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ECN 101: Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Summer Session II 2021

TEACHING REMAINS ONLINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

You do not need to attend lecture at the given time. I will, however, provide a live lecture at the scheduled time of 10-11:40 AM in order to facilitate real time questions and in case you want to try to keep a schedule.

I will record all lectures and post them online on Canvas with Zoom in case you cannot attend at this time.

Sections will be held at their normally scheduled time. Again, you won’t have to attend but you can use the time to ask questions in real time. Sections will also be recorded for viewing later.

We will be using an online examination system via Canvas. You will be able to do the exam anytime within a 24 hour period as per below.

INTRODUCTION

Macroeconomics is the study of aggregate economic variables and the economy as a whole. This is in contrast to microeconomics, the study of the economic behavior of consumers, firms, and industries. In this course, we will study how economists analyze the relationships between aggregate economic variables. The course will be divided in two main parts: the “long run” and the “short run”. The “long run” will examine different ways to understand the phenomenon of economic growth. The “short run” will examine how fiscal (taxes and government spending, mainly) and monetary policy can affect the level of economic output, unemployment and inflation. In between these two parts we will also examine some other issues related to unemployment, inflation, and financial markets. The main goal of this class will be to improve your ability to apply economic models to analyze world events.

We will focus heavily on the following concepts/fields from economics:

● The “Long Run”: Economic Growth

● The “Short Run”

● Fiscal and Monetary policy

These issues make news headlines everyday. Your understanding of these issues and topics will hopefully improve with this course.

Prerequisites: ECN1A, ECN1B, Mathematics 16A-16B or 21A-21B

What you will do:

● You will read the relevant chapter in advance of lecture.

● You will review power point slides prior to lecture.

● You will attend or watch lectures to take notes and ask questions.

● You will attend section once-a-week to take more notes and ask questions.

● You will do practice problem sets

● You will study and review material that is expected on the coming exam.

● You will take 2 exams which test your knowledge of course material.

● You will master the fundamentals of the macro-economy by the end of the quarter

The final exam will be cumulative

There will be no make-up exams!

You cannot miss an exam without a valid excuse such as a documented medical incident showing you are physically unable to take the exam or have another valid reason that is documented etc. The set of valid excuses is extremely small and anything but a medical emergency that occurs at the exact time of the exam must be discussed with the instructor well before the date of the exam. Any missed exams without a valid excuse will likely result in a zero for that exam.

Please look ahead at the schedule and do not schedule anything on the exam dates that could prevent you from taking the exam. This is not a valid excuse for missing an exam.

The course is organized around the following issues:

1. The “long run”: economic growth and levels of income

2. Unemployment

3. Basics of financial markets

4. The “short run”: aggregate demand and monetary policy

5. The role of monetary policy in stabilizing output/unemployment and inflation

6. The role of taxes and government spending in a macroeconomy

Recommended Textbook

Charles J. Jones Macroeconomics 5th edition (the 4th or 3rd edition will work too)

Course requirements & other information:

Other information will be posted to the web at CANVAS.

POWER POINT SLIDES: I will post these on canvas.

Problem Sets: I will make about 6 problem sets available for you. These will be un-graded but will be good practice for the exams.

Exam questions: will be a mix of multiple choice and short answers. Exam material will be based on the major issues covered in class. Previous exams with solutions will be posted. The exams will look a lot like the previous exams – so no huge surprises!

Grading policy:

The average grade based on your exams will be based on the larger of the following two weighted averages:

Mid-term 40% Final 60%

Mid-term 45% Final 55%

The average GPA in Economics major courses in most cases is around 2.7. However, there is no restriction on the exact fraction of course grades that are As, Bs, .....,Fs.

Code of Academic Conduct

You must read the code of conduct here:

https://ossja.ucdavis.edu/code-academic-conduct

The code discusses the ground rules regarding academic dishonesty which includes “cheating,” copying, and plagiarism. Cases of academic dishonesty must be and will be reported to the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs.

If you are found by Judicial Affairs to have cheated on an exam or committed academic dishonesty, you will receive an "F" in my course.

For the exams you must work by yourself and not with others. Evidence that you worked with others will be taken as a violation of the code of conduct.

Example:

A student copies and pastes information from another student’s work to his/her own exam.

Result: This is copying and you will be reported to Student Judicial Affairs if detected. You will likely receive an F in the class and you could be expelled from UC Davis if you have prior incidents.

Ways to avoid penalties: It’s ok to use your notes and textbooks on the exam but you must use your own words and do your own work on problems.

Electronic Devices

I strongly encourage you NOT to use a phone, computer, tablet or other electronic device during class/lecture or while watching the recordings. Scientific studies show a negative impact on learning outcomes and grades.

Letters of Recommendation

Several times per year I am asked for letters of recommendation from former students who have taken a class with me. I am usually unable to fulfill these requests, not because I don’t want to but because students have not prepared adequately.

You should only ask for a letter from an instructor or advisor with whom you have worked closely. Ideally this person would be able to rate your intellectual abilities and your character based on a wide range of interactions. Because our class is large and my interaction with will likely not be great I suggest you do not ask me (or others like me) for such letters later.

If you are interested in graduate school and/or finding ways to interact more with faculty here at UCD there are many resources. There is an application for undergraduates who are interested in gaining some research experience with faculty. It is located at

https://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/undergrad-program/opportunities-economics/ugrad-research

This is a good way to get to know a faculty member but it does require significant effort and ability on your part too.

There is also some information about graduate school in economics here:

https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/students/grad-prep

In general the field of economics is in desperate need of greater diversity. Women, people of color, LGBTQ are highly under-represented in economics majors at the undergraduate and graduate level. I want to encourage you to consider economics as a major and as a career. The discipline and the profession need you!!