Macro Economic Analysis – Honors - Econ 1 H
Professor:
Office location:
Phone #:
E-mail:
Dr. Geetha Rajaram
LAC, T2354
(562) 938-4407
grajaram@lbcc.edu E-mail is usually the best way to reach me.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to teach students how human behavior influences outcomes in large scale
and aggregate markets. This course will introduce concepts relating to entire economies focusing
on the United States economy. By the end of the semester students will understand how
institutions, such as governments and central banks, impact household consumption, firm
investments, government purchases, as well as imports and exports in a modern economy.
The course is divided into four sections. The first is the basics of economics, demand and supply,
and comparative advantage theory. The second is the study of unemployment and inflation. The
third section is the study of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply and Fiscal Policy, and the
fourth section is the study of Monetary Policy, the Federal Reserve, and Open Economy.
COURSE OUTCOME
Analyze and discuss the functioning of a mixed enterprise system. Examine topics of the
Economic role of government, determination of national income, the banking system, and Federal
Reserve policy. Assess macroeconomic policy. Analyze and discuss problems such as the level of
unemployment, the rate of inflation, the nation’s total output of goods and services, fiscal and
monetary policies.
COURSE POLICIES:
Regarding behavior
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Talking in class or ANY behavior considered disruptive to the instructor or other students
can result in the student’s removal from the course.
Students are welcome to record lectures. No laptop, notebook, or tablet computers. No
cell phones or smart phones. No textting. No programmable calculators.
All behavior must adhere to the Standards of Student Conduct and Campus Rules as
outlined in the Academic Polices section your college catalog. These standards and rules
are in compliance with section22635 of the State Educational Code. Students should
become familiar with their rights and the rights of teachers.
Regarding withdrawals/incomplete grades
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It is the responsibility of the student to properly withdraw from the class prior to the last
possible withdrawal date. Please check with the Admissions Office for all important dates
regarding status in the class.
Incomplete grades, F/I will only be offered under unusual and serious circumstances. F/Is
will require formal documentation such as a, funeral notice, police report, or
hospitalization document.
Failure to attend the first day of class could lead to the student being dropped from the
course. Please attend class regularly. Excessive absences may result in a "W"
(withdrawal) from the course.
Regarding content
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If you do miss class, you are required to obtain class notes from another student, not from
the professor. You are welcome to meet with me to discuss the material you missed. I
encourage you to do so.
You are allowed to drop one test from your grade. If you miss a test for any reason, that
test will be dropped from your grade. You are not allowed to miss a second test for any
reason. If you have an athletic event that falls on the day of one of the test, you should
plan on dropping that test.
Any student who receives a “D” or “F” grade in his/her first exam will be REQUIRED to
meet with me. I could recommend a tutor, math skills center, etc. for you to improve
your grade, according to your needs.
Any student with a documented learning disability will be accommodated. Please see me
in the beginning of the semester to discuss your special needs and provide the necessary
documentation. Please contact DSPS to set up special exam accommodations prior to the
exams.
No late homework is accepted
No make-up exams will be given
Students are expected to do their own work. Cheating, or the perception of cheating, on
examinations or other assignments will result in an "F" (fail) for the course Excessive
absences may result in a "W"
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Points
Midterm Exam I
Midterm Exam 2
Midterm Exam 3
Research Paper
Presentation
Homework
Attendance/
Class Discussion
TOTAL
Grades (based on total possible points of 650)
100 points
100 points
100 points
150 points
75 points
100 points
25 points
650 points
585 – 650
520 – 584.9
455 – 519.9
390 – 454.9
Below 390
A
B
C
D
F
COURSE CONTENT :
Textbook
Readings are based on the textbook and any other materials presented in class. My exams and
quizzes are based very close to my CLASS NOTES, hence I strongly recommend you attend
class. Text: authors: Campbell McConnell and Stanley Brue. Title: Macroeconomics:
Principles, Policy and Problems. ISBN #: 978 – 0 – 07 – 327308 - 2
Course website
The course has a website. The address is sites.google.com/site/profgrajaram. On the left hand
side of the website will be “course”. Click on course and the course you are enrolled in, either
macroeconomics or microeconomics. All files from homework to anything else I attach for the
course will be on the website.
Homework
There will be homework problems given in class. The homework will be a combination
of multiple choice and some problem questions. The homework will be given and
discussed in class before the exam for each section. ALL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS ARE
TO BE DOWNLOADED AND PRINTED FROM THE COURSE WEBSITE. You will always
turn in a paper copy of the homework.
There is a high correlation between assignments done immediately after material shown in class
for any given problem. This can have a direct impact on student success in the course. Thus, this
year I will try something new with the homework. I may assign a particular problem in the
homework to be due the very next class after the material discussed. I may look at the homework
in class on your desks, and discuss it in class before moving to the next set of materials. Thus, it
is your responsibility to attend class and be aware that a homework assignment could be due
without much notice. If you cannot attend class, it will be your responsibility to e-mail me to find
out if there is a problem due the very next class meeting.
Exams
There are four midterm exams given during class. All the midterms are counted towards a grade.
Exams will be a combination of multiple choice questions, short answers questions, and problem
(essay) type questions. The last midterm will be the final exam given. The chapters that will be
covered for each midterm exams are listed below. The project in class is counted as a final exam
as well.
IMPORTANT: Dates for the exams will be scheduled IMMEDIATELY (USUALLY ONE
CLASS DAY) after the chapters listed below for each exam are completed.
TENTATIVE CHAPTERS FOR THE EXAMS (can be subject to change)
Exam 1 – chapters 1, 2, 3 and class notes
Exam 2 – chapters 6, 7, 8 and class notes
Exam 3 – chapters 9, 10, 11 and class notes
Exam 4 – chapters 12, 13, 14, 19 and class notes
Attendance: There will be one absence allowed, after which 5 points will be taken. If you are
absent 5 times, you get a zero for your participation points. Attendance for the first week of
class is mandatory. Failure to do so could result in the student being dropped from the
course.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS RESEARCH PAPER
The term paper is due towards the end of the semester. The paper will be comparative
analysis of any two or multiple factors. It will be explain in detailed after the completion
of the statistical testing and regression analysis section of the class. It is especially
important to present data from verifiable sources for this paper. I will present a simple
regression analysis in class using excel. Any paper and data that is plagiarized will be
given a failing grade. Some sources of data for this paper could be from:
www.census.gov, especially from the statistical abstract of the U.S.
www.fedstats.gov
www.cdc.gov for health related data
www.bls.gov for the bureau of labor statistics
Statehealthfacts.org for health related data by state.
This is an applied research paper. Your task will be to choose an economic relationship
(model) to study, find data that describes the relationship, estimate the direction and
magnitude of the relationship, run the appropriate tests, and write a paper about the
relationship based on your estimates. The class will be introduced to a raw data
research bank called the ICPSR (inter-university consortium for political and social
research). The source for your data has to be approved by the instructor.
The instructor will go through a large-scale human capital model using actual survey
data from ICPSR. The class will learn step-by-step how to do the project using this
example. This paper can serve many purposes in the future. It could potentially be used
to be expanded into a senior project paper at a four-year college, sent out for
undergraduate research conferences, and publications.
You will learn how to work with a survey from scratch, how to clean up data, recode and
or transform and analyze data. You will then learn how apply your data to a model. You
will write a literature review with multiple view-points. You will present your data
descriptively, in multiple tables, and present the estimated regression results. You will
learn how to interpret the numbers in the regression output, analyze what it means it
terms of real world analysis. Discuss the results in detail, and present any policy
recommendations if necessary. Did you answer your research questions? Were there
more questions raised by the data?
A detailed handout of the requirements of the project will be handed out in class after the
topic is presented. The topic will be presented towards the beginning of the course, so
that students have the semester to complete the project.
PRESENTATION
You will present your findings in a poster session. The date will be announced in class. The
poster session will be similar to a poster session at a conference where students explain their
findings using a professional poster to audience at the conference. Other faculty and
administrators will be invited to attend this session. A detailed summary of what is required and
the grading rubric will be handed out in class.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Weekly Calendar
Week
Chapter Assignment
1
Chapter 1 - What is Economics / Markets
2
Chapter 2 - Scarcity and Choice & Comparative Advantage
3
Chapter 3 - Supply and Demand
4
Chapter 3 continued
First Examination - Chapters 1, 2, 3 and notes
5
6
7
8
Chapter 6 - Measuring domestic Output and National Income
Chapter 7 - Introduction to Economic Growth and Instability
Chapter 8- Basic Macroeconomic Relationships
Second Examination - Chapters 6, 7, 8 and notes
9
10
11
12
Chapter 9- The Aggregate Expenditure Model
Chapter 10 –Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
Chapter 11 Fiscal policy, Deficits, and Debt
Third Examination - Chapters 9, 10, 11 and notes
13
14
15
15
16
Chapter 12- Money and the Banking
Chapter 13 & Chapter 14 - Money Creation, Monetary Policy
Chater 19 - Exchange Rates, the Balance of Payments and Trade Deficits
Fourth Examination- Chapters 12, 13, 14, 19 and notes
Review and Final project – (Last day of class)
I hope to show through the theories and models in class how economics affects your lives. So
you are encouraged to express your opinions and your diverse views in this class during the
discussion of any topic. Welcome to my class.