Introductory Macroeconomics, ECO202



ECO 3203

Intermediate Macroeconomics

Spring 2008

Instructor: Dr. Paul Mason and Dr. Lian An

Office: 42/3003 (Dr. Mason); 42/3404 (Dr. An)

Phone Number: 620-2640 (Dr. Mason); 620-3962 (Dr. An)

Email: pmason@unf.edu; lian.an@unf.edu

Class Time: T, TH: 3:05pm-4:20pm (80423) and

T, TH: 12:15-1:30 (80426)

Office Hours: T, TH: 10:30am-11:30am, 2:30pm – 4:00pm and by appointment

Pre-requisite: ECO 2013

Web page: (Dr. Mason)

(Dr. An)

Text & Course Guide

• Richard Froyen : Macroeconomics: Theories and Policies, 8th edition, Prentice-Hall, 2005 (optional). N. Gregory Mankiw: Macroeconomics, 6th edition. Worth Publisher, 2007

The textbooks are engaging, well-written, up-to-date, and provides the most important recent developments in macroeconomics. We will discuss the first day of class the conditions under which you should or should not buy the books.

• Newspaper: You are expected to be a regular reader of a news or news journal that covers macroeconomic issues. Good choices are The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, or The Economist.

Course Goals

Welcome to the world of macroeconomics -- a world that you will be involved with the remainder of your life. The goal of the course is to provide you rigorous theoretical foundations of various macroeconomic models, so that you become knowledgeable of, and able to critically analyze, the major macroeconomic issues of unemployment, jobs, recessions, inflation, monetary policy, fiscal policy, budget deficits and surpluses, international trade, and economic growth.

Although you will learn more than the following list suggests, the course is structured so that each of you will be able to answer the following questions when we have finished.

1. Suppose that the U.S. government increases taxes and government outlay by equal amount, what happens to the interest rate and investment?

2. There is a fall in consumer confidence about the future in the U.S., how does this affect the trade balance, the real and nominal exchange rate of dollar?

3. If Japan has low inflation and Mexico has high inflation, what will happen to the exchange rate between the Japanese yen and the Mexican peso?

4. Japan has long passes legislation making it more difficult for firms to fire workers, how does this legislation affect the natural rate of unemployment in Japan?

6. The U.S. dollar (USD) has fallen against other major currencies, such as the euro (€) and the yen (¥) over the last two years. Why has the U.S. dollar fall and who gains and loses from a fall in the dollar?

7. In August 1994, a Mexican peso was worth 30 cents. A year later, it was worth only 16 cents. What explains this massive fall in the value of the Mexican currency?

8. What is the effect of expansionary fiscal policy in the United States and in China?

Teaching Philosophy and Methods

I love teaching. I look forward to interacting with you throughout the semester about macroeconomics and other concerns you might have. Class time will be a mixture of lecture and active learning. Lecture will be used to motivate, clarify, extend, and synthesize the material. Active learning will be used to involve you in an active discussion of the macroeconomic principles and ideas.

In class, we will work together on the more demanding part of the course -- analyzing, applying, synthesizing, and evaluating the principles and ideas. Regularly, you will work together in class with your classmates. I will ask you to compare answers to a problem or work together on a question with your neighbor or neighbors.

Grading System

Your grade will be determined by the total number of points you earn on the three exams, a group projects and class participation assignments. All points count. Grading is based on the standard 90%-100% as an A; 80-89% a B; 70-79% a C; 60-69% a D.

Grading: Grades will be based on three exams, a group projects and class participation assignments. The following weights apply:

Exam 1 (30%)

Exam 2 (35%)

Group project (30%)

Class participation assignment (5%)

Exams

There are two exams. Exam 1, Exam II are each worth 100 points. The exams cover material from class, the text, the Course Guide, and any additional assigned readings. Each Exam will consist of multiple-choice questions and short-answer essay.

The date for the first exam is:

Exam I: Tuesday, Oct 14th

The date and location for the final exam is to be determined by the department at the end of the semester.

Makeup exams are given only for excused absences or if the student has obtained the instructor's prior approval. If you miss an exam with an unexcused absence you will receive a zero for the exam. IF YOU MISS AN EXAM FOR AN UNFORESEEN REASON YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU ARE PHYSICALLY ABLE TO PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL ME. AND YOU MUST PROVIDE WRITTEN DOCUMENT!!! The University defines the following as excused absences: illness of the student or serious illness of a member of the student's immediate family; death of a member of the student's immediate family; University sponsored trips; or major religious holidays. In each case, written verification will be required and permission to miss an exam must be secured before the scheduled exam time unless the cause of the absence is unforeseen.

I will distribute the exam papers the second day after the exam, if you don’t come to class to pick up the exam, and you don’t go to my office within two days after I give back your exam, I will NOT be responsible for keeping your exam papers.

Projects

The empirical projects will require the use of Excel or Stata and will be designed for you to answer real questions using real data and the statistical techniques you have acquired. You need to see the instructions later for details. Since the empirical project is group assignment, one of the concerns with group projects is that team members may not carry their weight in the project. The peer and instructor evaluation process will help to encourage the equal participation. A Project Team Evaluation Form will be handed to you before the project; each member of the project group will complete and hand in that form at the end of each group project. So it will be graded according to both the performance of the project and the INDIVIDUAL contribution. The due dates are arranged later in the semester according to our progress.

Class Participation Assignment

Class participation assignments (CPA) are assigned randomly with an unpredictable pattern. They can take up the form of a class exercise or an oral presentation (for an oral presentation, I will make announcement beforehand and let you prepare). I usually give a problem set for each chapter. While we pull through each chapter, I will give you time in class to work out the problems in group or individually. At the end of each class, I may or may not collect the answers. The purpose of a CPA is to encourage you to attend class. I will make no announcement about when we will collect the CPA. If you miss a class, you might miss a CPA. And there is NO make-up for CPA.

Grievance Procedure

Anyone feeling that a dispute exists after the grading of an exam or homework may submit a written grievance. The grievance should identity the item in dispute and provides arguments supporting the student’s position. Grievances must be submitted within two class periods following the return of the exam or homework. Attach your entire exam or homework to the grievance.

CCB is a Wall Street Journal Partner School

Each student enrolling in one or more Coggin College of Business (CCB) courses numbered 3000 or higher is assessed a $13 fee during each fall and spring semester. The fee is just $13, regardless of how many CCB courses the student takes. The fee is assessed at the same time and in the same manner as all other UNF fees, and the student pays this fee when he/she pays his other tuition and fees. In return, each student is able to pick up a copy of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from locations within the College. Moreover, each student will receive access to all of the WSJ's on-line editions (e.g., European, Asian), as well as the WSJ Employment Edition and Barron’s. Access to these publications is free during summer terms for students enrolled in these courses. Students who already have personal subscriptions can have the WSJ refund those dues. For information on that process, as well as more about CCB’s partnership with the WSJ, please visit .

Classroom Decorum

In order to create a positive learning environment, all students are expected to behave in a professional and courteous manner during class. Disruptive behavior in the classroom is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

According to the Student Code of Conduct disruption includes “Acts that impair, interfere with, or obstruct the orderly conduct, processes, and functions of the University or the rights of other members of the University community. This includes acts that occur both inside and outside the classroom.”

Examples of such acts may include, but are not limited to:

1. Talking with other students during the lecture

2. Reading newspapers or other non-course related literature during class time

3. Leaving the room during lecture without prior approval

4. Failure to turn off cell phones during class time.

Students engaged in disruptive behavior will be referred to the appropriate university officials and are subject to removal from the classroom.

University Policy on Academic Integrity:

In order to protect the integrity of the teaching, learning, and evaluation process, the University of North Florida expects all members of the academic community to respect the principle of academic freedom and to behave with academic integrity. Briefly stated, academic misconduct shall consist of any attempt to misrepresent one's performance on any exercise submitted for evaluation. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to:

Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids or other devices in any academic exercise. This definition includes unauthorized communication of information during an academic exercise.

Fabrication and Falsification: Intentional and unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification is a matter of altering information, while fabrication is a matter of inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise.

Multiple Submissions: The submission of substantial portions of the same academic work for credit (including oral reports) more than once without authorization.

Plagiarism: Intentionally or knowingly presenting the work of another as one's own (i.e., without proper acknowledgment of the source). The sole exception to the requirement of acknowledging sources is when the ideas, information, etc., are common knowledge.

Abuse of Academic Materials: Intentionally or knowingly destroying, stealing, or making inaccessible library or other academic resource materials.

Complicity in Academic Dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit an act of academic dishonesty.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities should contact the Academic Resource Center in Building 2, room 1003. The telephone number is 620-2766. This should be done within the first week of the semester. Every effort will be made to accommodate the requirements for students who have demonstrated special needs.

Tentative Course Outline

Part I: Introduction (Richard Froyen’s textbook)

Chapter1: Introduction to Macroeconomic Theories

Chapter 2: Macro Variables

Chapter 3, 4: Classical Macroeconomics & Model

Part II: Classical Theory: The Economy in the Long Run (Mankiw’s textbook)

Chapter 3: National Income

Chapter 4: Money and Inflation

Chapter 5: The Open Economy

Chapter 6: Unemployment

Part III: Business Cycle Theory: The Economy in the Short Run (Mankiw’s textbook)

Chapter 9: Introduction to Economic Fluctuation

Chapter 10: Aggregate Demand I: Building IS-LM Model

Chapter 11: Aggregate Demand II: Applying the IS-LM model

Chapter 12 The Open Economy Revisited: The Mundell-Fleming Model

Chapter 13 Aggregate Supply and the Short Run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment

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