BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Econ 20
Introduction to Microeconomics
Fall, 2015
Mr. Coiner
Tentative Syllabus
This course is an introduction to the field of macroeconomics, and is intended for economics
majors, minors and for other students who want to learn more about how the economy functions
as a whole, or in the aggregate. This is the second course in the economics sequence for majors
or minors.
This course satisfies the School of Social Science distribution requirement and the Quantitative
Reasoning component of the General University Requirements. It is also the first course for any
student considering a concentration or minor in Economics.
In the field of macroeconomics, we use broad aggregated measures to summarize the health (or
lack thereof) of the economy. These measures include the unemployment rate, the inflation rate,
and a measure of the economy’s total annual production, Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We
build models to explain the long-run growth of GDP, and models to explain the short-run
fluctuations in GDP that are referred to as the business cycle. Within these models, there is room
for government action to change or “steer” the path of the macroeconomy, particularly in the
short-run. When the government changes the level of taxes or government spending, that is
referred to as fiscal policy. When the Federal Reserve (our nation’s central bank, and part of the
U.S. government) takes action to change the money supply and interest rates, that is referred to
as monetary policy. Educated citizens need to understand long-run economic growth, the
business cycle and how fiscal and monetary policy work.
Goals of the Course
This course has a number of major goals. First, at the end of the semester, students will
understand and be able to explain how GDP, the unemployment rate, and the inflation rate are
measured, and will be able to explain the imperfections in these measurements. Second, students
will understand and be able to explain the major causes and effects of long-run economic growth.
Third, students will be able to explain why the economy does not constantly remain at full
employment, but instead suffers through the downs and up of the business cycle. Fourth, students
will be able to explain how fiscal and monetary policy can be used to dampen the business cycle
in the short-run, and to try to achieve the goals of high employment and moderate inflation in the
long-run. Fifth, students will understand and appreciate some of the disagreements among
economists about how the macroeconomy works.
Class Meetings
In addition to the lectures on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, the teaching staff offers an
additional treatment of the material on Monday nights from 6:30-8:30. These sessions are
highly recommended. The sessions, led by the teaching assistants, will give you an additional
opportunity to ask any question you have about the material.
Exams
Two Monday night sessions of the semester will require mandatory attendance in order to
administer midterm exams. The dates of these two midterms are Monday, October 12th and
Monday, November 9th. There will also be a final exam during finals week at a time and place
determined by the Registrar.
Problem Sets
There will be two types of problem sets in this course. There will be one electronic problem set
for each chapter of the text that we cover (about a dozen in all). There will also be 11 oldfashioned hard copy problem sets. More details about these problem sets are given below.
Text
The text for this course is Macroeconomics: Principles & Applications (6th edition) by Robert E.
Hall and Marc Lieberman. In addition to the text, everyone is required to sign up for Sapling
Learning, which is the source of the electronic problem sets. The cost of signing up for Sapling
Learning is approximately $40.
Signing Up for Sapling Learning
DO NOT SIGN UP FOR SAPLING UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST CLASS MEETING IN
AUGUST.
1. Go to http://saplinglearning.com
2a. If you already have a Sapling Learning account, log in then skip to step 3.
2b. If you have Facebook account, you can use it to quickly create a SaplingLearning account. Click the
blue button with the Facebook symbol on it (just to the left of the username field). The form will auto-fill
with information from your Facebook account (you may need to log into Facebook in the popup window
first). Choose a password and timezone, accept the site policy agreement, and click "Create my new
account". You can then skip to step 3.
2c. Otherwise, click "Create account". Supply the requested information and click "Create my new
account". Check your email (and spam filter) for a message from Sapling Learning and click on the link
provided in that email.
3. Find your course in the list (you may need to expand the subject and term categories) and click the link.
4. Select a payment option and follow the remaining instructions.
Once you have registered and enrolled, you can log in at any time to complete or review your homework
assignments. During sign up - and throughout the term - if you have any technical problems or grading
issues, send an email to support@saplinglearning.com explaining the issue. The Sapling support team is
almost always more able (and faster) to resolve issues than your instructor.
Grading Policy
Your grade is based on 3 exams and on both types of problem sets. There will be 11 hard-copy
problem sets. Four of these sets arrive just before an exam, and these do not have to be turned
in. Of the remaining 7 problem sets, you may omit turning in one. Thus, to get full credit for the
hard-copy problem sets, you will have to turn in 6 of the 7 required problem sets. The hard-copy
problem sets will make up 10% of your grade.
There will be approximately a dozen electronic problem sets. Sapling will automatically record
your scores on these problem sets. The lowest three scores during the term will be thrown out.
Your score on the remaining electronic problem sets will constitute 10% of your grade.
Whichever midterm you score higher on will count for 30% of your grade. The other midterm
will count for 20% of your grade. The final exam will count for 30% of your grade. The
remaining 20% of your grade will be based on the problem sets (as described above).
Information Dissemination
In Economics 20 we will maintain a course website through the University’s Latte system. You
will be responsible for checking the website frequently as most of the problem sets, answer keys,
etc. will be posted there and available for you to download. The website can be accessed from
webct.brandeis.edu. Most items on the course website are PDF or DOC files.
Doing Your Best
Here are some suggestions that may help you to do well in Economics 20:
Do the assigned reading before class to get a preview of the material to be covered and to prepare
any questions you have about this material.
Take the problem sets seriously, because they are the best indication of whether you understand
the material and they are the best preparation for the exams.
Come to class. Keep up with the work.
Special Accommodations
If you are a student with a documented disability at Brandeis University and if you wish to
request a reasonable accommodation for this class, please see me right away. Please keep in
mind that reasonable accommodations are not provided retroactively.
IF YOU EXPERIENCE AN ILLNESS OR FAMILY EMERGENCY THAT WILL KEEP YOU
FROM ATTENDING CLASS FOR A WEEK OR MORE, YOU MUST CONTACT YOUR
ADVISOR AT ACADEMIC SERVICES SO THAT THEY CAN INFORM ALL YOUR
INSTRUCTORS ABOUT THE SITUATION AND REQUEST ACCOMODATIONS FOR
YOU.
IN THE EVENT THAT YOU ARE UNABLE TO TAKE AN EXAM AT THE SCHEDULED
TIME AND NEED TO TAKE A MAKE-UP EXAM, I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DEDUCT
POINTS FROM YOUR SCORE ON THAT EXAM.
Academic Honesty
You are expected to be honest in your academic work. The University policy on academic
honesty is distributed annually as section 4 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook.
Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus
Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the
course and suspension from the University. If you have any questions about my expectations,
please ask. Academic Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be rigorously prosecuted.
Course Outline
The Goals of the Macroeconomy
Measuring Production
Measuring Employment & Unemployment
Measuring the Price Level & Inflation
The Classical Long-run Model
Long-run Economic Growth
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
FIRST MIDTERM OCTOBER 12TH
Short-run Economic Fluctuations
The Simplest Short-run Macro Model
Fiscal Policy in the Simplest Model
Money, Banks & the Federal Reserve
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
SECOND MIDTERM NOVEMBER 9TH
Adding Money to the Short-run Model;
Monetary Policy
Integrating the Short-run and Long-run;
The Aggregate DemandAggregate Supply Model
Inflation & Monetary Policy
Exchange-rates and the Macroeconomy
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17