Los Angeles Harbor College Economics 2 Spring 2012 Section 3525, Tuesdays 6:55 10:05 PM, Room NEA-118 Instructor: Michael Fradkin E-Mail: michael.fradkin@hotmail.com, please include LAHC Econ-2 in the subject line when emailing me. Voicemail: (310) 233-4698x4891 (please repeat your callback number twice, clearly and slowly when leaving me a message). Office Hours: 6:20-6:55 on Tuesdays in NEA-174 Important Dates (as it relates to this class): Last day to add by permit: February 16, 2012 Last to drop with full refund: February 21, 2012 Last day to drop without a "W": March 1, 2012 (in person) March 4, 2012 (online SIS) Spring Break (College closed): April 3, 2012 Last day to drop with a "W": May 3, 2012 (in person) May 6, 2012 (online SIS) Final exam (7:45PM-9:45PM): May 29, 2012 Please refer to the office of Admissions and Records for other important dates. Please be advised that even though it is your responsibility to drop the class, you may be withdrawn from the class by instructor if you did not attend first class meeting or miss more than two classes. Textbook: Required: Economics, by McConnell, Brue, Flynn, 19th Edition. McGraw-Hill ISBN(MHID): 0-07-351144-7 Optional: Study Guide for Economics, 19th Edition ISBN(MHID): 0-07-733792-1 Course Description: Emphasis is placed on the macro or national income approach, with special attention given to aggregate economics, money and banking, and national income. Explores the problems of unemployment, inflation, and government policies relating to these problems. Recommended prerequisite: Economics-1 is not a prerequisite for this course. Eligibility for English 101, or eligibility for and concurrent in English 28. Calculus is highly recommended for Economics students. Student Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe the nature of the principles of economic analysis. 2. Examine the relationship between scarcity, choice, and the opportunity cost of decision making. 3. Apply the principles of economic analysis to real (macroeconomic) world problems. 4. Review the characteristics of American capitalism; private property rights, profits, competition, markets, and government. 5. Describe how Gross Domestic Product is measured and its relationship to net domestic product and national, personal and disposable income.
6. Distinguish among the concepts of national income accounting and other measurement concepts associated with the macroeconomic economy. 7. Describe the history, the nature, and causes of the American business cycle with particular focus on output employment policies and economic growth. 8. Distinguish between classical and Keynesian economic theory, the development of fiscal theory, and the fiscal tools used to stabilize the macro economy. 9. Discuss how built-in stabilizers temper business cycles. 10. Identify limitations of fiscal policy. 11. Analyze how the standardized-budget surplus or deficit provides a measure of fiscal policy. 12. Interpret the consequences and makeup of the U.S. public debt. 13. Describe how the U.S. banking system operates, including reserves, loans and multipliers. 14. Analyze the objectives, organization and function of the Federal Reserve System. 15. Analyze the tools available to the Fed to promote stabilization of the macroeconomic economy via monetary policy. 16. Compare, and to contrast the models of classical economics Keynesian economics monetarism and rational expectations with regard to stabilization policy (stabilizing output, employment, prices, and economic growth) Attendance and Participation: Attendance is CRUCIAL to your success. Attendance will be taken each class meeting. Being late or leaving class early without permission will count as ½ of absent time. Two absences or four times of being late (or leaving early), constitutes a basis for dropping from the class or may adversely affect your final grade. I may, but don't have to drop you; it is always the student s responsibility to drop the class. Please obtain contact information of at least two classmates to get information and materials of the class lecture/homework assignment in case you missed the class. You are expected to actively participate in class, including answering questions and working problems at the board. Homework: Quizzes: Tests: Final Exam: Homework (other than reading) for this class is not assigned, collected or graded. There will be ten graded quizzes for this class. Quiz is distributed at the beginning of the class; there are NO make-up quizzes. If you miss the quiz, it is given a score of zero. Two lowest quiz grades will be dropped and two highest quiz grades will be used instead. There will be two midterm tests. The dates of the tests are listed in the weekly course plan. There will be NO make-up tests for any reason, other than verified medical necessity. Once again, if you miss the test, it is given a score of zero. Final is semi-comprehensive and mandatory. You have to take final to receive a passing grade for the course. The final exam will be given on TUESDAY May 29, 2012 (7:45PM-9:45PM) Grading Policy: Quizzes 100 points 25% of final grade (10 points per quiz) Midterm Tests (two): 200 points 50% of final grade (100 points each) Final Exam: 100 points 25% of final grade ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total: 400 points
Grade Scale: A 360-400 points B 320-359 points C 280-319 points D 240-279 points F 239 points Cell Phones and Electronic Devices: "As approved by the Associated Student Organization and by the Academic Senate, all cell phones and electronic sound-emitting devices shall be turned off at all times during classes. Cell phones and pagers put on vibrate are acceptable, headsets are not". Students using electronics devices or disrupting the class will receive no attendance credit for the day and/or may be asked to leave. If you are found using a phone during a test I reserve the right to deduct points up to the full value of the exam. Class Policies: Weekly Calendar: 1. The college makes every effort to create free and encouraging learning environment for students, but we need your support to achieve our mutual goals. Please read LACCD's Standards of Student Conduct published in the College's catalog. Those rules outline students' expected behavior on campus and are strictly enforced. 2. No recording devices are allowed in the classroom. 3. No food or beverages are allowed in the classroom. 4. No plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty will be tolerated in this class. If you are caught cheating on any assignment your grade will be severely affected and other unpleasant repercussions will follow. The event will be reported to the Department Chair for disciplinary action. Class suspension or expulsion from college will not make your life any easier. 5. It is expected that students will demonstrate respectful in-class behavior and will not interfere with class activities in any way. No talking in the class. No walking in the classroom during the class session. Please be mindful to your classmates before making a comment during class discussions. UNIT I Economics Perspective and National Accounting Week 1 Tuesday February 7, 2012 Ch1 and Appendix Graphs: building and reading, Simple math review. Nature of Economics, methods of studying, branches. Models. Scarcity, opportunity cost, economizing problem, ceteris paribus, positive and normative statements. Economic resources: land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. Production Possibility Curve, economic growth. Week 2 Tuesday February 14, 2012 Ch37 p756-762, Ch2 Quiz 1 Absolute advantage vs. comparative advantage. Economic systems: market and command. Fundamental questions: what to produce, how to produce, who gets products, accommodation of change, progress The "invisible" hand. The Circular Flow model. Week 3 Tuesday February 21, 2012 Ch3 and Appendix, Ch23 Quiz 2 Building Supply and Demand curves. Law of Demand, changes in demand vs. quantity demanded. Law of Supply, changes in supply vs. quantity supplied.
Market equilibrium, changes in demand and supply, price floor and price ceiling. National performance: GDP real and nominal; unemployment; inflation. Economic growth. Demand and Supply shocks. Week 4 Tuesday February 28, 2012 Ch24, Ch25 Quiz 3 GDP measurements. GNP, NDP, PI, Disposable Income. Economic growth. Productivity and its growth. Week 5 Tuesday March 6, 2012 Midterm Unit I UNIT II Macroeconomic Models and Analyses Week 6 Tuesday March 13, 2012 Ch26, Ch27 p547-560 Business cycles, unemployment and inflation. Philips curve. Income-consumption and Income-savings relationships. Propensities to spend and save. Interest Rate-Investment relationship, real vs. nominal interest rate, investment demand curve. Week 7 Tuesday March 20, 2012 Ch28, Ch27 p560-564 Quiz 4 Overview of macroeconomic models: classical vs. Keynesian. Classical model: origin, premises and problems. Great Depression. Keynesian model: aggregate expenditures. The multiplier effect. Week 8 Tuesday March 27, 2012 Ch29 Quiz 5 AD-AS model. Effects of changes in AD and AS. Real life complications. Recessions. Week 9 Tuesday April 3, 2012 Spring break: no class Week 10 Tuesday April 10, 2012 Ch30 Quiz 6 National budget: public deficits and debts. Federal budget deficit and trade deficit. Fiscal policy: implementation and evaluation. Built-in stability. Fiscal policy in practice: effects and issues. Laffer curve. Week 11 Tuesday April 17, 2012 Midterm Unit II UNIT III Money and Financial Economics Week 12 Tuesday April 24, 2012 Ch31 Money: functions and components. Money supply and gold standard. Federal Reserve System: composition and functions. USA financial crisis and great recession. Historic perspective. Week 13 Tuesday May 1, 2012 Ch32 Quiz 7 Commercial bank functions and operations. Money creation by banking system through lending. Reserves and monetary multiplier. Week 14 Tuesday May 8, 2012 Ch33 Quiz 8 Interest rates overview: nominal vs. real. Fisher s equation. Demand for money concept. Bond price vs. interest rate. Monetarism - monetary policy at work: restrictive and expansionary. Liquidity trap.
Week 15 Tuesday May 15, 2012 Ch34 Quiz 9 Financial Economics. Present value concept. Compound interest. Financial instruments: stocks vs. bonds. Investment and economic growth. Risk and futures market. Week 16 Tuesday May 22, 2012 Ch38 Quiz 10 Prospects for global economic growth. Review of exchange rates and balance of payments. Review for final exam. Week 17 Tuesday May 29, 2012 Final Exam (7:45PM-9:45PM) Standards of Student Conduct A student enrolling in one of the Los Angeles Community Colleges may rightfully expect that the faculty and administrators will maintain an environment in which there is freedom to learn. This requires that there be appropriate conditions and opportunities in the classroom and on the campus. As members of the College Community, students should be encouraged to develop the capacity for critical judgment; to engage in sustained and independent search for truth; and to exercise their rights to free inquiry and free speech in a responsible, non-violent manner. Students shall respect and obey civil and criminal law, and shall be subject to legal penalties for violation of laws of the city, county, state, and nation. Student conduct in all of the Los Angeles Community Colleges must conform to District and College rules and regulations. Violations of such rules and regulations, for which students are subject to disciplinary action, include, but are not limited to the following: Board Rule 9803.10. Willful disobedience to directions of College officials acting in the performance of their duties. Board Rule 9803.11. Violation of College rules and regulations including those concerning student organizations, the use of College facilities, or the t me, place, and manner of public expression or distribution of materials. Board Rule 9803.12. Dishonesty, such as cheating, or knowingly furnishing false information to the Colleges. Board Rule 9803.13. Unauthorized entry to or use of the College facilities. Board Rule 9803.14. Forgery, alteration, or misuse of College documents, records or identification. Board Rule 9803.15. Obstruction or disruption of classes, administration, disciplinary procedures or authorized College activities. Board Rule 9803.16. Theft of or damage to property belonging to the College, a member of the College Community or a campus visitor. Board Rule 9803.17. The malicious or willful disturbance of the peace or quiet of any of the Los Angeles Community Colleges by loud or unusual noise or any threat, challenge to fight, fight, or violation of any rules of conduct as set forth in this Article. Any person whose conduct violates this section shall be considered to have interfered with the peaceful conduct of the activities of the college where such acts are committed. Board Rule 9803.18. Assault or battery, abuse, or any threat of force or violence directed toward any member of the College Community or campus visitor engaged in authorized activities.
Los Angeles Harbor College Academic Senate Plagiarism Policy The following is a general campus policy and more specific examples may be devised by discipline. This policy is based on the following resources: Harris, R. (2001). The Plagiarism Handbook: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting, and Dealing with Plagiarism. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. The Standards of Student Conduct in the Los Angeles Harbor College Catalog includes Board Rule 9803.12 which states, "dishonesty, such as cheating, or knowingly furnishing false information to the Colleges" shall be subject to disciplinary action. Definition: Plagiarism is a student's failure to distinguish his or her own words and ideas from those of a source the student has consulted. Ideas derived from another, whether presented as exact words, a paraphrase, a summary or quoted phrase, must always be appropriately referenced to the source, whether the source is printed, electronic, or spoken. Whenever exact words are used, quotation marks or an indented block indicator of a quotation must be used, together with the proper citation in a style required by the professor. Usually, three or more words in a row copied from a source without a citation constitutes plagiarism. Examples: Ex. 1. Common knowledge -- John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 does not require a source, for example. (If a source is used, cite it.) Ex. 2. If you have a question about whether it is plagiarism, be sure to include the quotation marks and citation information. Penalty: The penalty process is decided by the instructor and departmental policies with the following suggested progressive discipline guidelines: warning, rewrite assignment, zero points on assignment, or Administrative discipline. Appeals: Appeals should be directed to the Division Chair for further action as required by due process.