Topic 0:
Getting in the Mood for Macro!
Pre-Course Readings (These are the readings you should do prior to week 1.) Goal: To frame the issues
of the course via a few short articles from the popular press. We will explore many of the details of these
articles throughout the course.
Note:
(*) indicates that a link to the reading can be found on my web page.
I.
Overview of Macroeconomics
1. Size Does Matter: In Defense of Macroeconomics* (Paul Krugman: 7/9/1998)
2. Baby Sitting the Economy*
(Paul Krugman: 8/13/1998)
II.
2008 Financial Crisis: The Beginning
3. Wall Street’s Bad Dream
4. Diamond and Kashyap Primer*
III.
2008 Financial Crises: The Aftermath
5. What If?
6. The Great Mismatch
IV.
(cnn.com: 7/23/12)
Macroeconomic Modeling
11. Big Questions and Big Numbers
VIII.
(Economist: 11/12/2012)
Distortionary Effects of Housing Boom
10. U.S. Economy Weakened Years Before Crash*
VII.
(Economist: 10/11/2008)
(Economist: 10/11/2008)
The Fiscal Cliff
9. To the Cliff, and Beyond
VI.
(Economist: 9/12/2009)
(Economist: 9/10/2011)
The (New) Link Between Governments and Markets
7. When Fortune Frowned
8. Taming the Beast
V.
(Economist: 9/20/2008)
(Erik’s web page)
(Economist: 7/15/2006)
The State of Modern Macroeconomics
A. A Critical Overview
12. What Good Are Economists Anyway?
(BusinessWeek: 4/16/2009)
B. A Civil Debate
13.
14.
15.
16.
The Other Worldly Philosophers
Efficiency and Beyond
In Defense of the Dismal Science (by R. Lucas)
Interview with Eugene Fama*
(Economist: 7/18/2009)
(Economist: 7/18/2009)
(Economist: 8/8/2009)
(New Yorker web page 1/13/2010)
C. A Less Civil Debate
17. Krugman: How Did Economists Get it So Wrong* (NY Times Mag:9/2/2009)
18. Cochrane’s Response to Krugman *
(Erik’s Web Page)
Topic 1:
Introduction to Macro Data
Chapters 1, 2, and 3.5 from Text.
I.
The Difficulty in Measuring Economic Variables
A.
Difficulty in Measuring Prices
19. Feeling the Heat
20. Role of Prices in Measuring Poor’s Living
Standards* (attention to p. 92-96), Broda et al.
B.
(Economist: 6/24/2006)
(Erik's Web Page)
Difficulty in Measuring Output/Output Growth
21. Botox and Beancounting
22. Diagnosing Depression
(Economist 4/30/2011)
(Economist: 1/3/2009)
C. Difficulty in Measuring Unemployment
23. Where Are the Workers?
24. In the Bleak Midwinter
D.
(Economist 2/12/2011)
(Economist: 12/16/2010)
Difficulty Measuring Well Being
25. Measuring What Matters
(Economist: 9/19/2009)
E. Measurement Debate in the Political Arena
26. Damn Lies and Statistics*
27. The Price of Cooking the Books
28. Which of These is Not Like the Others?*
(BusinessWeek 10/22-28/2012)
(Economist: 2/25/2012)
(Economist Blog: 2/24/2012)
II.
The Yield Curve
29. Dangerous Curve
Topic 2:
(Economist: 4/3/2010)
Production, the Labor Market and Economic Growth
Chapters 3, 6.1 and 6.3 (skim 6.2 - do not worry about the math) from Text
I.
Production and Labor Markets
30. The Land of Leisure
31. This American Life Episode 435 (Act 1 and 3)
32. Why Employers Are Slow to Fill Jobs*
II.
Growth in the “New” Economy
33.
34.
35.
36.
III.
(Economist: 2/4/2006)
(thisamericanlife.org)
(Erik’s webpage)
Productivity on Stilts
Performing Miracles
The New “New Economy”
A Graduation Gift for College Seniors: Jobs
(Economist: 6/10/2000)
(Economist: 6/17/2000)
(Economist: 9/13/2003)
(Bloomberg 5/9/2011)
Productivity and Regulation
37. Red Tape Rising
Topic 3:
(Economist 1/22/2011)
Consumption, Saving, and Investment
Chapters 4.1, 4.2 and Appendix 4.A from Text
I.
Consumption/Savings
38. The End of the Affair
39. Dropping the Shopping
40. The Nature of Wealth
II.
(Economist: 10/22/2008)
(Economist: 7/25/2009)
(Economist: 10/10/2009)
Investment
41. From Investment Boom to Bust
42. Desperately Seeking a Cash Cure
43. Trying to Calculate the Cost of Uncertainty
(Economist: 3/3/2001)
(Economist: 10/22/2008)
(WSJ - Wessel, 12/5/12)
Topic 4:
Fiscal Policy
Chapter 15 from Text
I.
Government Deficits
44.
45.
46.
47.
II.
Coping With Surpluses
All Economics is Local
Less of a Drag
Fiscal Cliffs, Multipliers, and the Myth of
Central Bank Independence
(Economist: 5/20/2000)
(Economist: 11/20/2010)
(Economist: 1/7/2012)
(Economists Blog: 5/23/2012)
Taxes
48. The Tax and Spending Compromise/The Tax Deal A Second Stimulus? by Gary Becker and Richard Posner*
(12/26/2010)
49. The New Voodoo*
(Paul Krugman: 12/30/2010)
50. The Blur Between Spending and Taxes*
(Greg Mankiw: 2/20/2010)
IV.
Fiscal Policy in Action
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
Topic 5:
Why the War Against Terror Will Boost the Economy* (Robert Barro: 11/5/2001)
What’s Wrong with America’s economy?
(Economist 4/30/2011)
The Lessons of 1937
(Economist: 6/20/2009)
Ugly Modeling*
(Veronique de Rugy: June 2011)
Government Spending is No Free Lunch*
(Robert Barro: 1/22/2009)
Introduction into Money/Federal Reserve Policy
Chapters 7, 14.1 and 14.2 from Text
I.
Monetary Basics
56. Who Needs Money
57. Putting the Air Back In
58. Lifting the Veil at the Fed- Sort of
II.
(Economist: 1/22/2000)
(Economist: 11/1/2008)
(BusinessWeek 4/4/2011)
Monetary Policy In Action: Part 1
59. A Blunt Tool
60. The Doctors’ Bill
(Economist: 6/30/2001)
(Economist: 9/27/2008)
Topic 6:
Inflation and Unemployment in the Short Run (Putting it All Together)
Chapters 8-11 from Text
I.
A Look at Recessions
61. The Kiss of Life?
62. The Geography of a Recession
III.
Should We Care About Deflation?
63. Hear that Hissing Sound?
64. The Curse of Defeatism
IV.
(Economist: 4/1/2000)
Shifts in Aggregate Supply: Oil Shocks
66. Counting the Cost
67. A Rhetorical Blowout
VI.
(Economist: 5/17/2003)
(Economist: 11/28/2009)
Shifts in Aggregate Supply: Technology Shocks
65. A Thinkers' Guide
V.
(Economist: 4/21/2001)
(Economist: 2/9/2008)
(Economist: 8/27/2005)
(Economist 5/14/2011)
Unemployment in This Recession
68. 2 Million ‘Open Jobs’? Yes, But U.S. Has Skills Mismatch* (NPR story)
69. Severance Pay for the Unemployed*
(Ed Glaeser, Boston Globe web page
11/29/2012)
Topic 7:
Policy Rules
Chapter 12 and 14.3 from Text
I.
The Inflation/Unemployment Tradeoff
70. What Happened to the Phillips Curve*
71. Curve Ball
(Brad Delong)
(Economist: 9/30/2006)
II.
Monetary Rules (see web page for online locations)
72. Money Rules
(Economist: 10/24/1998)
73. Federal Reserve Board: Remarks By Governor Edward Gramlich – 9/27/98 *
(Discussion of How the Fed Makes its Monetary Policy Decisions)
74. Federal Reserve Board: Remarks By Chairman Ben Bernanke - 5/25/10 * (Central Bank
Independence, Transparency, and Accountability)
75. What Goes Around
(Economist: 6/9/2007)
76. What Are Central Banks Actually for?
(BusinessWeek 9/3-9/2012)
(A solution to central bankers’ divided loyalties)
III.
Putting it all Together
77. Between Bears and Hawks
78. Anatomy of a Hump
79. The Zero Lower Bound in Our Minds
Topic 8:
I.
(Economist: 5/13/2006)
(Economist: 3/10/2007)
(Economist Blog: 1/7/2012)
Special Topics
The 2008 Financial Crisis Revisited
80. The Financial Crisis and the Bailout: A Primer (Steve Kaplan)*
II.
Erik’s web page
Inflation or Deflation?
81. Old Enemy Rears its Head
82. Depressing Times
83. Everyday Higher Prices
(Economist: 5/24/2008)
(Economist: 11/15/2008)
(Economist 2/26/2011)
84. Monetary Policy In Action: Part II
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
III.
The Hedge Fund of Foggy Bottom
This Way Out
Put Out
Narrow Success, Broad Concerns
As ‘Junk’ Bonds Fall, Some Blame Fed*
Praise for Bernanke
90. The Very Model of a Modern Central Banker
IV.
(Economist: 5/2/2009)
(Economist: 6/6/2009)
(Economist: 7/4/2009)
(Economist: 9/5/2009)
(WSJ: 6/10/2011)
(Economist: 8/29/2009)
Quantitative Easing 2
91. The Bernanke Code
92. The New Malaise and How to End It
(Bloomberg 11/8/2010)
(WSJ 11/8/2010)
Topic 9:
The International Economy
Chapter 5 and 13 from Text
93. Lone German Keynesian:
Advocates Pooling Euro Debt*
(Bloomberg Markets Magazine 12/6/2012)
94. A Falling Dollar Will Mean a Faster U.S. Recovery*
(Marty Feldstein: 8/1/2011)
95. Latin Growth Tune Plays in Two Speeds
(WSJ: 11/30/2012)
96. Greece as Victim*
(Krugman, NYT, 6/17/2012)
97. What Explains the Industrial Revolution
(Erik’s Web Page)
in East Asia? Evidence from the Factor Markets*