ECONOMICS
152
PRINCIPLES
OF MACROECONOMICS
Extended Syllabus, Summer Session B, June 30 - July 18, 2008
Dr.
Richard M. Alston
(801) 815-9638
email:
ralston@weber.edu
Basic Information and Prerequisites:
Economics 152 consists of about 12 180-minute lecture/discussions, three 1 ½ hour Review Sessions and three 2-3 hour examinations (on 3 consecutive Fridays). The course carries the equivalent of (4) semester hours of university credit. There are no prerequisites for the course but students are expected to have a mathematical background at the level of Intermediate or College Algebra. A substantial term paper, described below, will be due on the last Thursday of the class.
Required Text and Study Guide (Available at
Macroeconomics (paperback split) by Tregarthen and Rittenberg,
Second Edition (
or
Economics (hardback) by
Timothy Tregarthen and Libby Rittenberg, Second Edition (
Also required is the Study Guide to Accompany Macroeconomics by John Brock and Dale DeBoer. This excellent study guide provides a wide variety of multiple-choice questions with extensively annotated explanations of why the right answers are right and why the wrong answers are wrong.
Web-based exercises and a wide variety of study aides are available on the Tregarthen/Rittenberg Web Site at www.worthpublishers.com/tregarthen.
Required E-Mail:
Much of the communication between the instructor and students in Economics 152 will be done using E-Mail. On the first day of class (or sooner if possible) you must send Dr. Alston an e-mail with your name and e-mail address. Feel free to ask any questions or share any insights about the lectures/discussions and reading assignments via e-mail. Note that your e-mail statements and my responses (if any) will be shared with all other members of the class unless you specifically request otherwise. Transmission of e-mail related to the class as well as your continued participation in the class will be deemed a release to Dr. Alston of your intellectual property rights in said e-mail communications unless you specifically restrict such release in writing prior to sending the e-mail message.
Grading Policy:
Your final grade for Econ. 152 will be determined according to the following:
Midterm examination #1, July 4, 2008 (100 points)
Economics: Chaps. 2-3, 20-22 and pp. 370-373; Macroeconomics: Chaps. 2-3, 5-7 and pp. 373-376
Midterm examination #2 July 11, 2008 (100 points)
Economics: Chaps. 23-27; Macroeconomics: Chaps 8-12
Midterm examination #3 July 18, 2008 (100 points)
Economics: Chaps. 20-32 - emphasis on Chapters 28-32; Macroeconomics: Chaps. 5-17 - emphasis on 13-17
Term Paper (100 points) due July 17, 2007, 5:00 p.m.:
As economic advisor to the Presidential Candidate of either the Republican or Democratic Party (you choose), what advice would you give to serve as the platform for improving the state of the economy in the near- and long-term? The paper should consist of four parts. In the first part, discuss the current state of the economy. Use chapters 20-21 as your principle guide to the “facts” of importance, but augment your discussion by incorporating the theoretical parts of the class into the analysis of those facts. That is, does the evidence suggest we are experiencing an expansionary gap? A recessionary gap? Long run equilibrium at the potential level of employment? Has recent monetary policy been expansionary? Contractionary? Accommodating? Extinguishing? In the second part, compare and contrast the economic goals and objectives that are explicit and/or implicit in the current debates/discussions in Congress, the Fed, the White House, and the two major party election campaigns. What are the major actors saying explicitly, or assuming implicitly, about the desired or appropriate conduct of monetary and fiscal policy? Assuming your first part explains “where we are”, the second part will explain “where we want to be.” Feel free to insert your own macroeconomic goals here. In the third part, use the economic theories learned in the class, to explain how your specific policy proposals will help your designated candidate to achieve his/her specific objectives. Explain how your policies make sense in the light of what you have learned about macroeconomics? That is, explain how they work. Is there a “fly in the ointment”? That is, what obstacles do your policy proposals have to overcome? Justify your answer using the logic/lessons of macroeconomics as presented by the authors of your textbook and class lectures.
POSSIBLE POINTS 400
Grades will be determined on the basis of the percentage of total 400 possible points as follows:
A = 95-100% A- = 90-94%
B+ = 87-89% B = 84-86% B- = 80-83%
C+ = 75-79% C = 70-74% C- = 65-69%
D+ = 60-64% D = 55-59% D- = 50-54%
F = 0-49%
The instructor reserves the right to adjust this scale for determining grades. However, under no circumstances will the total points used for the scale be less than 93-95% of the possible points. The high total scores earned in Econ 152 during summers 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were 377, 372, 366, and 363 respectively. The score used for the “adjusted” possible points in all four years was 390 points. There may or may not be an adjustment made in 2008.
NOTE: An average student should plan to spend about 2 hours studying and doing various assignments outside of class for each hour of in-class lecture/discussion (i.e., approximately 5-6 hours per day, 25-30 hours per week) in order to receive an average grade of C. Above average students may be able to earn a grade of C with fewer hours, and average students will probably find that to earn a grade of A or B will require even more hours of study. Even the best students will have to spend about 2 hours outside class for every hour in class to earn an A or B. When Alston taught Econ 152 at Colorado College during the Summers of 2004, 2005, and 2006 the grade distribution over all three courses was A & A- = 8, B+, B, & B- = 13, C+, C, & C- = 11, D+ = 2, 3 early withdrawals for personal reasons, and 1 F (for plagiarism on term paper – see policy below).
CHEATING POLICY: As a student you have a right to be informed in
advance with respect to a professor's policy with respect to cheating. Here it
is. In addition to the meaning of cheating defined in applicable Colorado
College Honor Code documents and policies, cheating is interpreted to also
include, but not be limited to, sharing information about an examination after
any part of the examination has been
made available. It does not include, however, collaboration between students in
"study groups" prior to the first day that an examination is
scheduled. It is Dr. Alston's policy to make no distinction between what some
students might consider "big deal cheating" and "little deal
cheating." A student who cheats will receive a failing grade for the class
(not the assignment or exam) and Dr. Alston may proceed to have the student
further disciplined in accordance with
Plagiarism is perhaps the most common form of cheating. But what
constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it may not be well understood. In
addition to the websites on plagiarism found on the
A Brief Word on Alston's Lectures and the Textbook Material:
As the teacher, my role is to provide you with the opportunity to learn the principles of economics so that you will be in a position, either as a potential manager/decision maker or as an interested consumer and citizen, to better understand how the world works. I view the textbook, the study guide, and the computer tutorials as tremendous tools to help me accomplish that task. It is not my role to replace the textbook. But many of the lectures are designed to elaborate upon and explain the most technical details contained in the textbook. Usually, using different examples and different applications will accomplish this. Other lectures, or parts thereof, are designed to supplement the textbook by bringing into focus issues or problems that provide an opportunity to apply the principles. But, in the end, there is absolutely no substitute for hard work on your part. At a minimum, you should practice drawing all of the diagrams used during lectures. Make certain that you can explain why the axes are marked the way they are, why each curve or graph looks the way it does, and how it applies to the subject under investigation.
About Sample Examinations:
In this class you have many resources to help you learn the principles of
macroeconomics. In addition to the textbook, the Study Guide by Brock
& DeBoer provides summaries of the chapters, key terms, quick-check
quizzes, practice questions and problems, all with annotated answers. The
Tregarthen/Rittenberg web site at http://www.worthpublishers.com/tregarthen
contains practice exams and other study aides. You are strongly encouraged to
take advantage of them. In addition to those resources, I have placed sample
examinations on this web page. Practice exams that are exactly identical to the
midterms I gave during the past three years at
Actual examinations will consist of one or more exercises/problems/graphical analyses/short essays and about 50 multiple choice questions (about 1/4 easy,1/2 medium, and 1/4 difficult questions; about 1/4 factual, 1/4 interpretive, and 1/2 applied). The midterm examinations are designed to take about two hours. By carefully studying the sample examinations found elsewhere on this website and online at chitester.weber.edu, you should be able to identify your relative strengths and weaknesses in each area and focus your study time accordingly. Identify the correct answer, but also be able to explain why each of the other choices is wrong or otherwise not the correct answer. Note, however, that past midterms and sample exams are merely "reflective" of the types of material and questions that may appear on your specific examinations. You are expected to master all of the material in the textbook, not just the material that may have appeared on a past or sample exam.
Note for Students with Disabilities:
Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must inform Dr. Alston and/or other appropriate administrators as soon as possible.
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