Economics 302: Intermediate Macroeconomics
Summer 2011, UW-Madison
Instructor: Ka-fu WONG
Phone number: To be announced.
Oce: To be announced.
Oce hours: Before class and by appointment
Email: kfwong2@wisc.edu
Course website: http://moodle.variablelags.net/
TEXTBOOK
Macroeconomics, 7th edition, by Gregory Mankiw. Worth Publishers.
ADDITIONAL READINGS
Additional readings may be assigned during the course, available for download from the course website.
ONLINE STUDY MATERIALS
1. A helpful aid in progressing through this course is the website that accompanies the text.
(http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/mankiw7/)
2. PowerPoint slides for the lectures will also be accessible on the course website, after they have been covered
in class, through the course webpage.
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course is an intermediate level course in macroeconomic theory and in its application. The course develops a
number of macroeconomic models to describe the behavior of the national economy. By the end of the semester,
students should know the implications of the neo-classical macroeconomic model as well as the Keynesian model
of the short run.
We will also examine the modern market economy with a view towards trying to understand
uctuations in national income, output, employment, prices and exchange rates and the implication of such changes
for business decisions. We will examine the goods, nancial, and labor markets, and the role of government and the
Federal Reserve in maintaining a strong and vibrant economy. In doing so, we will analyze the eects of monetary
policy, scal policies, and other macroeconomic events on economic activity. We will also focus on the determinants
of economic growth, namely, capital accumulation and technological progress.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To develop or improve macroeconomic literacy.
2. To introduce several advanced models of macroeconomics to analyze the determination of aggregate output,
employment, the price level, and interest rates: IS-LM and Solow growth model, etc.
3. To gain an appreciation of the problems facing economic policymakers using monetary and scal policy to
deal with the issues of ination, unemployment, and growth.
4. To stimulate awareness of and interest in current developments in the macroeconomy.
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GRADING
There will be no midterms, no homework assignments, and no comprehensive nal.
Grades are based solely on
in-class quizzes and daily in-class exercises.
Assessment
In-class quizzes:
Weight
In-class quizzes (once every two days)
90%
In-class exercises (daily)
10%
Quizzes (which last 15 to 30 minutes each) will be given once every two days, at the beginning
of the lecture. The question paper will likely consist of short answer questions, and, occasionally, multiple choice
questions.
•
The aim of the in-class quizzes is to motiviate students to review some of the materials covered in previous
lectures, and to help the professor keep track of student's progress.
•
Students should plan to arrive the venue ve minutes early in order that the allocated time is available to
them for the quizzes. Students arriving late will not receive compensating time: all quizzes must be turned
in to the professor at the end of the allocated quiz time.
•
There will be no make-up quizzes to replace quizzes that have been missed. Students missing any quiz will
receive a grade of zero for the corresponding quiz unless they provide documentation of illness.
•
The quiz with the lowest grade will not be counted towards the overall grade.
In-class exercises:
In-class exercises (which last 5 to 10 minutes each) will be given daily, at the end of the
lecture. The exercise will likely be about materials covered during the lecture.
Grade distribution:
Students can anticipate that grades will fall roughly along the following distribution:
Grade
Distribution
A
15% of the class
AB
18% of the class
B
20% of the class
BC
20% of the class
C
18% of the class
D and F
9% of the class
This distribution is for reference only. The actual distribution may dier from year to year. If the class is doing
better this year compared to previous years, it is possible to shift the grade distribution towards more As.
EXPECTATIONS
I have the following expectations regarding your responsibilities and behavior in this class:
1.
I expect you to read the syllabus and to make yourself aware of all requirements and deadlines
associated with this class. I didn't read the syllabus is not an acceptable excuse for failing to meet any
requirements or deadlines.
2.
I expect you to behave with respect toward the instructor and other students in the class.
Talking during class, reading newspapers, sleeping, coming in late or leaving early are not acceptable forms
of behavior and disturb the other people in the class. If you cannot attend class in a respectful manner, then
do not come to class!
3.
I expect you to make the eort to learn macroeconomics.
The instructor cannot learn for you. You
should attend class, read the textbook, and practice , if you wish to succeed in this course.
You are not
required to attend class, but it would be wise to do so.
4.
I expect you to ask for help, whenever you need it.
The instructor are available outside of class to
help you, but you must initiate the contact. The sooner you seek help, the better!
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COMMITMENTS
Students are expected to fully commit themselves in this four weeks.
We must realize that this course (done
intensively in four weeks, 16 three-hour meetings in total) is normally taught in 16 weeks in a regular semester.
Imagine how much time we would spend on a similar course oered in a regular 16-week semester. In a normal week,
we would be expected to spend 3 hours for lecture, 1 hour for discussion section, at least 4 hours for homework
assignment and review of lecture materials. Since one day in our summer session is equivalent to one week in a
regular semester, students are supposed to spend at least 8 hours per day on this course. This busy schedule does
not leave much room for party, let alone part-time job, full-time job, or taking another summer course in parallel.
Does it?
CLASS SCHEDULE (tentative)
Date
Day
Topic
Reading
July 11
Monday
The Science of Macroeconomics
Chapter 1
The Data of Macroeconomics
Chapter 2
July 12
Tuesday*
National Income
Chapter 3
July 13
Wednesday
Money and Ination
Chapter 4
July 14
Thursday*
Open Economy
Chapter 5
July 18
Monday
Unemployment
Chapter 6
July 19
Tuesday*
Economic growth I
Chapter 7
July 20
Wednesday
Economic growth II
Chapter 8
Introduction to economic uctuations
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
July 21
Thursday*
Aggregate demand I
July 25
Monday
Aggregate demand II
Chapter 11
July 26
Tuesday*
Open Economy revisited
Chapter 12
July 27
Wednesday
Aggregate Supply and the Short-run Tradeo Between Ination
Chapter 13
and Unemployment
July 28
Thursday*
A Dynamic Model of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
Chapter 14
Stabilization Policy
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
August 1
Monday
Government Debt and Budget Decits
August 2
Tuesday*
Consumption theory
Chapter 17
August 3
Wednesday
Investment
Chapter 18
August 4
Thursday*
Money Supply, Money Demand, and the Banking System
Chapter 19
Note: Tentative quiz days are marked by asterisks (*).
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ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
The Department of Economics has developed a grievance procedure through which you may register comments or
complaints about a course, an instructor, or a teaching assistant. Before utilizing the formal steps of this procedure,
we ask that you utilize two other means of addressing your comments: our regular course evaluations, anonymous
and condential commentaries solicited at the end of each semester in every Economics class, and also by direct
communication with the instructor or teaching assistant involved. The formal grievance procedure is designed for
situations where neither of these channels is appropriate and where one or both of these have been tried.
If you wish to le a grievance, you should go to Room 7238 Social Science and request a Course Comment
Sheet. When completing the comment sheet, you will need to provide a detailed statement that describes what
aspects of the course you nd unsatisfactory. You will need to sign the sheet and provide your student identication
number, your addresses, and a phone where you can be reached. The Department will investigate comments fully
and respond in writing to complaints.
Your name, address, phone number, and student ID number will not be revealed to the instructor or teaching
assistant involved and will be treated as condential.
The Department needs this information because it may
become necessary for a commenting student to have a meeting with the department chair or a nominee to gather
additional information. Your street and e-mail addresses are necessary for providing a written response.
Misconduct Statement
Academic integrity is critical to maintaining fair and knowledge based learning at UW Madison.
Academic dis-
honesty is a serious violation; it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty between members of our academic
community, degrades the value of your degree and defrauds those who may eventually depend upon your knowledge
and integrity.
Examples of academic misconduct include but are not limited to: cheating on an examination (copying from
another student's paper, referring to materials on the exam other than those explicitly permitted, continuing to
work on an exam after the time has expired, turning in an exam for regrading after making changes to the exam),
copying the homework of someone else, submitting for credit work done by someone else, stealing examinations or
course materials, tampering with the grade records or with another student's work, or knowingly and intentionally
assisting another student in any of the above.
The Dept. of Economics will deal with these oenses harshly following UWS14 procedures
(http://students.wisc.edu/saja/misconduct/UWS14.html):
1. The penalty for misconduct in most cases will be removal from the course and a failing grade.
2. The department will inform the Dean of Students as required and additional sanctions may be applied.
3. The department will keep an internal record of misconduct incidents. This information will be made available
to teaching faculty writing recommendation letters and to admission oces of the School of Business and
Engineering.
If you think you see incidents of misconduct, you should tell your instructor about them, in which case they will
take appropriate action and protect your identity. You could also choose to contact our administrator (Mary Beth
Ellis: mellis@ssc.wisc.edu) and your identity will be kept condential.
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