The course grade will be based on five components of student performance with the following weights:
Midterm Exam #1: | | 20%
| Midterm Exam #2: | | 20%
| Homework Assignments: | | 10%
| Section Grade (including participation and quizzes): | | 10%
| Final Exam: | | 40%
| Total: | | 100%
|
Homework assignments will be posted online weekly and handed in for grading
and discussion during most weeks without exams. There will also be three, short quizzes given in the section meetings, as shown in the schedule below. The GSI in your section will determine your section
grade, based on the quizzes, class participation, etc. At the end of the
term, grades on the above five components will be normalized and averaged
using the indicated weights to generate a ranking for the course as a
whole. The grade for the course, i.e., the "curve," will be based on
that ranking. We will however give you some indication during the term
of the distribution of grades on the midterm exams, so that
you will have an idea of how you are doing.
Readings
Readings for the course come primarily from a textbook, but they
also
include a number of outside readings that are available online and in coursepacks, plus
regular reading of the Wall Street Journal newspaper. All of the outside readings can be found on the World Wide Web (some via a U of M subscription), and they are also in a separate coursepack that is therefore optional.
The textbook, for the course has been ordered as a package that
also includes a subscription to the Wall Street Journal:
Mankiw, N. Gregory Brief Principles of Macroeconomics 4th edition,
Thomson South-Western Publishers, 2007.
The text package (with WSJ subscription form and study guide) is available from the usual bookstores around
campus. The Wall Street Journal is required reading, although it
is not required that you subscribe, if you choose to acquire the text separately.
Also required are a number of short readings from the web. Links to them are provided in the schedule below (click "online") to view them online or to download and print. They are also listed separately, in an optional Coursepack 1, together with questions on each reading that should guide you in your study. The readings themselves are reproduced in a second optional Coursepack 2, for those who find that more convenient.
To give you an idea of the format and content of exams, old
exams and answers from my course in previous years
will be placed
on the course web site
(see below). I used the same text each time, in an earlier edition
(although I did not use all the same readings from
the web), so these exams should provide a fairly accurate guide to what
the exams this year may look like. Hard copies of these exams will
also be
available in additional optional coursepacks.
Finally, you will be expected to keep up with the current news that
is related to macroeconomics, as reported in the Wall Street
Journal. You do not have to subscribe, if you can get
access to the paper some other way, in a library or through someone else's
subscription. But you do need to read it daily and be prepared to
use it for a few of the homework assignments. Each week an article will
be assigned as required reading for the exams. While these articles will
be available on the web from U of M computers, you may find it much easier
to study these articles if you have copies yourself.
Those who buy the textbook package, which includes the Wall Street Journal, should activate their subscriptions by
filling out the card that is enclosed with the text and mailing it to WSJ. If you wish instead to
subscribe separately or for a longer period of time, you can subscribe online directly with WSJ for a student price.
How We Will Use the Wall Street Journal:
As soon as those who subscribe are receiving it, all students
should make a
habit of reading the WSJ each weekday, watching especially for news items
relevant to the course. These items will be used in four ways:
- For a few minutes each week we will interrupt the large lectures
for a discussion of current macroeconomic events. I will ask for
volunteers from the class to briefly mention items from the week's news
that they find of interest. We will then have a short discussion of these
news items, asking how they fit into the structure of the course and of
the economy. To encourage you to participate in these discussions, your
GSIs will keep track of their own students who speak up, and they will
include that, in a small way, as they calculate your section grades.
- On Tuesday of each week, I will identify one or more articles from the previous
week of the WSJ for you to read and study. Exams will include questions about these
assigned articles. I suggest that you clip these articles and save them, since
material
from some of them will appear on exams. (Those who subscribe may
therefore want to hold onto
newspapers until after class the following Tuesday, to
be able to clip articles after they are announced.) These assigned
articles will be available online, through the course web site, posted by
the Proquest service that is available to U of M students.
- Each homework assignment will have one or more topics. After the
WSJ subscriptions begin, as part of each assignment, you will be asked to search
recent issues of the WSJ (or other news sources) for an item that is
relevant to that topic. Then clip one such item and attach it to your
homework when you hand it in, together with a paragraph that you write
summarizing the item and why it is relevant to the topic. GSIs will use these items as the basis
for class discussion, and you may be asked during the section to explain
why you chose your clipping.
- Homework assignments will sometimes also include one question that
is
based upon an item from the WSJ, which you will need to look up in order
to complete the assignment. Those with subscriptions will have access
to the electronic version of the paper, and they should be able to get
these
items online. Others may need to use copies of the paper from libraries
for these assignments.
Study Aids:
The following are things that you might find useful to assist you in
studying for the course. Of course, none of them can replace
your own efforts at careful reading of the course materials, attention
during lectures and sections, and your own notes on both the lectures and
the readings.
- Lecture Outlines: At the beginning of each lecture, I will
post an outline of it. These outlines will also be available by clicking
on the lecture topic from this syllabus online, or by going to
Lecture Outlines from the course
homepage. The
outlines that are
there now are from last year, but with a few exceptions, they probably won't change much. The
outlines from last year are also included in Course Pack 1 from Grade A Notes.
- Help with the Text: The Mankiw text includes materials at the
end of each chapter that should help you to focus on the concepts and
issues raised there. In addition, the
homepage for the Mankiw text provides still more
Learning Resources to help you
learn the material, including problems, online quizzes, and a glossary.
- Questions on Readings: To guide you to what is important in
the readings from the web, I have written a few questions on each. As you
read, you should watch for the answers to these questions, and/or try to
answer them after you have finished the reading. If you can answer these
questions, you should be in good shape for handling any questions about the
readings on exams. To find these questions, click on the reading's
topic here in the online syllabus or look under Questions on Readings on the course homepage. These questions
are also included in Course Pack 1 from
Grade A Notes.
- Questions on WSJ Articles: To guide you to what is important
in
the assigned articles from the WSJ, I will write a few questions on each of them
as well. I can't make these available ahead of time, obviously, but you
will find them each week together with the assigned article on the course
homepage under Wall Street Journal Assignments.
You should use them as you do the questions on the readings.
- Old Exams: There are no "sample exams," as students often ask
for. But there are old exams from the last several times I've taught
this course, and these should be helpful. You can find them online or in additional Course Packs from
Grade A Notes (numbers 3, 4, and 5, one from each year, so that you don't have to buy them all).
- Study Tips: These are some suggestions that I wrote down a few years ago in response to a student's question. They include all of the suggestions that I could think of for doing better in a course like this. They too can be found under Useful Links from the course homepage, which also lists other web links that you might find helpful.
Coursepacks:
The following coursepacks, produced by Grade A Notes, will be available at the Michigan Union Bookstore. Contents of all the coursepacks are also available online, so you don't really have to buy any of them. Copies of all coursepacks will also be on reserve in the undergraduate library.
Communication:
Office Hours:
| The GSIs will hold regular office hours for students in their own sections, and they will also participate in a system of pooled office hours that will enable any student to consult with a GSI in room 104 Lorch Hall during any of a broad range of hours (to be announced). They will also schedule special office hours and review sessions during
the days prior to each exam. You are welcome to attend office hours of GSIs other than your own.
My office and office hours this term are (tentatively) as follows:
3314 Weill: | | Mondays, 10-11 AM | | Phone: 764-6817
| | | Thursdays, 10-11 AM | |
|
The times may change if I acquire conflicting commitments after the term starts, so check my home page to be sure before you visit. I will be glad to talk with you during those times without an appointment, or at other times with an appointment.
|
E-mail
| The GSIs and I will all be available by e-mail, and we will be glad to answer questions there. Our e-mail addresses are listed below:
|
The Web
| Wherever possible, course materials will be posted at the following site on the World Wide Web:
(To find this, you can go through CTools, or just google "deardorff" and enter through my home page.) You should look there for all course materials, including homework assignments and answers. There will also be a
place on the site reporting questions that students have asked me by
e-mail and the answers that I have given them.
The publisher of the Mankiw text, Thomson-South-Western, also maintains a web site for your textbook
where you can find additional resources and practice exercises and tests, among other things.
|
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS
Lectures
| Topics
| Assignments and Sections
|
Jan 4
|
Hand out syllabus
| None
(Sections do not meet Friday Jan 5)
|
Jan 9
|
Introduction and Review
| Mankiw 1-2
Skim Mankiw 3-4 (very brief review of micro)
|
Jan 11
|
Measuring Production
| Mankiw 5
Mustafa on
Gross National Happiness, online
Ridenour on
economic wellbeing in the United States, online
Wattenberg on
information from the 2000 US census, online (Proquest, via U of M)
Section: Jan 12
- In-class activity
- HW 1 assigned: "Measuring National Income and Prices" (See online.)
Jan 16
|
Measuring Prices
| Mankiw 6
|
Jan 18
|
Short Run Versus Long Run
|
Mankiw 15, pp. 323-330
Hymans on
the U.S. economic outlook,
online |
backup
Armentano on
the next recession,
online
Section: Jan 19
- HW 1 Due
- HW 2 assigned: "Economic Growth"
Jan 23
|
Economic Growth
| Mankiw 7
Romer on
the sources of growth, online
|
Jan 25
|
Getting Savings to Investors
| Mankiw 8, pp. 159-168
Section: Jan 26
- Quiz 1
- HW 2 Due
- HW 3 assigned: "Savings, Investment, and the Loanable Funds Market"
Jan 30
|
The Market for Loanable Funds
| Mankiw 8, pp. 168-176
Orszag on
tax cuts and savings,
online
Mitchell on
effects of lower tax rates,
online
|
Feb 1
|
Finance
| Mankiw 9
Section: Feb 2
- HW 3 Due
- HW 4 assigned: "Finance and Unemployment"
Feb 6
|
Unemployment
| Mankiw 10
Bureau of Labor Statistics on
the definition of unemployment,
online
Francis on
effects of unemployment insurance,
online
|
Feb 8
| ***Midterm Exam No. 1***
| Covers through Mankiw 8
Section: Feb 9
- Go over exam
Feb 13
|
Money
| Mankiw 11, pp. 225-234
|
Feb 15
|
Banks and the Money Supply
| Mankiw 11, pp. 234-241
Section: Feb 16
- HW 4 Due
- HW 5 assigned: "The Monetary System and Inflation"
Feb 20
|
Inflation
| Mankiw 12
|
Feb 22
|
International Transactions and Exchange
| Mankiw 13
Section: Feb 23
- HW 5 Due
- HW 6 assigned: "Open-Economy Macroeconomics"
| *** Winter Break ***
|
Mar 6
|
An Open-Economy Model
| Mankiw 14, pp. 299-308, 311-317
|
Mar 8
|
The Budget and Trade Deficits
| Mankiw 14, pp. 308-311
Griswold on
the trade deficit,
online
Scott on
trade and jobs,
online
Section: Mar 9
- Quiz 2
- HW 6 due
- Review for exam
Mar 13
|
Review: The Big Picture
| (No new reading)
|
Mar 15
| ***Midterm Exam No. 2***
| Cumulative through Mankiw 14
Section: Mar 16
- Go over exam
Mar 20
|
Aggregate Supply
| Mankiw 15, pp. 323-330, 334-344 (some repeat from Jan 14)
|
Mar 22
|
Short Run Aggregate Demand
| Mankiw 15, pp. 330-334
Section: Mar 23
- HW 7 assigned: "Aggregate Supply and Demand"
Mar 27
|
Causes of Economic Fluctuations
| Mankiw 15, pp. 344-355
|
Mar 29
|
Monetary Policy
| Mankiw 16, pp. 361-370
Section: Mar 30
- HW 7 due
- HW 8 assigned: "Economic Fluctuations and Macro Policies"
Apr 3
|
Fiscal Policy
| Mankiw 16, pp. 371-381
Burman and Gale on
fixing the AMT,
online
Aaron and Hacker on
taxing alcohol,
online
|
Apr 5
|
The Phillips Curve
| Mankiw 17, pp. 385-400
Section: Apr 6
- Quiz 3
- HW 8 due
- HW 9 assigned: "AD/AS and The Phillips Curve"
Apr 10
|
Moving Along the Phillips Curve
| Mankiw 17, pp. 400-409
Postrel on
Milton Friedman,
online
|
Apr 12
|
Stabilization Policy
| Mankiw 18, pp. 417-428
Greenspan on
uncertainty,
online
Hassett on
inflation targeting,
online
Section: Apr 13
- HW 9 due
Apr 17
|
Other Issues, Recap, etc.
| Mankiw 18, pp. 428-436
Prescott on
Macroeconomic Myths,
online (Proquest, via UM)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Thu. Apr 19, 4:00-6:00 PM, FINAL EXAM
Cumulative, with emphasis after Mankiw 14
|
|