Intermediate Macroeconomics I Syllabus for Fall 2017 ECON 303-001 (Rev. 0) TR 9:30-10:45 AM Econ 1052 INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Dave Dixon Econ Bldg. #2026 (505) 886-1811 ddixon@unm.edu Office hours: See Learn REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS: Macroeconomics, 9e by N. Gregory Mankiw. Worth Publishers. Available from the UNM Bookstore. If you shop online, be sure you get the 9th edition. We will definitely cover material that s not in any earlier edition. iclicker. Any version. Available from the bookstore, or iclicker REEF smartphone app (see caution in the iclicker section below). Assignments are due beginning the first day of the course. It is the student s responsibility to acquire materials promptly. There are at least four ways to get the required material: Purchase the textbook from the Campus Bookstore [$210.75 used] Purchase the ebook from the Campus Bookstore [$120.99] Purchase the textbook from another source - be sure to get the 9th edition. Note that LaunchPad is not required for this course. COURSE OVERVIEW Greek makro-, from makros, large. [http://www.webster.com] It s not about large economies per se, but about the economic behaviors of large numbers of economic agents, their planners and leaders, and the structures they form (e.g. markets, nations). Topics include an introduction to economics, macroeconomic indicators, long-run economic growth vs. short-run fluctuations and an analysis of monetary and fiscal policy. Parts of this course will be dedicated to analyzing current issues and exploring real-time macroeconomic data as they pertain to each lesson.
COURSE OUTLINE Topics covered in this course: Introduction Macroeconomic data (GDP, CPI, unemployment rate, etc.) Production function, factors of production, the classical model Banking, monetary system, monetary policy Inflation, unemployment The Closed Economy in the Very Short Run Business cycle, AS-AD model, stabilization policy IS-LM model, the market for money, fluctuations, depression, and recession The Open Economy in the Short Run Floating versus fixed exchange rates, net capital outflow The Mundell-Fleming model, interest rate differentials The Long Run Aggregate supply from short-run to long-run, the Phillips curve Solow growth model, golden rule savings, population growth, technological progress Endogenous growth models: two-sector model, AK model, human and intellectual capital models COURSE FORMAT Web Enhanced Lecture: This means regular class meetings (lectures) plus Learn for homework, communication and administration. Administration includes announcements, assignment due dates, special readings and online discussions. Administration also includes course progress and grades. You will need your UNM NetID (login) to use Learn. Using Learn Go to https://learn.unm.edu/. After you login, your My Courses list should include ECON 303-001 (Fall 2017) To find out more about Learn, click the Support link in the upper right corner of your Learn page. Schedule The official course schedule is posted in Learn and is subject to change. Check it often. Page 2 of 8
Reading If the schedule shows reading due for a class meeting, that reading must be completed before arriving for that class. Students will be required to take an iclicker quiz in class on the reading material due that day. Taking the quiz will count toward class participation, with the actual quiz grade averaged into your overall grade for quizzes. Homework If the schedule shows a homework problem set due on a date, the homework is due before 11:59 PM of that day. In-class Labs There will be ten in-class labs. Each student will be assigned to a small team. Each team will work together on the labs, and each team will be required to turn in a post-lab report at the end of class. Each student, individually, will turn in a complete lab report at the beginning of class on the due date. The detail requirements for the lab reports is posted on Learn. Student must be present for the lab to get credit for the report. Participation Students are expected to participate in discussions, in-class problem solving and exercises, and online forums. Credit for this course includes a participation component (see COURSE REQUIRE- MENTS below), which can be either positive or negative. For example, frequent absence reduces the opportunities for participation and may result in negative participation credit. Similarly, disrespectful conduct, either in the classroom or online, will not be tolerated and will result in negative participation credit. Exams In 100-200 level courses, exam questions will be nearly identical to homework problems. In 300- level courses, exam problems will be similar to homework with some expectation that the student will be able to adapt to changes in numerical values or answer components (e.g. homework asked for equilibrium quantity, exam asks for equilibrium price). In 400-level courses, exam problems will address the same topics as homework, with the expectation that students are able to extrapolate from familiar applications to similar but unfamiliar applications. I will typically warn you if something in class is likely to appear on an exam, but it is possible that something from the reading will appear on an exam that hasn t been discussed in class. iclicker Students are required to have an iclicker (any version), or the iclicker REEF smartphone app. The iclickers will be used to take surveys in class. iclicker use will be required for class participation. The physical iclicker is available from the bookstore. Registering your iclicker: You won t get any credit for your clicks unless you register your iclicker. There is a link in Learn for registering your Page 3 of 8
iclicker. The iclicker REEF app is automatically registered. All registrations must be correct by the last quiz or you risk getting no credit for quizzes. If you change clickers, go from REEF to a clicker, or from a clicker to REEF, you must notify the instructor the day of the first quiz using the new clicker/app. Failure to do so will put your credit for quizzes at risk. Caution: The iclicker REEF app tries to use Lobo Wi-Fi to communicate with a distant server via the UNM network and the Internet. Meanwhile, the iclicker base contacts that server via the classroom computer, the UNM network, and the Internet. That is, the iclicker REEF app is affected by Wi-Fi availability, global network traffic, national weather patterns, and astrological convergences. The iclicker REEF app addresses only one link in this precarious chain: Lobo Wi- Fi. Experience with Wi-Fi devices in the Economics building has shown that Lobo Wi-Fi will hang rather than become unavailable. In this case, your device may not know to switch over to 4GL unless you switch off Wi-Fi. That still leaves the rest of the Interwebs to mess you up. In the past, many students have used the app without difficulty, but a few have been tormented by it. Use the app at your own risk - no accommodations for app-related problems can be made. JITT JITT (just-in-time teaching) is way for students to have some control over the curriculum. When you do the required reading, most of what you read will be clear to you, but a few things would be clearer with some discussion. To ensure that students take responsibility for this control, you will be required to make a post to the JITT discussion board in Learn at least once each week. JITT posts can include questions or comments about the homework or an exam question, or to make constructive comments in reply to a post by another student. ONLINE CONTENT This course will include online content posted on Learn. Please do not leave online work to the last minute assignments missed due to technical difficulties will receive the highest level of sympathy, but no grade allowances. Page 4 of 8
COURSE REQUIREMENTS EXAMS HOMEWORK 14 homework sets PARTICIPATION IN-CLASS LABS QUIZZES 3 progressive exams (not cumulative, but subsequent exams will build on the material from earlier ones.) Exam 3 is during finals week. All students are expected to participate in solving problems in class, general discussions, and in-class exercises. This includes participating in online discussions. Teams will work together on the projects, but each student must submit a write-up. There will be iclicker quizzes at the beginning of lecture whenever reading is due (see schedule). In addition to the participation credit mentioned above, the quiz grades will count, too. Grading (% of total grade) (30%) Best 10 out of 14 (10%) (20%) Best 8 out of 10 (20%) (20%) COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES (CLOs) Each topic we cover also has its own learning objectives and will correspond to one or more of the following course learning objectives. After successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Define the principle components of the national expenditure (GDP) equation and their mathematic relationship. 2. Define inflation and explain the differences between the two principle measures of inflation: CPI and GDP deflator. 3. Demonstrate mathematically and graphically equilibrium in the macroeconomic markets: the market for goods and services, the market for loanable funds, and the market for money. 4. Define the principle components of the monetary system and mathematically demonstrate the the multiplier effect in fractional reserve banking. 5. Describe the quantity theory of money and demonstrate mathematically its application to the assumptions of constant velocity of money and short-run fixed income. 6. Correctly define the terms seigniorage and inflation tax and explain their relationship to hyperinflation. 7. Define and demonstrate mathematically the relationship between population, labor force, employment, unemployment, and steady-state unemployment rate. 8. Define frictional unemployment, structural unemployment, and cyclical unemployment. Page 5 of 8
9. Define aggregate supply, aggregate demand, and aggregate price and demonstrate graphically the AS-AD model. Analyze macroeconomic shocks and policy responses using the AS-AD model. 10. Explain graphically the IS-LM model, including its components, the Keynesian cross and the market for money. Analyze macroeconomic shocks and policy responses using the IS-LM model. 11. Describe the interest rate assumptions of a small open economy and explain the role of net exports in the national expenditure (GDP) equation and the relationship of net exports to the flow of capital. 12. Explain graphically the Mundell-Fleming model. Analyze macroeconomic shocks and policy responses using the Mundell-Fleming model. 13. Explain and demonstrate using the Phillips Curve and Okun s Law the relationships between inflation, unemployment, and GDP. 14. Explain and demonstrate mathematically and graphically the basic Solow growth model, the effects of population growth, and the Golden Rule level of savings. Demonstrate the effect of labor-enhancing technological advancement in the Solow growth model. 15. Explain and demonstrate mathematically and graphically the two-sector and constant-returns endogenous growth models. 16. Interpret macroeconomic data, graphs, and tables, including exchange rate data. COMMUNICATION The instructor and TA(s) will use Course Announcements for general communication. For questions or discussion about the course and its content, the best time to communicate is in class. Outside of class, the best way for you to communicate is through Learn on either the JITT discussion board (see the section above) or the Course Messages tool (more on that below). L If you have a question about the course, please review this document first as most questions have already been answered here. If you have a question about the course content or something that is not answered in this document, please first post your question to the JITT forum in Learn. When you post on the JITT forum, the teaching team is notified by email. By asking and answering questions on this shared board, it will considerably reduce the time spent answering duplicate emails from different students. You can subscribe to the forum by navigating to the forum then clicking the Subscribe button. Course Messages/Email Of course, if you have a confidential matter to discuss (e.g., your grade), please use Course Messages in Learn. We use Course Messages to protect your confidentiality and to have a reliable record of communication. For these reasons, the instructor will not respond to any email messages except in an emergency. Page 6 of 8
GETTING SUPPORT Office Hours, Appointments, and CAPS Online Tutoring The instructor and TA(s) will hold regularly scheduled office hours. Campus office hours are located on UNM s main campus in the Economics Building (#57). See Learn for office hours, office locations, and contact info. The CAPS online tutor will also hold regularly scheduled virtual sessions at the Online Learning Center >> Macroeconomics. Also, always feel free to set up an appointment with the instructor. Technical Support If you have a Learn technical difficulty, but are able to login to Learn, please click the Create Support Ticket link from our course page. If you are unable to log in to Learn, please contact Learn technical support at (http://online.unm.edu/help/learn/support/). GRADING POLICY Your final grade will be determined from the table below, rounding your Course Average to the nearest whole percent - NO EXCEPTIONS. A student will receive an A+ grade only if the score is 96% or above before extra credit. Course Average Grade 96% A+ 93-95% A 90-92% A- Course Average Grade 86-89% B+ 83-85% B 80-82% B- A Course Average below 60% is a failing grade. Course Average Grade 76-79% C+ 73-75% C 70-72% C- Course Average Grade 66-69% D+ 63-65% D 60-62% D- ACCOMMODATION STATEMENT Accessibility Services (Mesa Vista Hall 2021, 277-3506, http://as2.unm.edu/) provides academic support to students who have disabilities. If you think you need alternative accessible formats for undertaking and completing coursework, you should contact this service right away to assure your needs are met in a timely manner. If you need local assistance in contacting Accessibility Services, see the Bachelor and Graduate Programs office. LIBRARY AND TUTORIAL SERVICES UNM-Main campus provides many library services and some tutorial services for distance students. For library services, go to http://www.unm.edu/libraries/ to link to a specific library or to contact a librarian. For tutorial services, go to http://caps.unm.edu/online to explore UNM s online services. Page 7 of 8
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY/HONESTY The University of New Mexico believes that academic honesty is a foundation principle for personal and academic development. All University policies regarding academic honesty apply to this course. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating or copying, plagiarism (claiming credit for the words or works of another from any type of source such as print, Internet or electronic database, or failing to cite the source), fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. The University s full statement on academic honesty and the consequences for failure to comply is available in the college catalog and in the Pathfinder. In this course you will be held to the UNM standard and more. Do not do anything that would constitute academic misconduct. There will be zero tolerance of academic misconduct, and violations will be reported to University authorities. Penalties for academic misconduct include withdrawal from the course with a failing grade in addition to any penalties imposed by the University. ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN CLASS Laptops, tablets, smartphones, MP3 players, etc. must be used with consideration. In particular, students using laptops are encouraged to sit at the back of the lecture hall so they do not distract other students. Any student whose electronic device appears to be distracting other students will be asked to terminate use. Page 8 of 8