Advanced Placement Macroeconomics Syllabus
The AP Macroeconomics course is designed to give students a thorough understanding of
the economy as a whole. After a Semester of Microeconomics the students should be
more than prepared to dive into topics analyzing national income, inflation,
unemployment, money, banking, and world trade. Students should be able to think
critically about issues around the world.
* Students taking Macroeconomics have already completed Microeconomics the first
semester of the school year. All of the basic economic concepts will be taught in
Microeconomics including marginal analysis, opportunity costs, comparative advantage,
productivity, etc…
Textbook and Materials:
Required Text: Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Economics. 2ns Ed. Orlando,
Florida: Harcourt College Publishers. 1998
Study Guide to Accompany Text: Hakes, David R. Study Guide Principles of
Economics. 2nd Ed. Mason, Ohio. South Western Thomson learning. 2001.
Summer Reading: Wheelan, Charles. Naked Economics; Undressing the Dismal
Science. New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2002
Course Overview:
Second Semester Macroeconomics
Unit 1:
(2 Weeks)
Basic Concepts & Economic Indicators
Chapters 22 and 23
Assessments: - Quiz following each chapter: aprox 25 questions/ 50 mins per chapter quiz
- Unit Test: aprox 50 multiple choice 50 mins and 2 free response
Unit 2:
(2 -3Weeks)
Business Cycles
Chapters 24,25, and 26
Assessments: - Quiz following each or every other chapter: aprox 25 questions/ 50 mins per
chapter quiz
- Unit Test: aprox 50 multiple choice 50 mins and 2 free response
Unit 3:
(2-3 Weeks)
Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
Chapters 27 and 28
Assessments: - Quiz following each or every other chapter: aprox 25 questions/ 50 mins per
chapter quiz
- Unit Test: aprox 50 multiple choice 50 mins and 2 free response
Unit 4:
(3 Weeks)
Aggregate Supply/ Aggregate Demand and Fiscal Policy
Chapters 31,32, and 33
Assessments: - Quiz following each chapter: aprox 40 questions/ 50 mins per chapter quiz
- Unit Test: aprox 40 multiple choice 50 mins and 2 free response
Unit 5:
(2 Weeks)
International Economics
Chapters 29 and 30
Assessments - Quiz following each chapter: aprox 25 questions/ 50 mins per chapter quiz
- Unit Test: aprox 50 multiple choice 50 mins and 2 free response
Unit 6:
(2 Weeks)
Review for the AP EXAM
Topics in Macroeconomics
Topics: The following are topics that we will be covering during the unit. These topics
will be tested on the Unit Exam. In addition, there will be chapter quizzes covering these
topics.
Unit 1: Basic Concepts and Economic Indicators
Chapters: 22) Measuring A Nation’s Income
Pg. 493-509
23) Measuring the Cost of Living
Pg. 511-525
Topics:
GDP
GNP
NEW
CPI
PPI
GDP Price Deflator
Nominal vs Real Values
Business Cycles
Unemployment, Employment
Full employment, full employment unemployment
Inflation, disinflation, deflation
Index, index number, indexing
Cost of living
Day
1
Topic
GDP
Assignment
Study Guide Chapter 22
2
Real versus Nominal GDP
Economic Well-Being
Case Study “International
Differences in GDP and the
Quality of Life”
3
Top Ten Movies of all Time
Real vs Nominal problems
4
Quiz Chapter 22
Vocabulary Chapter 22 due
5
CPI/ Inflation
Study Guide Chapter 23
6
Problem Set “Benchmarking Inflation”
7
Quiz Chapter 23
8
Review for Test
9
50 MC Test Questions
10
Short Answer Test
Unit 2:
Vocabulary Chapter 23 due
Business Cycles
Chapters: 24) Production and Growth
Pg. 529-550
25) Saving, Investment, and The Financial System
Pg. 553-576
26) Unemployment and its Natural Rate
Pg. 579-603
Topics:
Philips Curve Debate
Stagflation
Natural rate hypothesis
Demand-pull and cost-push inflation
Economic growth
Economics vs politics
Efficiency
Fairness
Classical economics
Say’s Law
Keynesian economics
Consumption
Investment
Government
Net exports
Savings/ dissavings
Deficit vs Debt
Loanable funds market
Day
Topic
Assignment
1
Growth of Output/ Reap GDP
Rule of 70 and Productivity relating
To economic growth.
Study Guide Chapter 24
2
Public Policy “Growth in Africa:
It Can Be Done” by Jeffrey Sachs
3
Quiz Chapter 24
Vocabulary Chapter 24 due
4
Financial Markets (bonds, stocks,
banks, mutual funds)
Study Guide Chapter 25
5
National Income Accounts
Loanable Funds (crowding in/out)
“Are Stocks Overvalued? Not a
chance” by James K. Glassman
6
Quiz Chapter 25
Vocabulary Chapter 25 due
7
Stock Market Project (day trading)
8
Unemployment (types) “problems”
Study Guide Chapter 26
9
Collective Bargaining/ Strikes
www. Reffeconomics.com
business cycle
10
Quiz Chapter 26
Vocabulary Chapter 26 due
11
Review
12
50 MC test
13
Short Answer
Unit 3:
Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
Chapters: 27) The Monetary System
Pg. 607-624
28) Money Growth and Inflation
Pg. 627-652
Topics:
Money: M1, M2, M3
MZM
Money demand
FED
Financial Institutions
Deposit creation
Money multiplier
Monetary policy
Reserve requirement
Open market operations
Discount rate
Strengths and limitations
Fed funds rate
Monetary policy transmission mechanism
Interest rate effect
Output effect
Money market
Day
Topic
Assignment
1
Money and The Federal Reserve
Study Guide Chapter 27
2
Banks and The Money Supply
Case Study “Bank Runs and The
Money Supply” pg 622
3
Dollar Activities (neat tricks with dollars)
4
Quiz Chapter 27
Vocabulary Chapter 27 due
5
Money Growth
Study Guide Chapter 28
6
Inflation “Inflation Packet Problems”
7
“The Wizard of Oz and the Free Silver Debate”
Case Study pg 647
8
www.Reffonomics.com money market graph
9
Quiz Chapter 28
10
Review
Vocabulary Chapter 28 due
11
50 MC Test
12
Short Answer Test
Unit 4: Aggregate Supply/Aggregate Demand and Fiscal Policy
Chapters: 31) Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
Pg. 701-730
32) The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Demand
Pg. 733-758
33) The Short-run Tradeoff between Inflation and Unemployment
Pg. 761-786
Topics:
AS/AD model*
*be careful, this is a small sounding topic but
contains many specific easily tested parts.
Equilibrium vs Full employment GDP
Inflationary and Recessionary Gaps
Simple, Complex, and balanced budget multiplier
Deficit vs debt
Fiscal policy
Discretionary and nondiscretionary
Strengths and limitations
Fiscal policy transmission mechanism
Interest rate effect
Output effect
Monetary policy
Reserve requirement
Open market operations
Discount rate
Strengths and limitations
Monetary policy transmission mechanism
Phillips Curve
Inflation
Day
Topic
Assignment
1
AS/AD Model
Study Guide Chapter 31
2
Short Run Fluctuations
3
“Consumers Get the Credit for
Expanding the Economy” by
By: Richard W. Stevenson
4
Quiz Chapter 31
Vocabulary Chapter 31 due
5
Monetary Policy
Study Guide Chapter 32
6
Interest Rate and AD
7
Fiscal Policy and AD
“Interest Rates in the Long Run
and the Short Run” pg. 739
8
Quiz chapter 32
Vocabulary Chapter 32 due
9
Phillips Curve
Study Guide Chapter 32
10
Shifts in Phillips Curve
11
“Don’t Tread on the Fed”
by: Martin and Kathleen Feldstein
12
Quiz Chapter 33
13
Review
14
50 MC Test
15
Short Answer Test
Unit 5:
Vocabulary Chapter 33 due
International Economics
Chapters: 29) Open-Economy Macroeconomics Basic Concepts
Pg. 657-677
30) A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Economy
Pg. 679-697
Topics:
Free Trade
Protectionism
Trade barriers
Comparative advantage
Absolute advantage
Exchange rates
Balance of payments
Balance of trade
Capital Flows
Capital Stock
Day
Topic
Assignment
1
International Flow of Goods
and Capital
Study Guide Chapter 29
2
Exchange Rates
Packet Problems
3
Case Study “Are U.S. Trade Deficits A
National Problem” pg 666
4
Quiz Chapter 29
Vocabulary Chapter 29 due
5
Foreign Exchange Currency
Study Guide Chapter 30
6
Equilibrium and Deficits
“China, of All Places, Sends
Capital to U.S.” by Craig S. Smith
7
Quiz Chapter 30
Vocabulary Chapter 30 due
8
Review
9
50 MC Test
10
Short Answer Test
Unit 6:
REVIEW FOR THE AP EXAM
With a year long course teaching Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, a two week
review Unit is necessary to help prepare students for the Advanced Placement Exam in
May.
Day
Topic
Assignment
1
UNIT 1 MICRO
Practice Problems
2
UNIT 2 MICRO
Practice Problems
3
UNIT 3 MICRO
Practice Problems
4
UNIT 4 MICRO
Practice Problems
5
UNIT 5 MICRO
Practice Problems
6
UNIT 1 MACRO
Practice Problems
7
UNIT 2 MACRO
Practice Problems
8
UNIT 3 MACRO
Practice Problems
9
UNIT 4 MACRO
Practice Problems
10
UNIT 5 MACRO
Practice Problems
Teaching Strategies
Outside Readings of the Textbook: Students will be expected to read every chapter, Case
Study, and New article in their Textbook which will give them real world examples and a
broader scope on the issues we deal with daily. The News Paper will be used frequently
so students can apply economics to everyday life.
Power Point Presentations: I will present the material at the beginning of each chapter
and unit for the students to hear and see the information from the teacher. They will be
able to access my power point presentations for the year on my webpage.
Practice Problems: Throughout each unit students will be given the opportunity to work
on AP free-response questions to figure out the answer. It will then be discussed as a
class and students may volunteer to put the answers on board. This is a great learning
technique and it gets them used to the AP format.
On-line resources: A site I often refer to is www.reffonomics.com. It is a great site
where students can read on each topic we will be covering and class and teach themselves
with the appropriate resources. Also the text book has a good website to refer to;
http://www.harcourtcollege.com/econ/mannkiw.
Student Evaluation:
Tests
50%
Units 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Quizzes
20%
Chapters 1-20
Project
10%
Stock Market Project
Vocabulary
10%
Chapters 1-20
In-Class work/participation
10%
free-responses/ study guides