Ben Keefer
University of Washington
Syllabus for Econ 201, Section B, Winter 2013
Contact Information:
Email: keeferbp@...
Course Web Page: https://catalyst.uw.edu/workspace/keeferbp/34006/
Meeting: M—F, 8:30—9:20 am, Classroom BNS 117
Prerequisites: Econ. 200, Math 111 Recommended
Text:
Mankiw, N. Gregory, Principles of Macroeconomics, 6th Edition, Thomson—South-Western
College, 2012. ISBN-10: 0538453060.
http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Macroeconomics-N-Gregory-Mankiw/dp/0538453060/ref=pd_sim_b_2
Mankiw, N. Gregory, Principles of Economics, 2011 is a valid substitute. Older editions may be
used, though changes to the text may create some discrepancies. However, the student is free to use
his/her own discretion.
Calculator: You are required to have a scientific calculator for this course. Graphing calculators will NOT
be permitted on quizzes and exams.
Learning Goals:
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Learn common macroeconomic terminology.
Develop a basic understanding for how the economy works and how different
macroeconomic variables are related.
Learn to read and interpret the empirical information in macroeconomic data, graphical
displays, and tables.
Application of Goals:
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Analyze the sources of long-term prosperity and contributing factors to long term growth.
Analyze the causes of short-term economic fluctuations (business cycles) and stabilization policy
to restore full employment (low unemployment) and low inflation.
Analyze the current international macroeconomic issues and policy debates
Office hours (in Savery 319G)
Note that I will not be able to answer questions about the material by e-mail.
Tuesday/Friday: 9:30—10:20 a.m., or by appointment
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Ben Keefer
University of Washington
Absences:
You are expected to attend every lecture. Quizzes and exams are non-cumulative. If you miss a
single quiz or exam (for sports, with a note from your coach, or a documented emergency), your grade
will be computed from the other three. To make things easier for you and for me, please try to avoid
missing more than one quiz or exam.
Academic Integrity:
Dishonesty will result in failure. Please see exam rules document for more information.
Grading:
There will one quiz (10%), three non-cumulative exams (each 20%), and a non-cumulative final
exam (30%). All will be multiple choice.
Based on instructions from the Department of Economics, the following procedure will be used
to calculate grades:
1. Drop the lowest exam (technically 20% in case the quiz or final exam are the lowest score)
and compute the new average grade. Students with an excused absence will have the
missed quiz/exam score excused instead.
2. Calculate the Interquartile Range (25th—75th percentile). Multiply difference by 1.5. Any
scores outside range will be considered outliers.
3. Of non-outlier data, curve final scores until the mean reaches a score of 75% to 80%.
Underlying considerations:
 The upper median for the course must be no higher than 3.1 according to the
Department of Economics policies.
 A normal class should expect to have a median of 2.9.
 A class with low attendance and participation rates will likely receive a median of
2.8.
 A very good class, in which students work hard, actively participate in the course,
ask questions, perform well on exams, and frequently attend office hours, may
receive a median of 3.1.
4. Calculate the average standard deviation across exams for the class.
5. Using the result from step 3, calculate the number of standard deviations each student’s
final score is from the mean.
6. For every standard deviation away from the mean, add that many grade points to the mean.
If the mean is 2.9, a student will earn +1.0 for each standard deviation away from the mean.
Any grade above 4.0 will be truncated at 4.0. Any grade below 0.7 will be awarded 0.0.
Student Resources:
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Ben Keefer
University of Washington
1. Free drop-in tutoring is provided by the Economics Undergraduate Board. Here is the current
schedule: http://depts.washington.edu/ecnboard/tutoring.html
2. You may also wish to check out Mankiw’s student resources page, providing online quizzes for
each chapter as well as other resources:
http://websites.swlearning.com/cgiwadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780324589993&discipline_
number=415
Accommodations:
If you have a documented disability I encourage you to work with the staff at Office of Disability
Resources for Students. If you have a notification of a disability from that office and feel
comfortable sharing that with me please do so, so that I can help making any necessary
accommodations.
Tentative Schedule
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Syllabus
Chapter 10: Measuring a nation’s income
Chapter 11, Measuring the cost of living
Quiz 1: Chapters 10—11, Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Chapter 12, Production and Growth
Chapter 13, Saving, investment, and the financial system
Chapter 15, Unemployment
Exam 1: Chapters 12, 13, and 15, Friday, February 1, 2013
Chapter 16, The monetary system
Chapter 17, Money, growth, and inflation
Exam 2: Chapters 16—17, Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Chapter 18, Open-economy macroeconomics: basic concepts
Chapter 19. Macroeconomic theory of the open economy
Week 9
Week 10
Exam 3: Chapters 18—19, Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Chapter 20, Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
Chapter 21, Influence of monetary and fiscal policy on aggregate demand
Chapter 22, Short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment
Final Exam
Final Exam: Chapters 20—22, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 8:30—10:20 am
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