The course grade will be based on the following:
Homework Assignments: | | 15%
| Midterm Exam #1: | | 25%
| Midterm Exam #2: | | 25%
| Final Exam: | | 35%
| Total: | | 100%
|
Readings
Readings for the course come primarily from a textbook, but they also include a few outside readings to be found on the web, plus regular reading of the Wall Street Journal.
The textbook for the course is
Mankiw, N. Gregory, Macroeconomics 5th edition, Worth Publishing, 2003.
This book is or soon will be available from the usual bookstores around campus. (Be careful to get the right one. I am also teaching Econ 102, Principles of Macroeconomics, using another text by Mankiw from a different publisher. Be sure you get the right one.)
Also required are a few short readings, accessible on the World Wide Web. Links to them are provided here (click on "online") for you to view on line or download and print. Hard copies of these readings will be on reserve in the Foster Library, and they will also be available in a coursepack from Grade A Notes, in Ulrichs Bookstore, sold at the Michigan Union Bookstore, for those who wish to buy them. A few additional readings from the Web will probably be added during the term, and these will not be available other than online.
Finally, you will also be expected to keep up with the current news that is related to macroeconomics, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Forms for subscribing will be available during the first few classes, at a cost of $34.95 for 15 weeks. You sign up here, and they will bill you later. I indicate below the ways that we will use the Journal, but these include uses for which you will need to have your own copies of the paper and/or access to the Journal online that come
s with your subscription. Therefore a subscription to both the print and electronic versions of the Journal is required for the course.
How We Will Use the Wall Street Journal:
As soon as most of the class is receiving it, you should make a habit of reading the WSJ as it arrives, watching especially for news items relevant to the course. These items will be used in three ways:
- For a few minutes each week I will interrupt the lectures for a discussion of current macroeconomic events. I will ask for volunteers from the class to briefly mention items from the week's news that they find of interest. We will then have a shor
t discussion of these news items, asking how they fit into the structure of the course and of the economy.
- I will occasionally identify particular articles as especially relevant for the course. These will be added to the required reading and covered, at least a little, on the exams.
- Homework assignments will usually also include one question that is based upon an item from the WSJ, which you will need to look up in order to complete the assignment. Since your subscription will include access to the electronomic version of the
paper, you should be able to get these items online, in case you have not kept the print version.
Communication:
Office Hours:
| The GSI for the course is Priya Naik. She will hold regular office hours as follows:
Office: Oakland Annex, Rm 260
| Hours: | Tuesdays 4:30-6:30 PM
|
My office and office hours this term are as follows:
Office: | | 458 Lorch: | | Phone: 764-6817
| Hours: | | General: | | Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00 AM
| | | General: | | Thursdays, 3:00-4:00 PM
| | | SPP 556: | | Tuesdays, 11:00-12:00 AM
|
I will be glad to talk with you during these times without an appointment, or at other times with an appointment. Also, feel free to stop by unannounced whenever my door is ajar. If I'm busy, I'll say so; if not, I'll be glad to talk to you.
|
E-mail
| Priya Naik and I will be available by e-mail, and we will be glad to answer questions there. Our e-mail addresses are listed below:
| The Web
| Wherever possible, course materials will be posted at the following site:
You should look there for extra copies of anything that has been handed out, such as homework assignments and answers. There will also be a place on that site reporting questions that students have asked me by e-mail and the answers that I gave them.
|
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS
|
Lectures
| Topics
| Readings and Assignments
|
Jan 13
| Introduction
| Mankiw 1
|
Jan 15
| Data of Macroeconomics
| Mankiw 2
Boskin on the CPI, online
Homework #1 assigned: "Data of Macroeconomics"
|
Jan 20
| Introduction to Fluctuations
| Mankiw 9, pp. 238-250
|
Jan 22
| Stabilization Policies
| Mankiw 9, pp. 250-255
Hymans on the U.S. economic outlook,
online
Bernstein on the U.S. economic outlook,
online
Homework #1 Due
|
Jan 27
| National Income in the Long Run
| Mankiw 3
|
Jan 29
| Money and Inflation
| Mankiw 4
Homework #2 assigned: "Fluctuations and National Income"
|
Feb 3
| The Open Economy
| Mankiw 5
|
Feb 5
| Unemployment
| Mankiw 6
Bureau of Labor Statistics on the definition of unemployment,
online
Baumol and Wolff on the Natural Rate,
online
Blank on Unemployment and Inequality,
online
Homework #2 Due
|
Feb 10
| Economic Growth I
| Mankiw 7
Homework #3 assigned: "Open Economy, Unemployment, and Growth" (not to be handed in)
|
Feb 12
| Economic Growth II
| Mankiw 8
Romer on the sources of growth, online
|
Feb 17
| Review
|
|
Feb 19
| ***Midterm Exam No. 1***
| Covers through Mankiw 9
|
| Winter Break, Feb 23-27
|
Mar 2
| The IS Curve
| Mankiw 10, pp. 257-271
|
Mar 4
| The LM Curve
| Mankiw 10, pp. 271-277
|
Mar 9
| The IS-LM Model
| Mankiw 11, pp. 281-291
|
Mar 11
| Using the IS-LM Model
| Mankiw 11, 291-303
Homework #4 assigned: "The IS-LM Model"
|
Mar 16
| The Mundell-Fleming Model, Floating Exchange Rates
| Mankiw 12, 312-321
|
Mar 18
| The Mundell-Fleming Model, Pegged Exchange Rates
| Mankiw 12, 321-327
Homework #4 Due (Mar 20, actually)
Homework #5 assigned: "Macro Policy Analysis"
|
Mar 23
| Aggregate Supply
| Mankiw 13, 347-358
|
Mar 25
| The Phillips Curve
| Mankiw 13, 358-371
|
Mar 30
| Review
| Homework #5 Due
|
Apr 1
| ***Midterm Exam No. 2***
| Covers through Mankiw 13, with emphasis on 9-13
|
Apr 6
| Policies: Active versus Passive
| Mankiw 14, pp. 380-389
Greenspan on uncertainty,
online
|
Apr 8
| Policies: Rules versus Discretion
| Mankiw 14, pp. 389-399
|
Apr 13
| Deficits and Debt
| Mankiw 15, pp. 405-415
Homework #6 assigned: "Use of Macro Policy"
|
Apr 15
| Deficits and Debt, Other views
| Mankiw 15, pp. 455-427
Makin (AEI) on deficits,
online
Gale and Orszag (Brookings) on deficits,
online
|
Apr 20
| Other Issues
| Mankiw Epilogue
Homework #6 Due
|
Apr 26:
|
Thursday. Apr 26, 4:00-6:00 PM, FINAL EXAM
Cumulative
|