ECONOMICS 3410 - SECTION 01 (Fall 2007)

(Syllabus updates available at www.westga.edu/~dboldt/ECON3410/F073410.html)

COURSE TITLE:

Macroeconomic Policy

INSTRUCTOR:

David Boldt dboldt@westga.edu
Office Phone: 678-839-6477

OFFICE HOURS:

M-F 10:00-11:30 AM, MW 1:30-2:00 , T 6:00-7:00 pm, and other times by arrangement

REQUIRED TEXT, OTHER READINGS, AND ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING RESOURCES:

Baumol, William J and Alan S. Blinder., Macroeconomics Principles and Policies, 10th Edition, Thompson Southwestern, 2006 (available at UWG Bookstore)

Hartford, Tim, The Undercover Economist, Random House, 2005.

The companion website to the text can be found at http://baumol.swlearning.com. Use the “companion site” to the book to access the interactive quizzes. I would recommend completing these practice quizzes prior to each exam.

You will also be required to read the Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary provided by Wachovia Bank. These commentaries provide weekly updates on the U.S. and global economy. Find the most recent commentary by going to the Wachovia Bank site (Economic Commentary). Be prepared to discuss these commentaries in class and to answer questions related to these commentary on the tests.

Other readings will also be assigned during the semester. These will be handed out in class or accessed via the internet.

Other useful macroeconomics sites include the homepage of the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org), the Council of Economic Advisors (www.whitehouse.gov/cea, and the Economics Statistics Briefing Room at the Whitehouse website (www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html).

PREREQUISITES:

ECON 2105, ECON 2106 and MATH 1111

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The overall goal of this course is to give students a more comprehensive overview of the U.S. and the global economy.  To this end, upon completion of the course you should be able to:

• accurately describe macroeconomic concepts such as GDP, inflation, unemployment, federal budget deficit, and the tools of monetary policy (LG7, LG8)
• recognize open economy issues such as capital flows, exchange rates, and trade deficits and be able to identify current problems facing the U.S. and the world economy (LG10)
• distinguish between short run issues such as the business cycle and stabilization policy and long run issues such as economic growth, tax reform, and the natural rate of unemployment (LG8, LG11)
• discuss and write about economic problems and alternative strategies for addressing these problems (LG1, LG11)
• recognize and interpret economic indicators of the macroeconomy (LG12)

Note: A complete list of expected learning goals (LG) for the Economics Department can be found at the department web site (www.westga.edu/~econ/lg_assessments.html).

EVALUATION

Grading in the course will be based on your performance on the following: 1) Five examinations, including the final, are scheduled. Each will be composed of short answer questions based on our class discussions, reading material (text and other readings), and the Weekly Economic Commentary (Wachovia Bank). Each of the tests will be worth 20 percent of your grade. I will drop your lowest text grade. The final test will be comprehensive and must be taken to make up for a missed exam. 2) An assignment/test questions based on The Undercover Economist written by Tim Hartford (10 percent), and 3) The remaining 10 percent of your grade will be based on your overall participation in the class (attendance, in-class quizzes or other assignments)

EXAMINATION SCHEDULE WITH ASSIGNED READINGS:

Examination Dates	Assigned Readings
Exam 1 Wednesday, August 29	Ch. 5 (BB); class handouts; EC (Aug 10, 17)
Exam 2 Monday, September 24	Ch. 6-8 (BB); class handouts, EC (Aug 24, Sept.7, 14)
Exam 3 Monday, October 29	Ch 9-11 (BB), EC (Sept 21,28; Oct 5,12,19)
Exam 4 Monday, December 3	Ch. 12-13 and 18-19 (up to p. 373) (BB); Oct 26, Nov 2, 9, 16 (EC), handouts, The Undercover Economist
Final Monday, December 10, 2-4 pm	Comprehensive

EC Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary (Wachovia)

BB (Baumol/Blinder), 10^th ed.

ASSIGNMENTS

The Undercover Economist Assignment---Given with Exam 4.

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Economics 3410 Course Outline

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Section	TOPICS/READING ASSIGNMENTS (Baumol book)
I	Intro to Macroeconomics and the Goals of Macroeconomic Policy (Chs. 5-6)
II	Economic Growth and Aggregate Supply/Demand (Chs.7-10)
III	Fiscal and Monetary Policy (Chs. 11-14)
IV	U.S. and the World Economy (Chs. 18-19)
V	Other Topics: Budget Deficits (Ch. 15) ; Inflation/Unemployment Tradeoff (Ch. 16)