© Dr. P.Wylie. Not to be copied, used, or revised without express written permission from the copyright owner.
I.K. BARBER SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Economics 102-002
Principles of Macroeconomics
Term 2 Winter 2012
Professor: P. Wylie Office: Art 309 Telephone: 807-9341 E-mail: peter.wylie@ubc.ca
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 11.30-12.20, other times by appointment.
Departmental Assistant: S. Wolfe: Office: Art 262 Telephone: 807-9124
Course Focus and Objectives
Welcome to ECON 102 Principles of Macroeconomics. This is an introductory level course in
economics. Economics is all around us, everyday. One hundred years ago the famous
economist Alfred Marshall called economics “the study of mankind in the ordinary business of
life.” John Ferguson more recently stated “Economics concerns itself with the greatest of all
human dramas...the struggle of humanity to escape from want.”
Economics is the study of how to make choices among competing alternatives given scarce
resources (and thus trade-offs) in order to improve our material well-being. It is hence a science
of decision-making; the study of how people, institutions, and nations, as far as they are able to,
manage their scarce resources (such as time, money and materials), how they make choices by
comparing costs and benefits and act purposefully upon these choices, how they interact with
each other, how their behaviour reflects the incentives they face, and how they can change
behaviour in response to different incentives; all with the goal of living a better life.
Economics’ chief strength comes from its analytical framework which enables us to understand
and explain the world around us and help us improve this world. Economics is a way of thinking
about the world that improves our problem-solving and decision-making abilities. Mastering this
course material will take some effort on your part, but it is not an overwhelming task. In
Economics, a little knowledge goes a long way; a few basic ideas can be applied to many
different situations. After taking this course, you should be able to read a newspaper and
instinctively think about how economics applies to the situations and issues you read about.
Learning Outcomes
The overall learning outcomes for the course are;
1. That you understand at an introductory level the basic principles of macroeconomics
2. That you are able to apply these basic principles to your everyday life and to your
analysis of the world around you.
© Dr. P.Wylie. Not to be copied, used, or revised without express written permission from the copyright owner.
3. That you are able to discuss, using the principles of macroeconomics, policy debates
involving macroeconomic issues such as economic growth, money and inflation,
unemployment, interest rates, saving, investment and financial markets, government
taxation, expenditures, deficits and debt, and the value of the national currency.
Course Format, Requirements and Grading Scheme
There are two 80-minute classes each week, Monday 12.30-1.50 pm and Wednesday 3.30-4.50
pm, Jan 2-Apl 3, 2013 (23 classes in total). The class on W ednesday February 13 will be used
to write the midterm exam. The classes will be a mixture of discussion and review. All grading is
in accordance with UBC Okanagan regulations and guidelines. The grading scheme is:
Online Quizzes
Midterm Test
Final exam
30%
25% (in class, 1 hour, Wednesday February 13)
45% (2 hours, in April exam period)
100%
Required Text
N. Gregory Mankiw, Ronald D. Kneebone, and Kenneth J. McKenzie, Principles of
Macroeconomics: Fifth Canadian Edition. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2011.
You can choose either the online edition through the Aplia.com course website (the least
expensive option, about $80; the online text comes with the Aplia access) or the paperback
hardcopy of the text packaged with the study guide and Aplia access (the most expensive
option, available at the Bookstore, about $145). For immediate access to the online text, see
the Aplia instructions below. Registration with Aplia by January 22 is required for the
course (the online text comes with this registration, and up to Jan 22 is available free).
In addition to reading the textbook and using the Aplia resources you should refer to the website
for the textbook, www.mankiwmacro5e.nelson.com for extensive study tools and resources.
See also the Blackboard Connect site for the course that can be used for discussion and chat.
Term Quizzes, Tests and Exams
There are a series of online quizzes in the course, associated with specific chapters of the text
(see details below). These are designed to teach you the course material and provide you with
your term grades. Anyone keeping up with their text reading and class attendance and with a
genuine interest in and basic understanding of the course material should do well in these
quizzes, collectively worth 30 percent of the final course grade.
The midterm exam worth 25% of the grade, will be held on Wednesday, February 13, 2013.
This will be a multiple-choice exam (60 multiple-choice questions).
The final examination, worth 45% of the grade, will be held at some time to be determined in the
official April 2013 exam period (April 9-24 inclusive). This will be a multiple-choice exam (100
multiple-choice questions).
No make-up midterm test will be given under any circumstances. If you miss the midterm
test for a valid medical or personal reason (with the validity as assessed by the instructor) then
the weight of that test will be placed on the final exam (which will then be worth 70% of your
grade).
© Dr. P.Wylie. Not to be copied, used, or revised without express written permission from the copyright owner.
Course Sections and Textbook Chapters/Chapter Quizzes, Course Outline
Introduction to the course and to Aplia
Outline
Jan 2
1. Fundamental Principles of Macroeconomics
Principles/Methodology of Macroeconomics
Trade, Supply and Demand
Chapters 1, 2
Chapters 3, 4
Jan 7
Jan 9
2.The Data of Macroeconomics
Measuring a Nation’s Income
Measuring the Cost of Living
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Jan 14
Jan 16
3. The Real Economy in the Long Run
Production and Growth
Savings, Investment and the
Financial System
Unemployment
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Jan 21
Jan 23
Chapter 9
Jan 28
4. Money and Prices in the Long Run
The Monetary System
Money Growth and Inflation
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Jan 30
Feb 4
Review Class
Feb 6
BC Family Day Holiday
Feb 11
Midterm test, worth 25% of the grade, Wednesday, Feb 13, 2013
Feb 13
5. The Macroeconomics of Open Economies
Open-Economy Macroeconomics
A Macroeconomic Theory of the
Open Economy
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Feb 25, 27
Feb 27, Mar 4
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Mar 6, 11
Mar 13, 18
Chapter 16
Mar 20, 25
Chapter 17
Mar 25, 27
6. Short-Run Economic Fluctuations
Aggregate Demand and Supply
The Influence of Monetary and
Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Demand
The Short-Run Tradeoff Between
Inflation and Unemployment
7. Macroeconomic Debates
Debates over Macroeconomic Policy
Easter Monday
April 1
Review Class
April 3
Final Exam, worth 45% of the grade, in the official April (9-24 inclusive) exam period.
© Dr. P.Wylie. Not to be copied, used, or revised without express written permission from the copyright owner.
Online Quiz Schedule
These quizzes are worth a collective 30% of your grade in the course. Some have more
questions in them than others (the proportion of right answers in each quiz will be normalized each quiz will be equally weighted in your overall grade (as a percent correct score) even
though some have more questions. I’ll drop the 3 lowest normalized quiz scores so you have
latitude to miss up to 3 quizzes (of the 30 total) if necessary due to e.g. illness, other personal
problems, network down, computer crashes, better things to do at the time etc. without being
penalized. That is, only your best 27 quizzes will count. There are 16 Chapter Quizzes, which
test your understanding of the specific chapter material as the course progresses and tend to be
longer, and 13 newspaper article analysis quizzes which test your abilty to apply the economics
learned in the chapter to real world events, which tend to be shorter (plus one introductory quiz).
Online Quizzes
Due: Sunday evenings
1. Quiz on Using Aplia
2. Quiz on Chapter 1
3. Quiz on Chapter 2
4. Quiz on Chapter 4
5. Border Security Quiz
6. Quiz on Chapter 5
7. Quiz on Chapter 6
8. Corporate Tax Quiz
9. Quiz on Chapter 7
10. Quiz on Chapter 8
11. Economic Indicator Quiz
12. Quiz on Chapter 9
13. Quiz on Chapter 10
14. Job Creation Quiz
15. Quiz on Chapter 11
16. French Riots Quiz
17. Vacancies Quiz
Jan 6
Jan 13
Jan 13
Jan 13
Jan 13
Jan 20
Jan 20
Jan 20
Jan 27
Jan 27
Jan 27
Feb 3
Feb 3
Feb 3
Feb 10
Feb 10
Feb 10
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Mar 3
Mar 3
Mar 10
Mar 10
Mar 10
Mar 17
Mar 17
Mar 24
Mar 24
Mar 24
Mar 31
Mar 31
Mar 31
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Midterm Break from quizzes and new course material
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
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25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Quiz on Chapter 12
Limit Exports Quiz
Quiz on Chapter 13
Foreign Exchange I Quiz
Foreign Exchange 2 Quiz
Quiz on Chapter 14
Hurricane Katrina Quiz
Quiz on Chapter 15
Deflation Quiz
Policy in Japan Quiz
Quiz on Chapter 16
Edmund Phelps Quiz
Quiz on Chapter 17
© Dr. P.Wylie. Not to be copied, used, or revised without express written permission from the copyright owner.
Classroom Equitette
Please respect your fellow students and the instructor by doing only class-related activities
inside the classroom. If using a laptop or tablet, have the sound turned off. Especially do not
talk noisily to each other while the class is in progress, or come and go from the classroom as
you please, as these behaviours are particularly distracting to the other students and to the
instructor as they are trying to learn and teach. For example, if you are attending the class,
focus only on the class and please be there at the start and stay until the end.
Academic Integrity
The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this
enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct
regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work
done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to
others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what
is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the
academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are
imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the
assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply if the matter is referred to the
President’s Advisory Committee on Student Discipline. Careful records are kept in order to
monitor and prevent recurrences. A more detailed description of academic integrity, including
the policies and procedures, may be found at
http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/okanagan/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959 If you have any questions
about how academic integrity applies to this course, please consult with your professor.
Disability
If you require disability-related accommodations to meet the course objectives, please contact
the Coordinator of Disability Resources located in the Student Development and Advising area
of the student services building. For more information about Disability Resources or academic
accommodations, please visit the website at:
http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/disres/welcome.html
Equity, Human Rights, Discrimination and Harassment
UBC Okanagan is a place where every student, staff and faculty member should be able
to study and work in an environment that is free from human rights-based discrimination and
harassment. Under UBC’s Policy 3 on Discrimination and Harassment, UBC prohibits
discrimination and harassment on the basis of the following grounds: age, ancestry, colour,
family status, marital status, physical or mental disability, place of origin, political belief, race,
religion, sex, sexual orientation or unrelated criminal conviction. If you require assistance related
to an issue of equity, discrimination or harassment, please contact the Equity Office, your
administrative head of unit, and/or your unit’s equity representative.
UBC Okanagan Equity Advisor: ph. 250-807-9291; email equity.ubco@ubc.ca
Web: www.ubc.ca/okanagan/equity Unit Equity Representatives:
http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/equity/programs/equityreps/unitcontacts.html
© Dr. P.Wylie. Not to be copied, used, or revised without express written permission from the copyright owner.
How to access your Aplia course
ECON 102-002 - Principles of Macroeconomics
Instructor: Peter Wylie
Start Date: 01/02/2013
Course Key: P2FC-3STT-HXMS
Registration
Aplia is part of NelsonBrain, which allows you to sign in to a single site to access your
Nelson materials and courses.
1. Connect to http://login.nelsonbrain.com/
2. If you already have an account, sign in. From your Dashboard, enter your course
key (P2FC-3STT-HXMS) in the box provided, and click the Register button.
If you don't have an account, click the Create a New Account button, and enter
your course key when prompted: P2FC-3STT-HXMS. Continue to follow the onscreen instructions.
Payment
Online: Purchase access to your course (including the digital textbook) from the
NelsonBrain website.
Bookstore: Purchase access to Aplia from your bookstore. Check with the bookstore to find
out what they offer for the course.
If you choose to pay later, you can use Aplia without paying until 11:59 PM on 01/22/2013.