PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
MACROECONOMICS
INSTRUCTOR: FRANNY CHAN
E-mail address: chanf@lahc.edu
Alternative e-mail address: frannychan@hotmail.com
Voice Mail: 909-594-5611, Ext. 3031 Office Hours: By appointment only
COURSE OBJECTIVE: This course presents the United States' basic macroeconomics system. Students are
expected to understand the role of government, business cycles, unemployment, inflation, economic growth,
fiscal and monetary policies, and international trade and finance.
REQUIRED TEXT: Roger A. Arnold; Macroeconomics, 11th edition, Thomson South-Western, 2010.
ISBN 1111823014
CLASS WEBSITE: http://www.lahc.edu/classes/socialscience/economics/chan/chan.html You may also get to
the class website thru http://www.lahc.edu/ click Academic Departments, find Economics under Social
Behavioral Sciences, then Franny Chan under Faculty.
RECOMMENDED READINGS: Have access to newsmagazine and newspaper such as U.S. News and World
Report, Time, Business Week, Fortune or the Wall Street Journal. Current economic news will be discussed in
the class. It will be helpful if you can familiar yourself with the present economic environment of our country.
COURSE OUTLINE
MACROECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS CH 6, 7, 8
Exam 1
MACRO ECONOMICS STABILITY, INSTABILITY AND FISCAL POLICY CH 9, 10, 11 Exam 2
BANKING, MONETARY POLICY & INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS CH 12, 13,14,15, 22, 23
ECONOMIC GROWTH CH 17
FINAL EXAM - Final Week Friday 8:00 AM
Weekly Schedule:
Week #
Class requirements
WK 1
WK 2
WK 3
WK 4
WK 5
WK 6
WK 7
WK 8
Review Ch 1-3
Ch 6 Prices and Unemployment
Ch 7 GDP
Ch 8 AD and AS
Review and Exam 1
Ch 9 Self-Regulating Economy
Ch 10 A Critique of Self-Regulating Economy
Ch 11 Federal Budget and Fiscal Policy
WK 9
Review and Exam 2
WK 10
Ch 12 Money and Banking
WK 11
Ch 13 The Federal Reserve System & Ch 14 Money and the Economy
WK 12
Ch 15 Monetary Policy
WK 13
Ch 21 International Trade & Ch 22 International Finance
WK 14
Ch 17 Economic Growth. Review
WK 15
Final Exam
Course schedule may be changed at the discretion of the instructor.
GRADING:
Your grade is based upon the following assignments and exams:
6 Assignments 20% (3.33% each assignment)
Chapter Summary 10%
2 Exam
30% (15 % each exam)
Final Exam
40%
A=90% B=80% C= 60% D= 50%F:<50%
No makeup examinations will be given. If you miss an exam, the final will be counted twice. If you wish to withdraw
from this class, be sure to drop officially in the record office. Failure to do so will result in an F.
Classroom assignments: These assignments have to be finished in the classroom. They are open-book exercises and will
be given at the end of class sections. No makeup assignments will be given, and no late classroom assignments will be
accepted. If you missed an assignment, you have to do the extra ones to make up. You will be given more than 6
assignments. If you did more than 6 assignments, the extra assignments will be counted as extra credit towards your grade.
Chapter Summary: Write a 200-300 words summary that describe each chapter’s main concepts in your own words. In
your summary, be sure to list and highlight 4 major concepts from this week’s reading and the definition of these concepts.
All summaries are due on Fridays at the beginning of the class. You should post your summary to the Etude site by
following the thread in the Discussion and Private Message folder. No late summaries will be accepted.
Exams: All the exams will consist two parts: true/false and multiple-choice problems. Please bring a calculator and
scantron (#882-E) to each exam. Class notes will be very helpful in preparing for the exams. You can prepare a formulae
sheet to bring to the exam. No makeup examinations will be given. If you miss an exam, the final will be counted twice.
FINAL IS SELECTIVELY COMPREHENSIVE.
Classroom Rules: All quantitative answers in class work and exams should have at least 2 decimal digits, 4 are
recommended. No cell phone use is allowed in classroom and exams. Students are highly encouraged to attend all class
sections on time. College attendance requirement will be followed in this course.
COMMUNICATION: I would be glad to answer your questions about the lecture or course materials. The most
effective method of contacting me is by e-mail. Usually, I will respond to your questions within 24 hours. If you
like to talk to me, I can meet you before the class or by appointment.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME:
1. Describe the nature of the principles of economic analysis.
2. Examine the relationship between scarcity, choice, and the opportunity cost of decision making.
3. Apply the principles of economic analysis to real (macroeconomic) world problems.
4. Review the characteristics of American capitalism; private property rights, profits, competition, markets, and
government.
5. Describe how Gross Domestic Product is measured and its relationship to net domestic product and national, personal
and disposable income.
6. Distinguish among the concepts of national income accounting and other measurement concepts associated with the
macroeconomic economy.
7. Describe the history, the nature, and causes of the American business cycle with particular focus on output –
employment policies and economic growth.
8. Distinguish between classical and Keynesian economic theory, the development of fiscal theory, and the fiscal tools used
to stabilize the macro economy.
9. Discuss how built-in stabilizers temper business cycles.
10. Identify limitations of fiscal policy.
11. Analyze how the standardized-budget surplus or deficit provides a measure of fiscal policy.
12. Interpret the consequences and makeup of the U.S. public debt.
13. Describe how the U.S. banking system operates, including reserves, loans and multipliers.
14. Analyze the objectives, organization and function of the Federal Reserve System.
15. Analyze the tools available to the Fed to promote stabilization of the macroeconomic economy via monetary policy.
16. Compare, and to contrast the models of classical economics – Keynesian economics – monetarism and
rational expectations with regard to stabilization policy (stabilizing output, employment, prices, and economic
growth).
The general rules of the College, the requirements of the Social Science Division and the Department of Economics are all
assumed and specially applied to the cases of cheating, plagiarism and assignment of an incomplete grade.