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Economics 103 Section 1
Principles of Macroeconomics
Summer 2008
MTWRF 8:00 – 9:30 am BEH 121
Instructor
Bernard Malamud
Email: [email protected]
Office: BEH 502 Phone: 895 –3294 FAX: 895 - 1354
Office Hours: MTWThF 9:30 – 11:10 am and by appointment
General Nature of the Course
Course objectives: An introduction to the study of the determination of the level of
national income, employment and prices and the basic causes of fluctuations in these
levels. This course will help you guide economic policy if you are ever elected to
Congress or the presidency, intelligently advise those who are and, as an informed
citizen, evaluate and anticipate what these officials are up to. The course gives you the
tools and the confidence to grapple with a highly complex system (the macroeconomy),
to understand how it works and how its performance can be affected by policy. The
course also familiarizes you with the private and public, national and global,
characteristics of today's economic world. We will relate the theories we study to
economic events as they unfold throughout the semester.
Upon completion of this course you will know i) measures of macroeconomic
performance; ii) determinants of macro-equilibrium in the short-run and in the long-run;
iii) how the economy responds to demand-side and supply-side shocks; iv) the ways
money and demand-side management policies affect the economy; v) how the global
economy affects macroeconomic performance; and vi) determinants of long-term
economic growth and development.
Text and Supplemental Readings
Required Text: R. Glenn Hubbard and Anthony P. O’Brien, Macroeconomics, Second
Edition. Prentice-Hall, 2008.
Supplements:
The text’s website (practice questions and links to valuable resources):
http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_hubbard_macro_2/
Follow economic news at
economist.com
ft.com (Financial Times)
The Nightly Business Report (PBS)
Examinations and Grading
Five 50-point “short-exams” and a 200-point comprehensive final consisting of multiple
choice and essay questions will be given this semester. Your final grade will be based on
your top four short-exam scores and your score on the final.
Your overall percentage score will be based on your quiz and exam scores as follows:
Top 4 Short-exam scores
Final Exam, July 11
Maximum overall score
200 points
200 points
400 points
Approximate Final Grade Distribution
Percentage Score
87 percent
77 percent
67 percent
57 percent
FINAL GRADE
Borderline ABorderline BBorderline CBorderline D-
Attendance and class participation will affect your final grade.
Makeup Policy
A makeup exam may be arranged at mutual convenience if you have a compelling reason
to miss a scheduled short-exam. A makeup exam must be taken before the missed exam
is returned to the class. There will be no makeup final.
Class Conduct
Your instructor and classmates deserve courtesy. If you must arrive late or leave early,
do so quietly. Inform me beforehand if you must leave class early. Smoking and eating
in class are prohibited. Disruptive behavior in class constitutes grounds for dismissal
from the course. While this probably need not be said, anyone found engaging in any act
of academic dishonesty will be punished in accordance with university policies.
Other Information
The UNLV Disability Resource Center (DRC) houses the resources for students with
disabilities. If you have a documented disability that may require accommodations, you
will need to contact the DRC for coordination of services. The DRC is located in the
Student Services Complex (SSC), Room 137. Their numbers are (702) 895-0866/Voice;
(702) 895-0652/TDD; and (702) 895-0651/Fax. For additional information, please visit
http://www.unlv.edu/studentlife/drc.
Web Resources
My website will have the powerpoint slides I use in lectures. Check it out at
http://faculty.unlv.edu/bmalamud/ . In addition, you can always reach me with questions at
[email protected]. In addition, I will occasionally email news items to you at your
UNLV email address.
Course Outline
Date
Jun 9
Jun 10,11,12
Jun 13
Topic
Course organization / The macroeconomy today
Macro – measures
 GDP / National income accounting
 Unemployment and inflation
 Business cycles
Jun 23,24,25,26
Jun 30,Jul 1,2
Money and demand – side stabilization policies
 The Federal Reserve / The quantity equation
Monetary policy
Fiscal policy
Ch. 13 (pp. 448
– 459)
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Problems: Chapters 13,14,15
Short – exam: Chapters 13,14,15
Tradeoffs and Open Economy Macroeconomics
 Phillips Curve and the Fed
 International transactions, exchange rates and the
macroeconomy
Jun 3
Problems: Chapters 16,17
Short – exam: Chapters 16,17
Jul 4
Independence day recess
Jul 7,8
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Ch. 13 (pp. 430
– 448)
Problems: Chapters 11,12
Short – exam: Chapters 11,12


Jun 27
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Ch. 9 (Fig. 9.2 &
pp. 291 – 301)
Problems: Chapters 7,8, and business cycles in Chapter 9
Short – exam: Chapters 7,8, and business cycles in Chapter 9
Jun 16,17,18,19 Understanding the short – run
 Output and expenditure: demand – side equilibrium
 Aggregate demand – aggregate supply
 Money functions / money creation
Jun 20
Reading in Text
Chapter 1
Economic growth and development
 Measuring growth

Long – run economic growth: sources and policies
Jul 9
Problems: Chapter 10
Short – exam: Chapter 10
Jul 10
Review
Jul 11
Comprehensive Final Examination
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Ch. 9 (pp. 274 –
283)
Chapter 10