to take a make-up exam if two conditions are both met: (1) you contact me by phone or e-mail -- preferably in advance unless there are extenuating circumstances -- and obtain permission to take the exam at another time. If you are calling and I am not in my office, leave a message on my Voice Mail. The day and time of the message will be automatically recorded. (2) The reason for rescheduling the exam is a compelling one, such as being out of town on a Baylor-related trip (letter from sponsor, coach, or advisor required), serious illness (note from health center or personal physician required), death in the family, or severe psychological or other problems. Reasons of the latter type need not be explained to me, but at my discretion I may require a letter from the Dean of Students. Although I reserve the right to consider each case on its own merits, reasons that will not generally be considered compelling include an exam in one of your other courses, a desire to leave campus early (or return late) to have a longer vacation period, etc.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:
I enforce the academic misconduct policy outlined on pages 90-97 of the Baylor Student Handbook, which may be accessed at the following web site:
< http://www.baylor.edu/learn_rsrc/publications/StudentHandbook/student_handbook.pdf > .
IMPORTANT DATES:
Exam dates and project due dates are subject to change with at least one week's notice.
February 11: Courses dropped after this date will be recorded as WP or WF, according to the report of the professor
February 14 (Thursday): Exam I
February 26 (Tuesday): Project #1 Due
March 1: Deficiency reports due in Registrar's Office
March 18: Courses dropped after this date will be recorded as failed
March 28 (Thursday): Exam II
April 9 (Tuesday): Project # 2 Due
April 25 (Thursday): Project #3 Due; Last day of class
May 7-8: Study days
May 8-15: Final examinations (includes Saturday, December 8)
May 10 (Friday), 8-10am: Final Exam
May 18 (Saturday): Commencement
SCHEDULE
The schedule on my web site (a copy of which appears on the next page) should be regarded as tentative. If necessary, I will update it as the semester progresses. I will give you advance notice of at least one week of any change in an exam date or a project paper due date.
GENERAL DISCLAIMER
I reserve the right to make changes in the policies outlined in this syllabus if in my judgment changes are warranted. I will notify you in writing of any changes, and I will also post the changes to my web site.
ECONOMICS 3307
Spring 2002
SCHEDULE
Version 1 (1-15-02)
ClassNumber / MONTH / DATE / DAY OF WEEK / TOPIC (Chapter in Mankiw)
1 / January / 15 / T / Science of Macro (1)
2 / 17 / R / Data of Macro (2)
3 / 22 / T / National Income (3)
4 / 24 / R / National Income, cont. (3)
5 / / 29 / T / Economic Growth I (4)
6 / 31 / R / Economic Growth I, cont. (4)
7 / February / 5 / T / Economic Growth II (5)
8 / 7 / R / Economic Growth II, cont. (5)
9 / 12 / T / Review and Catch-up
10 / 14 / R / EXAM I
11 / 19 / T / Unemployment (6)
12 / 21 / R / Inflation (7)
(Sing Weekend)
13 / / 26 / T / Inflation, cont. (7)
PROJECT #1 DUE
14 / 28 / R / The Open Economy (8)
15 / March / 5 / T / SPRING BREAK
16 / 7 / R / SPRING BREAK
17 / 12 / T / The Open Economy, cont. (8)
18 / 14 / R / The Open Economy, cont. (8)
19 / 19 / T / Economic Fluctuations (9)
20 / 21 / R / Economic Fluctuations, cont. (9)
21 / 26 / T / Review and Catch-up
22 / / 28 / R / EXAM II
(Easter Weekend)
23 / April / 2 / T / Aggregate Demand I (10)
24 / 4 / R / Aggregate Demand I, cont. (10)
25 / 9 / T / Aggregate Demand II (11)
PROJECT #2 DUE
26 / 11 / R / DIADELOSO (no class meeting)
27 / 16 / T / Aggregate Demand II, cont. (11)
-- / 18 / R / Advanced Topic (TBA)
28 / 23 / T / Advanced Topic (TBA)
29 / 25 / R / Epilogue (pp. 526-532 in Mankiw)
PROJECT #3 DUE
FINAL EXAM / May / 10 / Friday / FINAL EXAM (8-10am)