Course Syllabus
ECO209Y5 L201: Macroeconomic Theory and Policy
Department of Economics
University of Toronto Mississauga
Fall 2023 / Winter 2024
Contact Information
Instructor in the First Term: Professor Gueorgui Kambourov
Email: g.kambourov@utoronto.ca
Office: KN 3226, Innovation Complex
Phone number: 905-569-4895
Office hours: Fridays, 11:00am-12:00pm or by appointment
Instructor in the Second Term: Professor Sebastian Dyrda
Email: sebastian.dyrda@utoronto.ca
Office: KN 3234, Innovation Complex
Phone number: (905) 569-4970
Office hours: Tuesday, 3.10pm-4.00pm (on Zoom)
There is a course website on Quercus. Course materials and announcements will be
posted there.
Contact Hours
The weekly lectures are on Tuesdays, 3:10pm-5:00pm:
• Room IB150, First term
• Room CC1080, Second term
The weekly tutorials are:
• TUT0101, Thursdays, 5:10pm-6:00pm, IB220 (First Term), IB200 (Second
Term)
• TUT0102, Thursdays, 6:10pm-7:00pm, IB220 (First Term), IB200 (Second
Term)
• TUT0103, Thursdays, 7:10pm-8:00pm, IB200 (First Term), IB200 (Second
Term)
Communication
Policy for communication:
• If you email us, you must use your University email address and include the
course code in the subject line.
• We will do our best to answer your questions within 48 hours.
• Please attend office hours if you prefer prompt responses to your questions.
•
•
Please post questions about the content of lectures and tutorials to the
Quercus Discussion Boards. Your peers will likely provide an excellent
answer promptly.
Please do not use the Quercus Inbox Application to communicate with us. We
do not answer these.
Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole. The issues it covers include: Why
are some countries much richer than others? Why do most Canadians live much better
than their ancestors? Why are there recessions in economic activity? What are the
causes of inflation and unemployment? What are the consequences of opening up
trade and investment with the rest of the world? The aim of the course is to develop
the understanding of the economic foundations of macroeconomic theory and to
develop analytical skills in constructing and solving macroeconomic models. Calculus
will be used throughout the course.
Learning Outcomes:
• Demonstrate knowledge and awareness of economic issues, policy debates,
and economic facts in their correct institutional and historical context.
• Demonstrate knowledge of microeconomic concepts and theories used to
analyze and explain economic behavior and phenomena, including (but not
limited to) individuals’ choices, firms’ pricing decisions, and markets.
• Demonstrate knowledge of macroeconomic concepts and theories that can
explain aggregate phenomena in the economy, including (but not limited to)
economic growth, business cycles, and the role of monetary policy.
• Apply economic concepts and theories to analyze and explain economic
behavior and phenomena in some of the subfields of economics.
• Apply economic analysis to evaluate policy proposals.
• Identify and understand the limitations (strengths and weaknesses) of
theoretic and empirical methods and their applications.
• Evaluate the role played by assumptions in arguments that reach different
conclusions to a specific economic or policy problem.
• Use economic reasoning to understand and evaluate current economic events
and new economic ideas.
Course Materials
The required textbook for the course is: Stephen D. Williamson, eBook:
Macroeconomics, 6th Canadian edition, Pearson Education Canada, 2021.
Course Outline
1. Introduction: Chapter 1, 2
2. One-Period Models of the Macroeconomy: Chapter 4, 5
3. Savings, Investment, and Government Deficits: Chapter 9, 10, 11
4. Economic Growth: Chapter 7, 8
5. Search and Unemployment: Chapter 6
6. Money and Business Cycles: Chapter 12, 17, 18 (13, 14 if time permits)
7. International Macroeconomics: Chapter 15, 16
Evaluation
The Term Tests and the Final Exam are scheduled for:
•
•
•
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Term Test 1 (Tuesday, October 17, 3:10pm-5:00pm)
Term Test 2 (Tuesday, December 5, 3:10pm-5:00pm)
Term Test 3 (Tuesday, February 13, 3:10pm-5:00pm)
Term Test 4 (Tuesday, April 2, 3:10pm-5:00pm)
Final Exam
Your grade in this course will be based on: Term Tests (60%) and Final Exam (40%).
The Term Test with your lowest grade will not be used in computing your final grade;
therefore, the three best Term Tests will each have a weight of 20%. If you miss a
Term Test, for any reason, then that Term Test will become the one with the lowest
grade.
There will also be several homework assignments. For each one of them, there will
be a tutorial session where a solution will be provided. The assignments will not be
graded. You are, however, strongly encouraged to spend a lot of effort on these
assignments as they will help you considerably (i) in understanding better the
concepts taught in class, and (ii) in performing better on the exam.
On the top of the term test work and final exam, students can voluntarily participate
in the discussions and quizzes on suggested, macroeconomic readings. These can
increase the final course grade by up to 10% for those who choose to participate.
Submission of Course Work
All Term Tests and the Final Exam will be held in person.
Missed Term Work
If you miss an academic obligation during the term (i.e., assessment, quiz or paper)
because of circumstances beyond your control (e.g., illness or an accident), you can
request accommodation. The following rules apply:
• Once per term, you may use the ACORN Absence Declaration Tool to record
an absence. The declaration period must include the day of declaration and
may include past and/or future dates, for a total of up to seven consecutive
days. You will receive accommodation for academic obligations during this time
period without needing to present supporting documentation. To receive this
accommodation, complete a Special Consideration Request and send a
confirmation
of
your
ACORN
Absence
Declaration
to
economics.utm@utoronto.ca as well as your professor within one week of the
missed test / due date.
•
If your absence is ineligible for the ACORN Absence Declaration Tool, you
must complete the following steps within one week of the missed test / due
date.
o complete a Special Consideration Request and notify your professor by
e-mail.
o send supporting documentation to economics.utm@utoronto.ca. For
absences related to illness/injury, the supporting documentation
consists of the Verification of Student Illness or Injury form, completed
by a doctor within one day of the missed test / due date. For absences
due to other reasons beyond your control, use the Verification of
Extenuating Circumstances form.
If no request for accommodation is received, or if the request is deemed unacceptable,
you will receive a grade of zero for the academic obligation you missed. If the request
is granted – that is, your reason for missing the item is considered acceptable
– then the weight of the term test will be added to the final exam.
As mentioned in the Evaluation section, if you miss a Term Test, for any reason, then
that Term Test will become the one with the lowest grade, and you will not be able to
claim another Term Test as the one with the lowest grade.
In the exceptional circumstance that a student misses all four term tests, a make-up
test will be provided at the end of the course for 60% of the final grade. The weight of
this make-up test cannot be transferred to the final exam.
Students who cannot complete their final examination due to illness or other serious
causes must file an online petition within 72 hours of the missed examination. Late
petitions will NOT be considered. Students must also record their absence on ACORN
on the day of the missed exam or by the day after at the latest. Upon approval of a
deferred exam request, a non-refundable fee of $70 is required for each examination
approved.
Students CANNOT petition to re-write a quiz/test once it has begun. If you are feeling
ill, please do not start the test, seek medical attention immediately, and the policy on
Missed Term Work will apply.
Regrade Request
If you believe that you received fewer points for a test than you deserved, you can
request a re-grading. In order to be considered, such a request needs to satisfy the
following requirements:
• Re-grading requests must be submitted by e-mail within 1 month from the
day the test was first returned to the class. The e-mail must include your
name and student number, indicate the relevant question number(s), and
explain why you believe your answer deserved more points. Your
explanation has to be precise and convincing for me to consider a
regrade.
Note that the entire test will be re-graded and that the new grade can be higher or
lower than the original grade.
Privacy and Use of Course Materials
We are not planning to record the lectures in the course.
Technology
We are not planning to use any special software in this course.
Supplement
The Supplement to Course Syllabi (dated August 11, 2023) of UTM’s Department of
Economics should be understood to be an integral part of this syllabus. It describes
• time zone information;
• information regarding prerequisites and exclusions;
• your responsibility to adhere to the Code of Student Conduct;
• your responsibility to adhere to the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters;
• the Registrar’s policy on missed final exams;
• expectations regarding academic integrity, including examples of violations;
• technology requirements for online learning;
• your responsibility to avoid course conflicts;
• your responsibility to honour the copyright of course materials;
• your right to receive accommodations for religious observances;
• the equity statement for this course;
• your academic rights;
• some resources that are available to students, including Accessibility Services.