COURSE SYLLABUS
ECNS 303: Intermediate Macroeconomics with Calculus (Spring 2012)
Class Schedule: 11:00am to 12:15pm on Tuesday and Thursday (Wilson Hall 1117)
Professor: Mark Anderson
Email: dwight.anderson@montana.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 9am to 10:50am (3rd Floor in Linfield Hall)
Course webpage: www.dmarkanderson.com
Course prerequisites: ECNS 202 (Principles of Macroeconomics) and ECNS 204
(Microeconomics) or ECNS 251 (Honors Economics); M 161
(Survey of Calculus) or M 171 (Calculus I)
Required textbooks: -Gregory Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 7th edition
-Mancur Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations
Grades: Quizzes: 25%
-There will be approximately 8 quizzes. The 2 lowest quiz score will be dropped.
-No make-ups. No exceptions.
Exam #1 (on material in Mankiw): 30%
Exam #2 (on material in Mankiw): 30%
-I will not offer make-ups for Exams 1 and 2. If you miss an exam (for any
reason), then your other exam will be re-weighted accordingly. For example, if a
student misses Exam #1, then Exam #2 will be worth 60% of his/her overall
grade.
Exam #3 (On material in Olson. This will be a take-home exam administered during
finals week): 15%
-Exam will be due at the time our final exam is scheduled (May 4th at
1:50pm)
-I may also assign groups to lead the discussions on this book during the last
two weeks of the semester.
Homework: 0%
-Any homework problems assigned will serve as preparation for the quizzes.
Homework will not be collected.
Grades will be allocated as follows:
A = 93-100; A- = 90-92; B+ = 87-89; B = 84-86; B- = 80-83; C+ = 77-79;
C = 74-76; C- = 70-73; D+ = 67-69; D = 64-66; D- = 60-63; F = 0-59
Schedule (subject to change):
-Week 1 (Jan. 12): Review of syllabus
Introduction to Macroeconomics
-Week 2 (Jan. 17 & Jan. 19): The Science of Macroeconomics and the Data of
Macroeconomics (Read chapters 1 and 2 of Mankiw)
The Economy in the Long Run
-Week 3 (Jan. 24 & Jan. 26): National Income (Read chapter 3 of Mankiw)
Quiz #1 on Jan 24th
-Week 4 (Jan. 31 & Feb. 2): Economic Growth I: Capital Accumulation and
Population Growth (Read chapter 7 of Mankiw)
Quiz #2 on Jan. 31st
-Week 5 (Feb. 7 & Feb. 9): Economic Growth II: Technology, Empirics, and Policy
(Read chapter 8 of Mankiw)
Quiz #3 on Feb. 7th
-Week 6 (Feb. 14 & Feb. 16): Unemployment (Read chapter 6 of Mankiw)
Quiz #4 on Feb. 14th
-Week 7 (Feb. 21 & Feb. 23): Money and Inflation (Read chapter 4 of Mankiw)
Quiz #5 on Feb. 21st
-Week 8 (Feb. 28 & March 1): Catch-up day on Tuesday
Exam #1 on March 1st (Covering material on “The
Economy in the Long Run”)
The Economy in the Short Run and the Micro Foundations of Macro
-Week 9 (March 6 & March 8): Introduction to Economic Fluctuations and Aggregate
Demand (Read chapter 9 of Mankiw)
No class on March 8th
-Week 10 (March 13 & March 15): No classes (Spring break)
-Week 11 (March 20 & March 22): Introduction to Economic Fluctuations and
Aggregate Demand (Read chapter 10 of Mankiw)
Quiz #6 on March 22nd
-Week 12 (March 27 & March 29): Aggregate Supply (Read chapter 13 of Mankiw)
Quiz #7 on March 27th
-Week 13 (April 3 & April 5): Aggregate Supply and Consumption (Read chapters 14
and 17 of Mankiw)
Quiz #8 on April 3rd
-Week 14 (April 10 & April 12): Consumption (Read chapter 17 of Mankiw)
Exam #2 on April 12th
The Rise and Decline of Nations
-Week 15 (April 17 & April 19): Class discussion on Olson (Chapters in Olson TBD)
-Week 16 (April 24 & April 26): Class discussion on Olson (Chapters in Olson TBD)
-Finals Week: Exam #3 (Take-home exam on the material from Olson)