Economics 102

Principles of Macroeconomics

Fall 2000

Section 2: MWF 2:10 PM, Curtiss Hall 127

Section 3: MWF 3:10 PM, Food Science Building 2432

Instructor:Amani E. Elobeid

Office: 460C Heady Hall

Telephone: 515-294-6237

Office Hours:MWF 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Teaching Assistants

Name

/ Email Address / Office and Telephone No. / Office Hours in 301 Curtiss Hall unless stated otherwise

Manish Bhatt

/ / 326 Curtiss Hall/ 294-4864 / 12:00 - 2:00 PM Mondays
1:00 - 2:00 PM Wednesdays
Wei Ding / / 279 Heady Hall / 294-5438 / 2:00 - 5:00 PM Tuesdays in 279 Heady Hall
Kwang-sig Lee / / B11 Curtiss Hall / 294-5694 / 9:00 - 10:00 AM Mondays
9:00 - 11:00 AM Wednesdays
Kelvin Tan / / 311 Curtiss Hall / 294-4813 / 8:30 - 11:30 AM Mondays
Aparna Solanki / / 69 Heady Hall / 294-5051 / 2:30 - 3:30 PM Tuesdays
2:00 - 3:00 PM Wednesdays
9:00 - 10:00 AM Fridays

Economics Help Room: 301 Curtiss Hall

Telephone: 294-1599

MWR: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

T: 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM

F: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Use the Economics Help Room or contact your teaching assistant if you have problems completing your homework.

NO MAKEUP EXAMS!!

There will be three in-class exams and a comprehensive final. Everyone must take the final exam but the two best scores out of the three in-class exams will be used to determine your overall grade. I recommend that you take all three in-class exams. The two best scores of the in-class exam are each worth 25 percent of your final grade and the final exam will account for 30 percent of your final grade. The exams will consist of multiple-choice questions, and five to six short-answer questions or two essay questions.

The grading scale for the exams will depend on the performance of the class in general. Depending on the grades of each exam, I may or may not grade on a curve.

There will be 6 to 7 homework assignments (depending on how much of the syllabus we are able to cover) that are worth 20 percent of your grade. As the semester progresses, I may give you voluntary mini-assignments to do for extra credit. You can hand these in at any time to receive extra credit.

Due dates for homework assignments will be announced in class and will be posted on the Department of Economics Webpage ( Click on Fall 2000 Classes, then on Econ 102 Principles of Macroeconomics and then on Amani El Obeid). Completed assignments should be returned in class on the due date. If you fail to submit more than two homework assignments you will receive an F for the homework portion of your grade. The teaching assistants will conduct homework help sessions (apart from the Economics Help Room) for students who have difficulty completing their assignments or have questions on the material.

Homework assignments, homework/exam solutions and exam and homework grades will be posted on the Department of Economics Webpage ( Click on Fall 2000 Classes, then on Econ 102 Principles of Macroeconomics and then on Amani El Obeid).

Class Attendance: There will be no roll calls for attendance. However, you are responsible for all material and all announcements presented in class. There may be some material that I will cover in class that will not be in the book so it is imperative that you keep good lecture notes. I will not have lecture notes available. Please note that this is not a Web class so I might announce things in class that will not be posted on the Web. You are responsible for any announcements made in class even if they are not posted on the Web.

Syllabus

Required Text: Michael Parkin, Macroeconomics, Fifth Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2000.

Recommended: Mark Rush, Study Guide: Macroeconomics, Fifth Edition, Addison-

Wesley, 2000.

CD ROM, “Economics in Action, 5.0.” Available with the required text.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY THE ENTIRE (NEW) PACKET. YOU CAN BUY A USED TEXTBOOK IF AVAILABLE.

Lecture Schedule

Chapters 1-4Introduction and Overview

Chapter 5A First Look at Macroeconomics

Chapter 6Measuring GDP, Economic Growth, and Inflation

Chapter 7Measuring Employment and Unemployment (Exam I)

Chapter 12Expenditure Multipliers

Chapter 8Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand (Exam II)

Chapter 13Fiscal Policy

Chapter 14Money

Chapter 15Monetary Policy (Exam III)

Chapter 9The Economy at Full Employment

Chapter 11Economic Growth