Download Introductory Macroeconomics, ECO202

ECO 3203
Intermediate Macroeconomics
Spring 2008
Instructor:
Office:
Phone Number:
Email:
Class Time:
Office Hours:
Pre-requisite:
Web page:
Dr. Paul Mason and Dr. Lian An
42/3003 (Dr. Mason); 42/3404 (Dr. An)
620-2640 (Dr. Mason); 620-3962 (Dr. An)
[email protected]; [email protected]
T, TH: 3:05pm-4:20pm (80423) and
T, TH: 12:15-1:30 (80426)
T, TH: 10:30am-11:30am, 2:30pm – 4:00pm and by appointment
ECO 2013
http://www.unf.edu/~pmason (Dr. Mason)
http://www.unf.edu/~lian.an (Dr. An)
Text & Course Guide

Richard Froyen : Macroeconomics: Theories and Policies, 8th edition, Prentice-Hall, 2005
(optional). N. Gregory Mankiw: Macroeconomics, 6th edition. Worth Publisher, 2007
The textbooks are engaging, well-written, up-to-date, and provides the most important
recent developments in macroeconomics. We will discuss the first day of class the
conditions under which you should or should not buy the books.

Newspaper: You are expected to be a regular reader of a news or news journal that covers
macroeconomic issues. Good choices are The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, or
The Economist.
Course Goals
Welcome to the world of macroeconomics -- a world that you will be involved with the remainder
of your life. The goal of the course is to provide you rigorous theoretical foundations of various
macroeconomic models, so that you become knowledgeable of, and able to critically analyze, the
major macroeconomic issues of unemployment, jobs, recessions, inflation, monetary policy, fiscal
policy, budget deficits and surpluses, international trade, and economic growth.
Although you will learn more than the following list suggests, the course is structured so that each
of you will be able to answer the following questions when we have finished.
1. Suppose that the U.S. government increases taxes and government outlay by equal amount,
what happens to the interest rate and investment?
2. There is a fall in consumer confidence about the future in the U.S., how does this affect the
trade balance, the real and nominal exchange rate of dollar?
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3. If Japan has low inflation and Mexico has high inflation, what will happen to the exchange rate
between the Japanese yen and the Mexican peso?
4. Japan has long passes legislation making it more difficult for firms to fire workers, how does
this legislation affect the natural rate of unemployment in Japan?
6. The U.S. dollar (USD) has fallen against other major currencies, such as the euro (€) and the yen (¥) over
the last two years. Why has the U.S. dollar fall and who gains and loses from a fall in the dollar?
7. In August 1994, a Mexican peso was worth 30 cents. A year later, it was worth only 16 cents.
What explains this massive fall in the value of the Mexican currency?
8. What is the effect of expansionary fiscal policy in the United States and in China?
Teaching Philosophy and Methods
I love teaching. I look forward to interacting with you throughout the semester about
macroeconomics and other concerns you might have. Class time will be a mixture of lecture and
active learning. Lecture will be used to motivate, clarify, extend, and synthesize the material.
Active learning will be used to involve you in an active discussion of the macroeconomic
principles and ideas.
In class, we will work together on the more demanding part of the course -- analyzing, applying,
synthesizing, and evaluating the principles and ideas. Regularly, you will work together in class
with your classmates. I will ask you to compare answers to a problem or work together on a
question with your neighbor or neighbors.
Grading System
Your grade will be determined by the total number of points you earn on the three exams, a group
projects and class participation assignments. All points count. Grading is based on the standard
90%-100% as an A; 80-89% a B; 70-79% a C; 60-69% a D.
Grading: Grades will be based on three exams, a group projects and class participation
assignments. The following weights apply:
Exam 1
(30%)
Exam 2
(35%)
Group project
(30%)
Class participation assignment (5%)
Exams
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There are two exams. Exam 1, Exam II are each worth 100 points. The exams cover material
from class, the text, the Course Guide, and any additional assigned readings. Each Exam will
consist of multiple-choice questions and short-answer essay.
The date for the first exam is:
Exam I:
Tuesday, Oct 14th
The date and location for the final exam is to be determined by the department at the end of the
semester.
Makeup exams are given only for excused absences or if the student has obtained the instructor's prior
approval. If you miss an exam with an unexcused absence you will receive a zero for the exam. IF
YOU MISS AN EXAM FOR AN UNFORESEEN REASON YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME AS
SOON AS YOU ARE PHYSICALLY ABLE TO PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL ME. AND
YOU MUST PROVIDE WRITTEN DOCUMENT!!! The University defines the following as
excused absences: illness of the student or serious illness of a member of the student's immediate
family; death of a member of the student's immediate family; University sponsored trips; or major
religious holidays. In each case, written verification will be required and permission to miss an exam
must be secured before the scheduled exam time unless the cause of the absence is unforeseen.
I will distribute the exam papers the second day after the exam, if you don’t come to class to
pick up the exam, and you don’t go to my office within two days after I give back your exam, I will
NOT be responsible for keeping your exam papers.
Projects
The empirical projects will require the use of Excel or Stata and will be designed for you to
answer real questions using real data and the statistical techniques you have acquired. You need to
see the instructions later for details. Since the empirical project is group assignment, one of the
concerns with group projects is that team members may not carry their weight in the project. The
peer and instructor evaluation process will help to encourage the equal participation. A Project
Team Evaluation Form will be handed to you before the project; each member of the project group
will complete and hand in that form at the end of each group project. So it will be graded according
to both the performance of the project and the INDIVIDUAL contribution. The due dates are
arranged later in the semester according to our progress.
Class Participation Assignment
Class participation assignments (CPA) are assigned randomly with an unpredictable pattern.
They can take up the form of a class exercise or an oral presentation (for an oral presentation, I will
make announcement beforehand and let you prepare). I usually give a problem set for each chapter.
While we pull through each chapter, I will give you time in class to work out the problems in group
or individually. At the end of each class, I may or may not collect the answers. The purpose of a
CPA is to encourage you to attend class. I will make no announcement about when we will collect
the CPA. If you miss a class, you might miss a CPA. And there is NO make-up for CPA.
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Grievance Procedure
Anyone feeling that a dispute exists after the grading of an exam or homework may submit
a written grievance. The grievance should identity the item in dispute and provides arguments
supporting the student’s position. Grievances must be submitted within two class periods
following the return of the exam or homework. Attach your entire exam or homework to the
grievance.
CCB is a Wall Street Journal Partner School
Each student enrolling in one or more Coggin College of Business (CCB) courses numbered 3000
or higher is assessed a $13 fee during each fall and spring semester. The fee is just $13, regardless
of how many CCB courses the student takes. The fee is assessed at the same time and in the same
manner as all other UNF fees, and the student pays this fee when he/she pays his other tuition and
fees. In return, each student is able to pick up a copy of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from
locations within the College. Moreover, each student will receive access to all of the WSJ's on-line
editions (e.g., European, Asian), as well as the WSJ Employment Edition and Barron’s. Access to
these publications is free during summer terms for students enrolled in these courses. Students who
already have personal subscriptions can have the WSJ refund those dues. For information on that
process, as well as more about CCB’s partnership with the WSJ, please visit
http://www.unf.edu/ccb/wsj.htm.
Classroom Decorum
In order to create a positive learning environment, all students are expected to behave in a
professional and courteous manner during class. Disruptive behavior in the classroom is a
violation of the Student Code of Conduct.
According to the Student Code of Conduct disruption includes “Acts that impair, interfere with,
or obstruct the orderly conduct, processes, and functions of the University or the rights of other
members of the University community. This includes acts that occur both inside and outside the
classroom.”
Examples of such acts may include, but are not limited to:
1. Talking with other students during the lecture
2. Reading newspapers or other non-course related literature during class time
3. Leaving the room during lecture without prior approval
4. Failure to turn off cell phones during class time.
Students engaged in disruptive behavior will be referred to the appropriate university officials and
are subject to removal from the classroom.
University Policy on Academic Integrity:
In order to protect the integrity of the teaching, learning, and evaluation process, the University of
North Florida expects all members of the academic community to respect the principle of academic
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freedom and to behave with academic integrity. Briefly stated, academic misconduct shall consist
of any attempt to misrepresent one's performance on any exercise submitted for evaluation.
Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to:
Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes,
study aids or other devices in any academic exercise. This definition includes unauthorized
communication of information during an academic exercise.
Fabrication and Falsification: Intentional and unauthorized alteration or invention of any
information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification is a matter of altering information,
while fabrication is a matter of inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic
exercise.
Multiple Submissions: The submission of substantial portions of the same academic work for
credit (including oral reports) more than once without authorization.
Plagiarism: Intentionally or knowingly presenting the work of another as one's own (i.e., without
proper acknowledgment of the source). The sole exception to the requirement of acknowledging
sources is when the ideas, information, etc., are common knowledge.
Abuse of Academic Materials: Intentionally or knowingly destroying, stealing, or making
inaccessible library or other academic resource materials.
Complicity in Academic Dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help
another commit an act of academic dishonesty.
Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities should contact the Academic Resource Center in Building 2, room
1003. The telephone number is 620-2766. This should be done within the first week of the
semester. Every effort will be made to accommodate the requirements for students who have
demonstrated special needs.
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Tentative Course Outline
Part I: Introduction (Richard Froyen’s textbook)
Chapter1: Introduction to Macroeconomic Theories
Chapter 2: Macro Variables
Chapter 3, 4: Classical Macroeconomics & Model
Part II: Classical Theory: The Economy in the Long Run (Mankiw’s textbook)
Chapter 3: National Income
Chapter 4: Money and Inflation
Chapter 5: The Open Economy
Chapter 6: Unemployment
Part III: Business Cycle Theory: The Economy in the Short Run (Mankiw’s textbook)
Chapter 9: Introduction to Economic Fluctuation
Chapter 10: Aggregate Demand I: Building IS-LM Model
Chapter 11: Aggregate Demand II: Applying the IS-LM model
Chapter 12 The Open Economy Revisited: The Mundell-Fleming Model
Chapter 13 Aggregate Supply and the Short Run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment
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