University of Washington - Seattle
Economics 201J: Introduction to Macroeconomics
Spring 2013
Instructor: So Ra Chon
Meeting Time: MWF 8:30-9:50
Classroom: CMU 226
Email: sorachon@uw.edu
Office: ART 343
Office Hours: MW 10:00~11:00 am or by appointment
Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Macroeconomics, 6e. (2012)
Class Website: https://catalyst.uw.edu/workspace/sorachon/36743/
Files will be added to the pages for you periodically to have access to.
Online grade book will be also provided for you to track your own grades.
Course Overview:
Economics is the study of how individuals and societies choose to use scarce
resources to satisfy unlimited human wants. In Macroeconomics, we study how the
overall economy works. Students will be introduced to economic models that are
designed to explain certain macroeconomic phenomena and problems such as growth,
output, unemployment, and inflation. In addition, we will analyze certain aspects of
the financial system. We will also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the
different government policies in influencing the overall economy. Mathematical skills
beyond simple algebra and graphical analysis are not required in this course.
Objectives:
Students will
•Understand and be able to use macroeconomic terminology.
•Understand the basics of how the economy works in the aggregate level.
•Learn how the macroeconomic variables are related.
•Learn to read and interpret the empirical information in macroeconomic data,
graphical displays, and tables.
•Analyze the sources of long-term prosperity and the contributing factors to long term
economic growth.
•Analyze the causes of short-term economic fluctuations (business cycles) and the
mechanism of “fixing” the economy to restore full employment (low unemployment)
and low inflation.
•Analyze the emergence and the effects of rising national debt
•Analyze the current international macroeconomic issues and policy debates
Grade:
There will be 5 quizzes, 2 exams. Your final grade will be calculated in the following
manner: (100% = exam1 30% + final exam 35 % + quizzes 35% )
Quizzes:
Five announced quizzes will be given in class during the quarter. Each quiz will be
about 30 minutes in length. The lowest score will not be included in your total grade.
There is no make-up quiz.
The quizzes are given as scheduled below 4/8, 4/15, 4/22, 5/20,and 5/31
quizzes are cumulative.
None of the
Exams:
The exams are given as scheduled below 5/6 and 6/11.
The final exam is not
cumulative, but you need to understand the important concepts from previous chapters,
too.
Final Exam: Tuesday, June 11, 2013,8:30-10:20, CMU 226
If you miss exam1 and provide a valid documentation that proves the emergency
relevant to your absence from the exam, your final exam score will be given to your
midterm exam. This is equivalent to having the final exam to account for 70% of
your total score. Without a valid documentation, you will receive “fail”.
If you miss final exam and provide a valid documentation that proves the emergency
relevant to your absence from the exam, you will receive “incomplete”. Again,
without a valid documentation, you will receive “fail”. If you miss both exams, you
will receive “fail” with no exceptions.
If you miss any of the quizzes, you will receive zero point for the quiz with no
exceptions.
You may need a simple 4 function calculator (No graphing calculators, i-pods, iphones, or any i-like-tools are allowed.) for some of the questions on
quizzes/exams.
Final Grade:
There is a set of grading guidelines set by Econ Department for Econ 201. The
upper median grade for Econ 201 should not be higher than 3.1. Therefore, a 4.0
grading scale will be sent to all students through the class e-mail list after results of
the final test come out.
Tentative Schedule:
The course will address the following issues in the following order:
Topics
Week 1: 4/1~4/5
Ch4 “The Market Forces of Supply and Demand”
Ch10 “Measuring a Nation’s Income”
Week 2: 4/8~4/12
QUIZ#1 (4/8)
Ch11 “Measuring the Cost of Living”
Ch12 “Production and Growth”
Week 3: 4/15~4/19
QUIZ#2(4/15)
Ch13 “Saving, Investment, and the Financial System”
Ch14 “the Basic Tools of Finance”
Week 4: 4/22~4/26
QUIZ#3(4/22)
Ch15 “Unemployment”
Ch16 “the Monetary System”
Week 5: 4/29~5/3
Ch 17 “Money Growth and Inflation”
Review for Exam1
Week 6: 5/6~5/10
EXAM 1 (5/6)
Ch 20“Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply”
Week 7: 5/13~5/17
Ch 21 “the Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on
Aggregate Demand”
Week 8: 5/20~5/24
QUIZ#4(5/20)
Ch22 “the short-run trade-off between inflation and
unemployment”
Week 9: 5/27~5/31
QUIZ#5(5/31)
Ch18 “Open Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts”
Week 10: 6/3~6/7
Ch19 “A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Market
Economy”
Week 11: 6/11 (FINAL WEEK)
Final Exam: Wednesday, March 20, 2013,8:30-10:20, C
DH 110A
Additional Help
The Economics Undergrad Board offers tutoring and for a schedule of drop in hours
go to http://depts.washington.edu/ecnboard/ and click on tutoring schedule.
Accommodations
If you anticipate needing any type of accommodations in order to participate in this
class, please inform me in full confidence of privacy and make the appropriate
arrangements with the Disability Services Office (DSO).