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Principles of Macroeconomics
(ECO 201 3.0 Cr)
Business & Economics
Course Description
Macroeconomics uses the tools of economics
to understand how an economy functions and
to develop policies that promote economic
growth. In this course students will learn
about how a national economy works, and how
various government policies affect the economy
and, by extension, its citizens’ lives.
This course gives students the concepts and
factual knowledge to read and understand the
economic news and events that relate to the
three main concerns of macroeconomics: inflation,
unemployment, and economic growth.
Economists
use "models" to understand how
an economic system works and how a variable,
for example, the amount of spending in the
U.S. economy affects other variables such
as the rate of inflation. Students will
develop several macroeconomic models in
this course and use them to both analyze
and predict inflation, unemployment, and
economic growth.
Learning
Objectives
After completing this course, students will
be able to:
• Explain the role of the market mechanism
in determining the prices and quantities
of
goods and services produced in an economy
• Show how economists apply the model
of supply and demand to individual markets
• Define important macroeconomic variables
such as GDP, unemployment, inflation and
foreign exchange rates
• Locate and use current data about
macroeconomic variables
• Understand how the banking industry
is structured and the role that various
agencies
play in regulating the banking industry
• Analyze monetary and fiscal policy
using aggregate supply and demand diagrams
as well as information from relevant sources
such as the U.S. Federal Reserve's "beige
book"
• Analyze and critique current policies
• Follow macroeconomic discussions
in the news media and develop informed arguments
for themselves
Breadth
of Assignments
This course uses a variety of methods to
explore the Principles of Macroeconomics
including:
textbook reading assignments, online presentations
designed to present the material in a way
that the textbook cannot, web resources
provided to support particularly challenging
subject matter, self-assessment quizzes,
collaborative projects involving problem-solving
or discussions with classmates, individual
activities ranging from Java and Flash based
interactive exercises to writing assignments
and case studies.
Required
Resources
Mankiw, N. (2004). Principles of Macroeconomics
(3rd Edition.). Fort Worth TX: South-Western.
ISBN: 0-32417-189-7
A national/international newspaper or journal
of your choice is strongly suggested. The
following are recommended: The Financial
Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist,
The New York Times.
Principles
of Macroeconomics
Business & Economics
Module/Topics
Module 1: Introduction to Economics
• The ten basic principles of economics
• General concept of opportunity cost
in business and personal life
• Economic graphs and tables
• Analyzing markets using the law
of supply and demand
Module 2: Macroeconomic Data
• Supply and demand models and policy
applications
• Key variables that macroeconomists
use, locating these variables on the Internet,
and
presenting these data graphically
• Assessing if income is related to
other measures of well-being
• Constructing a simple price index
to measure the cost of living and inflation
• Understanding news reports on unemployment,
inflation and output.
Module 3: The Long-Run Determinants
of Economic Growth
• Important factors in creating sustained
economic growth
• Arguing for or against the proposition
that growth increases people's well being
• Applying the market for loanable
funds to analyze financial markets
• Interest rates on bonds and explanation
of why differences exist
• The natural rate of unemployment
Module 4: Money and Inflation
• The role of money in an economy
• The role that the Federal Reserve
plays in maintaining the U.S. money supply
• Locating and using reports by the
Federal Reserve to analyze current monetary
policy
• Analyzing U.S. inflation reports
and critique the Bureau of Labor Statistics
methodology for computing inflation
Module 5: Aggregate Supply and Demand
• Researching current macroeconomic
policy by locating important sources of
information on the Web
• The “multiplier effect;"
• Assessing current monetary and fiscal
policy using the tools of aggregate supply
and demand
• Explaining the limitations of long-run
policy by using the long-run aggregate supply
curve.
Module 6: Macroeconomic Policy
• Current U.S. macroeconomic policy
within the broader concept of the U.S. business
cycle
• Arguments for and against different
macroeconomic policies
• Understanding the Federal Reserve's
"Humphry-Hawkins Report" and other
important reports
• Arguing both sides of major policy
debates in macroeconomics
• Explaining the basic dynamics of
the U.S. and other economies
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