Economics 202
Principles of Macroeconomics
Spring 2015
M 6:00 - 8:50 pm
Bryan 121
Instructor:
Dr. Nazire Ozkan
E-mail: n ozkan@uncg.edu
Office Hours:
Mondays
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Tuesdays
4:30 - 5:30 pm
Wednesdays 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Course Description:
Introduction to macroeconomic principles and analysis. Topics include national income,
business cycle and short run fluctuations, the monetary system, inflation, fiscal policy, the
national debt, exchange rates, balance of payments, and economic growth.
Purpose:
This course uses market analysis (supply and demand at the aggregated national level) to
develop an understanding of the working of the macroeconomic system. The economy is
modeled by studying various markets: output, labor, financial (loanable funds/ credit), foreign exchange, the money market, and the bank reserve market. Understanding how these
individual aggregated markets are interrelated will enable you to analyze the effects of policy
changes and unforeseen shocks to the national and international economies.
The implementation of fiscal and monetary policy and their effectiveness in offsetting recessionary and inflationary problems are important learning objectives. Fiscal policy (performed
by the Treasury) refers to federal government expenditure and tax policy (the size of the
federal budget deficit/tax surplus). Monetary policy (the responsibility of the central bank)
refers to the changes in interest rates and the money supply. Both policies will effect output
growth (measured by real GDP), interest rates, and the rate of inflation and changes in a
countrys exchange rate.
Prerequisite:
ECO 101 or ECO 201.
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Learning Objectives:
• Define and have some insight into the measurement of macroeconomic data such as:
nominal and real GDP; price indices such as the CPI and the GDP price deflator;
the potential and actual rate of economic growth; inflation and deflation; and the
unemployment and employment rate.
• Explain the role of the Treasury in a situation where the federal budget is either in a
deficit or a tax surplus and describe how each affects the national debt.
• Diagram the possible of a business cycle in terms of the rate of economic growth and
the unemployment rate.
• Graph and describe the effect of various macroeconomic factors that shift the aggregate
demand (AD) schedule and analyze the effect using the output market.
• Describe the role of savings and investment in terms of the rate of long-term economic
growth, especially for developing countries.
• Illustrate the economy in a state of recession or inflation using the output market diagram and explain how policy variables can correct the recession or inflationary period.
• Understand the role of the Treasury in the implementation of fiscal policy and the effect
on interest rates in the economy.
• Recognize the role of the Federal Reserve in the implementation of monetary policy
and analyze the effect on interest rates and inflation rates.
• Define the federal funds rate, the discount rate and the prime rate, and the role of
fractional reserve banking in the creation of money.
Required Materials:
• Textbook: Foundations of Macroeconomics by Robin Bade and Michael Parkin.
(You do not have to buy the most recent edition of this book.)
• All students are REQUIRED to register for MyEconLab through http : //pearsonmylab.com/.
Homework assignment and submission occur through this on-line account. Registration
instructions are posted on Canvas under the Syllabus link. To register, you will need a:
course ID (ozkan40933) and student access code. You can buy the student value
edition with an instant access to MyEconLab for $157.20 or the eText version with an
instant access to MyEconLab for $128.00. Alternatively, if you find the textbook at a
good price from another seller, you can buy a student access code for $60.00 through
http : //www.mypearsonstore.com/. If you’re waiting for financial aid and can’t pay
immediately, you can get temporary access without payment for 14 days.
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Grading:
Homework Assignments 20%
Lowest Midterm Exam 15%
Highest Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam
35%
Letter Grade Distribution:
>= 97.00
A+
93.00 - 96.99 A
90.00 - 92.99 A87.00 - 89.99 B+
83.00 - 86.99 B
80.00 - 82.99 B77.00 - 79.99 C+
73.00 - 76.99 C
70.00 - 72.99 C67.00 - 69.99 D+
63.00 - 66.99 D
60.00 - 62.99 D<=59.99
F
Grade assignment may change from what is indicated above by a curve, but grades will only
be curved upwards never downwards. Thus, a curve will never hurt you and may help you.
A+ grades will only be assigned to students who earn a 97% or above before any potential
average curve is awarded at the end of the semester.
Exams:
The exam dates are listed below. Put them in your calendar immediately because there
are no makeup exams and very few acceptable excuses for missing one. Acceptable excuses
include a death in the family, a University-sponsored event or excursion, or a serious illness
documented by a doctor. Acceptable excuses must be approved before the scheduled exam
date. Exams are all closed-book, closed-note, and closed-friend/neighbor. You may bring a
calculator to the exam; you may not use your cell phones as a calculator. You must bring a
red scantron sheet purchased from the UNCG bookstore to each exam. Please note that the
final exam will be given on the date scheduled by the University.
Exam I
Exam II
Cumulative Final Exam
February 16th
March 30th
May 4th
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in class
in class
7:00 - 10:00 pm
Homework Assignments:
There are approximately 13 homework assignments, administered through MyEconLab. All
assignments are due by 11:59 pm on the evening of the stated deadline. Late
submissions will be accepted for 48 hours after the deadline but will be penalized by 10%
for each day the assignment is late.
I will drop your lowest homework score before calculating your homework average. The
remaining assignments will receive equal weight in your homework grade.
Extra Credit:
You can earn up to 10 extra credit points (percentage points) on each of the three exams.
Extra credit points are earned by correctly answering Quiz questions administered through
MyEconLab. For each quiz question answered correctly, you earn 0.1 percentage points
which will be added to the relevant exam score. Each exam will have four or five quizzes
leading up to it, and quizzes must be completed at the latest 48 hours before the
exam. (For example, correctly answered questions on Quizzes 1 to 5 will earn you extra
credit points towards Exam I. Five quizzes must be completed before 6:00 pm on Saturday,
February 14th.)
• Attendance: You are allowed to miss at most 2 classes during the semester. After 2
missed classes, I will deduct 3 percentage points from your course grade for each class
you miss. I reserve the right to count you as absent if you are late to class.
The University’s attendance policy can be read here:
http : //ods.uncg.edu/policies − procedures/class − attendance/
• Academic Integrity Policy: Students are expected to know and abide by the Honor
Code in all matters pertaining to this course. Violations of this code will be pursued
in accordance with the code.
The link to UNCGs academic integrity policy is:
http : //sa.uncg.edu/handbook/academic − integrity − policy/
• Faculty and Student Guidelines: Please familiarize yourself with the Bryan Schools
Faculty and Student Guidelines. These guidelines establish principles and expectations
for the administration, faculty, staff, and students of the Bryan School of Business and
Economics.
The link for this document is http : //www.uncg.edu/bae/f aculty student guidelines.pdf
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Additional Requests:
• No laptops are allowed in the classroom without permission. If you would like to use
your laptop to take notes, you must get permission from me during the first week of the
class and must sit in the first two rows of the classroom. However, I strongly encourage
you to take notes with paper and pen/pencil. I believe this is the best way to learn the
material and is also beneficial for learning how to use graphs.
• Do not talk to your neighbors during class. It distracts the students around you, and
it distracts me. It will not be tolerated. If you talk during class I reserve the right to
ask you to leave the room.
• I know about the parking problems on campus and am sympathetic, but I do request
that you be on time.
• Please make sure that all cell phones are shut off during lecture. DO NOT answer
calls/text messages during class. If I see you texting, I reserve the right to ask you to
leave the room.
• I encourage you to work together on assignments, although every student is responsible
for submitting his/her own answers to each graded assignment in order to receive credit.
• When you begin to feel lost, BE PROACTIVE!! I am more than happy to answer
questions during lecture.
• I want to make it known up front that I expect you to spend a minimum of 5 hours
per week reading, reviewing, and completing homework assignments outside of class. If
this is not feasible for you given your other time constraints, then perhaps this is not
the course for you.
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