ECO 346-­‐01: INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMIC THEORY FALL 2014 CLASS TIMES & LOCATION
Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays 12:00 pm – 12:50 pm
117 Bryan Building
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Dennis Patrick Leyden – 460 Bryan Building, dpleyden@uncg.edu, 256-8558.
Office hours: Almost any time during normal working hours, M-F is possible. I am available for
individual and group meetings. Email is the most reliable way to contact me outside of class.
FOR WHOM PLANNED
This course is intended primarily for upper-level undergraduate economics majors. However, it
is open to all students who are interested in a deeper understanding of macroeconomics than is
provided in a principles of macroeconomics course.
ACADEMIC CREDIT
3 semester hours of academic credit.
PREREQUISITE
ECO 202: Principles of Microeconomics
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
Intermediate level analysis of national income and employment with attention to fiscal and
monetary policy, theories of business fluctuations, and economic growth.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Using short-run macroeconomic fluctuation theories of closed and open economies and long-term
growth theories, students who successfully complete this course will learn how macroeconomists
construct and use theories to design macroeconomic policy and what the relative strengths and
weaknesses of those theories (and the underlying theories) are. Students who successfully complete
this course will be able to:
• Describe the central questions in macroeconomics.
• Describe the essential structure of each of the theories covered.
• Explain the mechanics of each of the theories covered.
• Explain the implications of each theory for public policy.
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, BRYAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO
SYLLABUS
ECO 346-01: TOPICS IN PUBLIC POLICY
FALL 2014
PAGE 2
READINGS & OTHER SOURCE MATERIAL
Required readings and extra-credit assignments for this course are taken from the book:
• Froyen, R. T. (2013). Macroeconomics: Theories and policies, 10th edition. Boston, MA:
Pearson.
There are also are a number of other materials that are required for this course and that are
available online:
• Butler, E. (2013, February 18). What would Hayek do to sort out this mess? [Audio file plus
pdf file of slides used]. Retrieved from
http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/play
er.aspx?id=1756 . Also available on iTunes.
• Papola, J., & Roberts, R. (2010a, June 22). The Austrian theory of boom and bust with
Lawrence H. White: Part I - Fear the boom and bust [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://youtu.be/LPZvKv7uljc . Also available on iTunes.
• Papola, J., & Roberts, R. (2010b, June 22). The Austrian theory of boom and bust with
Lawrence H. White: Part II – The bust [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://youtu.be/iRBdAmerMT0 . Also available on iTunes.
• Papola, J., & Roberts, R. (2010c, June 22). The Austrian theory of boom and bust with
Lawrence H. White: Part III – The cluster of errors [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://youtu.be/iBtzBb6rV1w . Also available on iTunes.
• Papola, J., & Roberts, R. (2010d, June 22). Fear the boom and bust [Video file]. Retrieved
from http://youtu.be/d0nERTFo-Sk. Also available on iTunes. To sing along, see the
transcript at http://econstories.tv/2010/06/22/fear-the-boom -and-bust/
Note finally that students who want the opportunity to earn extra credit (and help deepen their
understanding of course material along the way) need to purchase access to the Mobius SLIP
website after August 11, 2014 using the code Keynes2014. Students who wish to complete all
the extra-credit assignments need to register by Sunday August 24, 2014. To register for Mobius
SLIP, go to http://www.mobiusslip.com/students.html, click on the Student’s Guide link, and
follow the instructions.
CONDUCT OF THE COURSE
This course is structured around the study of a collection of macroeconomic theories. For each
theory, coverage begins with an initial set of lectures that explain and explicate the theory.
Remaining class time is then devoted to question-and-answer sessions, in-class quizzes, and
applying the course material. Extra-credit assignments are conducted with the use of the online
Mobius SLIP platform. For each of those assignments, students answer a set of questions and
submit their answers anonymously to a group of fellow students. Each student in the group then
critiques and ranks the work of other students in the group. Finally, each student ranks the
critiques they receive from the students in their group. Grades for all course work will be posted
on the course Blackboard site, and answer keys will be provided for examinations.
FACULTY AND STUDENT GUIDELINES
Each student is required to sign the Academic Integrity Policy on all major work submitted for the
course. Refer to UNCG Undergraduate Bulletin/Graduate Bulletin or consult
http://sa.uncg.edu/dean/. In addition, the Bryan School Faculty Assembly and the Bryan School
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, BRYAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENBORO
SYLLABUS
ECO 346-01: TOPICS IN PUBLIC POLICY
FALL 2014
PAGE 3
Student Advisory Council have adopted a set of Faculty and Student Guidelines that defines
expected behavior for both faculty and student. For more information about these Guidelines
consult http://bae.uncg.edu/students-resources/.
EVALUATION & GRADING
Calculation of Course Grade
Grading in this course is based on 3 cumulative examinations, a number of in-class quizzes, and 8
voluntary extra-credit assignments. A preliminary course average will be calculated by averaging
all examination grades and in-class quizzes using the following weights:
• 1st Examination* .................................................................................................................... 15%
• 2nd Examination* ................................................................................................................... 30%
• Final Examination ................................................................................................................. 45%
• In-class Quizzes (lowest 3 dropped) ....................................................................................... 10%
* This examination can be dropped. See below for details.
After a preliminary course average has been calculated, any extra-credit points earned will be
directly added to generate the final course average and its associated course letter grade.
Grading Scale
Exam grades and the course grade are expressed using a 100-point scale with each letter grade
range being 10 points (the top third of each grade range being noted by a plus, and the bottom
third of each grade range being noted by a minus). The preliminary and final course averages
will be calculated to two decimal places. The final course average will then be used to determine
the letter grade for the course; no rounding will take place beyond what is used to carry out the
calculations to two decimal places. Thus, for example, a course grade between 80.00 and 83.33
(inclusive) will result in a course letter grade of B–, a course grade between 83.34 and 86.66
(inclusive) will result in a course letter grade of B, and a course grade between 86.67 and 89.99
(inclusive) will result in a course letter grade of B+.
Examinations
DROPS
• The 1st examination grade will be dropped and replaced by the 2nd examination grade or the
final examination grade if one of those grades is higher. If both the 2nd examination grade and
the final examination grade are higher, the 1st examination grade will be replaced by the 2nd
examination grade if the 2nd examination grade is higher than the final examination grade and
will be replaced by the final examination grade if the final examination grade is higher than the
2nd examination grade.
• The 2nd examination grade will be replaced by the final examination grade if the final
examination grade is higher than the 2nd examination grade.
PROCESS
• No student will be permitted to start the 1st or 2nd examination more than 19 minutes after the
start of those examinations. No student will be permitted to start the final examination more
than 29 minutes after the start of that examination.
• No student will be permitted to temporarily leave the examination room until they have
completed their examination. If a student does leave the room before turning in the
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, BRYAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENBORO
SYLLABUS
ECO 346-01: TOPICS IN PUBLIC POLICY
FALL 2014
PAGE 4
examination, that examination will be considered to have been completed, and it will be
collected at that time.
• No electronic devices of any kind are permitted during the examination.
MAKE-UPS
• There are no make-ups for the 1st and 2nd examinations.
• For the final examination:
° Students with three or more final examinations in a 24-hour period may apply to the
University Registrar's Office for permission to change their examination schedules. All
requests for changes in examinations must be filed with the University Registrar's Office
before Reading Day. The usual policy is to change the middle examination.
° Students who due to extreme circumstances that are beyond their control cannot take the
final examination at the scheduled time and date may petition to have the final
examination rescheduled. In such circumstances, students should contact the instructor
as soon as possible and provide tangible evidence to support their claim. Examples of
situations that are generally not justifications for rescheduling the final examination
include: conflicts with other courses that do not follow the prescribed final examination
schedule, conflicts with work schedules, and conflicts with end-of-semester travel
arrangements. Be aware that any makeup final examination may take a different format
than the regularly scheduled final examination.
In-class Quizzes
PROCESS
• In-class quizzes are handed out and completed in class.
• Late submissions are not accepted for any reason, nor are makeups given.
GRADING
• Each in-class quiz is scored on 3-point scale.
• At the end of the semester, a mean quiz score is calculated for each student after dropping the
lowest 2 scores. That mean quiz score is then curved using the Normal distribution to the 100point scale described above.
• Individual quiz scores are based on the following rubric:
• 0 – Not turned in.
• 1 – Less than satisfactory work.
• 2 – The assignment is fully done, and work is generally satisfactory though some
mistakes may be present.
• 3 – The assignment is fully done, and work is completely satisfactory with no mistakes.
Work is especially meritorious.
Extra-Credit Assignments
PROCESS
• There are 8 extra-credit assignments each of which is based on end-of-chapter Review
Questions and Problems taken from the Froyen textbook.
• For each assignment, students are randomly assigned to groups of approximately 5 students.
Using the Mobius SLIP platform, each student anonymously submits three items over the
course of several days – a “submission” (i.e., the answers to the assignment questions), a
“review” in which the student critiques the submissions of fellow group members, and the
“reaction’ in which the student ranks the reviews received from other group members.
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, BRYAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENBORO
SYLLABUS
ECO 346-01: TOPICS IN PUBLIC POLICY
FALL 2014
PAGE 5
• Each assignment has 3 deadlines – one for the submission, one for the review, and one for the
reaction. Those deadlines are available on the Mobius SLIP website. Please note that it is
physically impossible to submit materials after their due dates and that students occassionally
experience problems of failed submissions, disconnections from the internet, or computer
failure. Students may therefore want to submit materials early and to then check to make sure
that the material has been received on the Mobius SLIP platform. There are no make-ups for
these assignments.
GRADING
• At the end of the semester, all extra-credit points earned are summed and added to the
preliminary course average to generate the final course average.
• Individual assignments are based on the following rubric:
• 0.4 points are awarded for each extra-credit assignment that is fully completed, that is, for
which the student submits a complete and substantive submission, provides substantive
reviews of the submissions of fellow group members, and completes the reaction.
• 0.6 points is awarded for each extra-credit assignment that is fully completed and for
which the Mobius-SLIP Z Score is positive. A positive Z Score indicates that the
student’s performance is above the class mean for that assignment. Be sure to note that
the Z Score is based on fellow-group-member relative rankings of the submission and
reviews.
TOPICAL OUTLINE & CALENDAR
The calendar below provides an outline of course topics, associated readings, examination dates,
and extra-credit assignment due dates. In general, if the University cancels class, check the course
Blackboard site for rescheduling information. Note however that:
• If the University cancels class the day of a mid-term examination, the mid-term examination
will take place at the next class meeting time.
• Extra-credit assignment due dates will not change if the University cancels class.
INTRODUCTION & MEASUREMENT INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 18 AUG • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 1 MEASUREMENT ..................................................................................................................... 20 AUG • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 2 CLASSICAL THEORY ............................................................................... 22, 25, 27, 29 AUG; 3, 5 SEP • Readings: Froyen, Chapters 3 & 4 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 1 (opens 25 AUG; deadlines 2, 4, & 5 SEP at 11:45 pm) EXAMINATION 1 ..................................................................................................................... 8 SEP KEYNESIAN THEORY – KEYNESIAN CROSS DIAGRAM ............................................ 10, 12, 15, 17 SEP • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 5 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 2 (opens 10 SEP; deadlines 14, 16, 17 SEP at 11:45pm) DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, BRYAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENBORO
SYLLABUS
ECO 346-01: TOPICS IN PUBLIC POLICY
FALL 2014
PAGE 6
KEYNESIAN THEORY – IS-­‐LM DIAGRAM ................................................................. 19, 22, 24, 26 SEP • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 6 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 3 (opens 19 SEP; deadlines 23, 25, 26 SEP at 11:45 pm) KEYNESIAN THEORY – POLICY EFFECTS USING THE IS-­‐LM DIAGRAM ................. 29 SEP; 1, 3, 6 OCT • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 7 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 4 (opens 29 SEP; deadlines 3, 5, 6 OCT at 11:45 pm) KEYNESIAN THEORY -­‐ AGGREGATE SUPPLY & DEMAND DIAGRAM ....................... 8, 10, 15, 17 OCT • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 8 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 5 (opens 8 OCT; deadlines 14, 16, 17 OCT at 11:45 pm) KEYNESIAN THEORY – PHILLIPS CURVE .......................................................... 20, 22, 24, 27, 29 OCT • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 10 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 6 (opens 20 OCT; deadlines 26, 28, 29 OCT at 11:45 pm) EXAMINATION 2 ..................................................................................................................... 31 OCT MONETARY & FISCAL POLICY IN OPEN ECONOMIES ........................................... 3, 5, 7, 10, 12 NOV • Readings: Froyen, Chapter 15 • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 7 (opens 3 NOV; deadlines 9, 11, 12 NOV at 11:45 pm) GROWTH IN THE LONG RUN .............................................................. 14, 17, 19, 21, 24 NOV; 1 DEC • Readings: • Froyen, Chapter 20 • Butler (2013, February 18) • Papola & Roberts (2010a, June 22) • Papola & Roberts (2010b, June 22) • Papola & Roberts (2010c, June 22) • Papola & Roberts (2010d, June 22) • Extra-­‐credit Assignment 8 (opens 14 NOV; deadlines 28, 30 NOV; 1 DEC at 11:45 pm) FINAL EXAMINATION .............................................................................. FRI 12:00-­‐3:00 PM, 5 DEC DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, BRYAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENBORO