Econ 302 – Intermediate Macroeconomics. Class Hours: T, Th 2:10 – 3:30, 111
East Hall. Course Website: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ302/Sikdar/.
Iowa State University Department of Economics Econ 302 – Intermediate Macroeconomics Class Hours: T, Th 2:10 – 3:30, 111 East Hall
Course Website: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ302/Sikdar/
Instructor: Shiva Sikdar, 78 Heady Hall, 294-1082,
[email protected] (please include the phrase “Econ 302” in the subject of your email) Instructor Office Hours: TBA
TA: Li Zhang, 180A Heady Hall, 294-6292,
[email protected] TA Office Hours: TBA
Course Objective: Econ 302 is the second course in Macroeconomics. Its main objective is to develop a theoretical framework to understand and think about macroeconomic issues. We will analyze the determination of macroeconomic variables, such as output, prices and interest rates, in the short, medium and long run.
Prerequisites: Students are expected to have taken Principles of Microeconomics (Econ 101) and Principles of Macroeconomics (Econ 102). Students are required to be familiar with basic algebra, graphs and basic calculus. Required Text: Macroeconomics, Olivier Blanchard, 4th edition. (Companion website: http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_blanchard_macro_4/ )
Course Grading: Grades will be based on quizzes and exams.
Quizzes: Every Thursday, unless otherwise announced, there will be a 15 minute quiz, based on material covered in the previous week. All quizzes will be of multiple choice type on scantron sheets; please bring #2 pencils. These quizzes are closed-book, closednotes and use of programmable calculators is prohibited. Your best 10 (in terms of raw
scores) of all quizzes will count. The primary reason for disregarding the rest is to include all possible reasons for a student to miss a quiz. This is because there are no make-up quizzes and the grade of a missed quiz is zero. Quizzes account for 60% of your overall grade.
Exams: There will be two exams, each accounting for 20% of your grade. The midterm will include material covered up to the week before the exam. The final exam is non-cumulative and covers material not included in the mid-term. Exams are also of the closed-book and closed-notes type, and use of programmable calculators is prohibited. There are no make-up exams; however, alternative arrangements can be made if there is a legitimate documented reason for missing an exam.
Li Zhang will be grading your quizzes and exams. If you have any questions regarding the grading of your exam, you should first go to her and if the dispute still persists, you should then come to me.
Attendance: Attendance in lectures is very strongly recommended especially since all quizzes and exams closely follow the lectures (and because some of the material covered in the lectures is not to be found in the text). It is your responsibility to find out what was covered if you do miss a lecture. I will not go over the missed material in office hours.
Academic Integrity: All violations of academic integrity (as defined in the University handbook for students) are taken very seriously, and will be reported to the appropriate committee. For more
on
the
university
policy
on
academic
integrity,
see
the
web
page:
www.iastate.edu/~catalog/2005-07/geninfo/dishonesty.html.
Classroom Etiquette: Here are some “Do’s” and “Don’ts” to enhance your own and others’ learning in class. It is better that we all work together to make this class an enjoyable experience and to increase the efficiency of learning. •
Do turn your cell phones off during class.
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Do turn off your laptop computers during class; if you want to use notes from the book or slides from the book, please bring printouts of these.
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Do not read newspapers, magazines, etc. in class.
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Do come to class on time. Do follow the lecture carefully.
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Do not talk with fellow students during class. Do feel responsible for disturbing your classmates around you while they listen to the lecture.
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Do not start gathering up your materials, stand up, etc. before the class is completely over. Lots of seemingly quiet individual rustling often adds up to a lot of very distracting noise in the aggregate, that could delay the end of a lecture.
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Do sit near the door if you have to leave early and Do let your instructor know about this before class.
Special Accommodations: If you have a documented disability that requires special academic accommodations, you will need to go to the Disability Resource (DR) Office for coordination of your academic accommodations and obtain a Student Academic Accommodation Request (SAAR) form verifying your disability and specifying the accommodations you will need. The DR is located in the Student Services Building, Room 1076. Their phone number is 515-2947220.
Course Outline: Chapters refer to the corresponding ones in the textbook. 1. Introduction and Overview, Chapters 1 and 2 2. The Economy in the Short Run a. The Goods Market, Chapter 3 b. The Money Market, Chapter 4 c. The IS-LM Model, Chapter 5 3. The Economy in the Medium Run a. The Labor Market, Chapter 6 b. The AS-AD Model, Chapter 7 c. Unemployment, Chapter 8 d. Inflation, Chapter 9 4. The Economy in the Long Run a. Facts, Chapter 10 b. Saving, Capital Accumulation and Output, Chapter 11 c. Technological Progress and Growth, Chapter 12 d. Technological Progress, Wages and Unemployment, Chapter 13 5. Expectations a. Basic Tools, Chapter 14 b. Financial Markets and Expectations, Chapter 15
c. Expectations, Consumption and Investment, Chapter 16 d. Expectations, Output and Policy, Chapter 17 6. Macroeconomic Policy a. Should Policy Makers be Restrained?, Chapter 24 b. Monetary Policy, Chapter 25 c. Fiscal Policy, Chapter 26 7. Open Economy Macroeconomics a. Openness in Goods and Financial Markets, Chapter 18 b. The Goods Market in an Open Economy, Chapter 19 c. Output, Interest Rates and the Exchange Rate, Chapter 20 d. Exchange Rate Regimes, Chapter 21
