Georgetown Summer School 2013
June 3 – July 3
ECON-002
Principles of Macroeconomics
Instructor: Jordan Marcusse
Email: – I will reply to emails every day around 9 PM
Lecture
M-Th, 1:00 –3:00 p.m.
ICC 117 – Consider bringing a sweater
Office Hours
Mon 3-4:15, Tue 3-4:15, Thu 11:30-12:30
Course Description: This course is an introduction to macroeconomic analysis and its applications. We will look at commonly used models for understanding the national economy, with a particular focus on how the composition, size, and distribution of output are determined. We will also spend some time looking at important institutions in the US economy. We will cover a few applications of macroeconomic theory and analysis, to study how inflation, fiscal, and monetary policy are related. If time allows, we will cover related topics such as international trade, economic development, and financial markets.
Text: Taylor, John B., Weerapana, Akila (2012), Principles of Macroeconomics, seventh edition. Older/newer editions are also acceptable, so go ahead and buy them if you can save a little money. The text is suggested, not mandatory.
Grades
Homework
· Homework Assignments (15%): 1-2 assignments per week. Feel free to work with others, as this is a great way to learn. However, each student must write and turn in her or his own answers.
Exams
· Midterm Exam (35%) Over material taught until that point in class
· The Final exam (45%) Over the entire course material
· Final Day Quiz (5%) Over a preselected topic
Letter grades will be assigned at the end of the course. I will use the Economics Department’s Grading Guidelines as a guide. This means grades will be assigned on a curve if necessary.
Economics Department’s Grading Guidelines for Econ 002: students in the top 50 percent of the distribution of scores get A/A- grades; those in the bottom 5 percent of the distribution get grades below C+.
If the enrollment for this class remains small, this grade distribution can be disregarded.
Schedule (these may be subject to change):
Mid-Term: June 20, 2013
Final: July 2, 2013
Quiz: July 3, 2013
Attendance/Blackboard etc.: I will supplement the text with my own notes, so attendance is very highly recommended, although not mandatory and will not affect your grade. I will post slides on blackboard, as well as any relevant handouts and additional readings. Please visit during office hours or email with any questions. If you can not make scheduled office hours, email me and I will try to find a better time.
Topics (We may deviate from this schedule):
Each set of lecture notes will begin with an outline of the key concepts that you should understand from that lecture.
1. Introduction - Chapter 5 Lecture notes 1
a. Key concepts and definitions.
2. GDP and Inflation – Chapter 6 Lecture notes 2
a. Measuring output and inflation.
b. Other measurements of macroeconomic well-being.
3. The spending allocation model - Chapter 7 Lecture notes 3
a. Relationship between the real interest rate and the shares of consumption, investment and net exports in GDP.
b. Determining the real interest rate in the long run. The effect of shifts in government and nongovernment purchases.
c. Definition of national saving. Determining the real interest rate using savings-investment identities.
4. The labor market - Chapter 8 Lecture notes 4
a. How unemployment is measured.
b. Frictional, structural and cyclical unemployment.
c. The “natural” rate of unemployment and potential GDP.
d. Determining the real wage in the long run.
5. Economic growth - Chapter 9 Lecture notes 5
a. A simple supply-side model with capital, labor and technology. (Solow Model)
b. Growth accounting: the contributions of capital and technology to output growth.
6. Money and the Federal Reserve system: Chapter 10 Lecture notes 6
a. The different functions of money.
b. Simple balance sheet accounting.
c. How the Fed controls the money supply: open market operations.
d. Quantity theory of money.
7. The fluctuations model, fiscal and monetary policy: Chapters 11-15 Lecture notes 7-11
a. The aggregate demand curve.
b. The inflation adjustment line.
c. Shocks and adjustments.
d. Fiscal policy.
e. Monetary policy.
Additional Topics if time allows:
Economic Development, International Trade, Financial Markets