E202: INTRO TO MACROECONOMICS – Fall 2014
Syllabus
Section Number: 15890
Class Room and Class Time: 04:00P-05:15P TR
WH 111
Instructor: Jie Ma
Email: jiema@indiana.edu
Office Hour: 10:00 -12:00 PM, Wed, WY 117 (Or WY 344)
Course information will be disseminated on the Oncourse class webpage.
Prerequisite: E201 or S201: Intro to Microeconomics
Course Description
This course intends to provide a framework to address classic macroeconomic issues such as
growth, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, exchange rates, and budget deficits. The
objective of this course is to enable students to appreciate the workings of real and money
markets and the nature of equilibrium in each market and to emphasize the role of
macroeconomic policies that affect internal and external deficits, inflation and growth of per
capita income. These analytical tools will be used to understand the recent experience of the
United States and other countries and to address how current policy initiatives affect their
macroeconomic performance.
Required Textbook
Macroeconomics, 3rd edition, Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers
(You can also use other versions.)
Course Organization and Grades
1. Attendance, 4%
Attendance questions will be randomly given during classes. You must hand in your
answers in person to earn attendance points.
2. Homework, 6%
Homework will be assigned on a weekly base. Grades are based on completion and
performance of randomly selected questions in each homework. Late homework will be
accepted within 2 days of the intended deadline and it will receive a 25% deduction in
the grade. Homework submitted later than 2 days of the intended deadline will not be
accepted.
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3. Exams, 90%
There will be three in-class exams and one final exam. Each in-class exam is worth 20%
of the course grade. The final exam is worth 30% of the course grade. The final exam
will be a cumulative exam and consist of a departmental part and a section part.
Exams are scheduled on the following days:
Exam 1 (20%)
Exam 2 (20%)
Exam 3 (20%)
Final Exam (30%)
4:00-5:15 p.m., Thu, Sep 25
4:00-5:15 p.m., Thu, Oct 23
4:00-5:15 p.m., Thu, Nov 20
2:45-4:45 p.m., Thu., Dec 18
Make-up Policy:
Notice that the date of final exam is scheduled by the university, so you must make sure
your schedule permits you to take the final exam. There will be no chance to make up
the final exam. In-class exams also have no make-up exams. The points will be placed
onto the final exam if you shall miss one due to acceptable excuses. Illness or injury,
family emergencies, certain university-approved curricular and extra-curricular
activities, and religious holidays can be legitimate reasons to miss class or to be
excused from a scheduled exam. You must provide verifiable documentation for your
excuses. In the case of religious holidays, the student should notify the instructor by
the third week of the course of any potential conflicts. The same policy applies to
attendance and later-than-hard-deadline homework. Link to religious holiday
http://www.indiana.edu/~vpfaa/policylocker/religious_observances/Comprehensive
%20calendar%20update%202010-2015.pdf.
Supplemental Instruction (SI)
Supplemental instruction (SI) is a proactive academic assistance program funded and managed
by the Student Academic Center. Supplemental Instruction provides a time for students to
come together to work collaboratively to strengthen the independent learning and cognitive
skills they need to master the E202 course content. SI sessions will be led by an undergraduate
intern, who is called the SI leader. During SI sessions, you will be provided with practice
questions relevant to the class (different from homework) and you will be working on those
questions with a group of students and help from the SI leader. There are two available time
slots of SI sessions.
SI Leader: Kirstyn Buck (klbuck@imail.iu.edu)
SI session times: Monday 8:00-9:00pm
Wednesday 7:00-8:00pm
Attendance of SI sessions earns replacement points for the final exam. Each session earns 0.5%
point of the final exam and you can earn up to 5%. For example, if you attend 10 or more SI
sessions, your grade of the final exam will be 95% of your actual exam grade plus 5% SI points.
You must attend at least five SI sessions to apply the replacement points.
Note: SI sessions will begin Monday, 9/1/2014. Attendance of both sessions within one week
is counted only once since the content is the same.
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Reminders:
1. Your schedule must permit you to be free to take the final exam on Thursday, December
18, 2014, from 2:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. There are no alternatives to taking the exam at
this time and date. If you are enrolled in two or more of the following courses you have
a conflict—Economics E202, Business F317 & X100. Drop all but one of these
conflicting courses now, unless you can resolve the conflict with your instructor(s) in
the other course(s). Please do not ask if you may have an alternative time for the
Economics E202 final—you will not be granted this request. Consult the final exam
schedule to avoid additional conflicts.
2. If you desire classroom/testing accommodations for a disability, contact your instructor
outside of class to present the written supporting memorandum of accommodation
from the Office of Disability Services for Students (http://studentaffairs.iub.edu/dss/).
Requests for accommodations for disability must be received and authorized by your
instructor in written form no less than two weeks in advance of need, in order to allow
adequate time to review and make appropriate arrangements. No accommodation
should be assumed until authorized by your instructor.
3. Academic Integrity: Dishonesty of any kind is not tolerated in this course. Dishonesty
includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations,
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of
examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without
informing the instructor, or tampering with academic work of other students. Students
who are found dishonest will receive the most severe academic sanction consistent with
IU polices. A minimum penalty for any breach of academic integrity is the grade of “F”
for the course. The University of Indiana has information at its website:
http://www.iu.edu/~code/code/responsibilities/personal/index.shtml. Be sure to
read the contents of this site.
4. The last day to withdraw from the class and receive an automatic “W” is Sunday,
October 26th, by 4:00p.m. This is also the last day to get a withdrawal slip signed
without a special petition. After this date, you can obtain a late withdrawal from a
course only by first receiving special permission from the dean of the college. Such
permission is VERY difficult to get. University rules specify that permission for late
withdrawals is “given only for urgent reasons relating to extended illness or equivalent
distress” to a student who is “passing the course on the date of withdrawal.”
Grading Scale
Scores will be recorded in absolute percentage points and posted regularly. You should check
your grade for accuracy. Your final letter grade will be based on the following scale:
A+ (97-100)
A (93-96)
A- (89-92)
B+ (85-88)
B (81-84)
B- (77-80)
C+ (75-77)
C (72-74)
C- (69-71)
D+ (65-68)
D (61-64)
D- (58-60)
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F (Below 58)
Tentative Schedule
TIME
WEEK 1
(AUG 26,
AUG 28)
CONTENT
Chapter 6: Overview
Resources:
1. "Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk
2. A Brief history of Macro: How we got here
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/01/briefhistory-macro
3. Social Security Trustee Report
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/
WEEK 2
(SEP 2,
SEP 4)
Chapter 7: GDP and CPI
Resources:
1. Human Development Reports
http://hdr.undp.org/en
WEEK 3
(SEP 9,
SEP 11)
Chapter 8: Unemployment and Inflation
Resources:
1. Record 92,269,000 Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Matches 36Year Low
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/record-92269000not-labor-force-participation-rate-matches-36-year-low
2. How America's Minimum Wage Really Stacks Up Globally
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/09/how-americasminimum-wage-em-really-em-stacks-up-globally/279258/
3. Who Killed American Unions?
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/who-killedamerican-unions/258239/
4. Should We Kill The $100 Bill?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/08/14/340356790/shouldwe-kill-the-100-bill
WEEK 4
(SEP 16,
SEP 18)
Chapter 9: Long-Run Economic Growth
Resources:
1. America: Not Now, Or Ever, A Thrifty Country
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/05/america-notnow-or-ever-a-thrifty-country/17364/
2. Hans Rosling: Asia's Rise -- How and When
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_asia_s_rise_how_and_when?lang
uage=en
WEEK 5
(SEP 23,
SEP 25)
WEEK 6
(SEP 30,
OCT 2)
Review and Exam One
Chapter 10: Savings, Investment and Financial System
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WEEK 7
(OCT 7,
OCT 9)
WEEK 8
(OCT 14,
OCT 16)
WEEK 9
(OCT 21,
OCT 23)
WEEK 10
(OCT 28,
OCT 30)
WEEK 11
(NOV 4,
NOV 6)
WEEK 12
(NOV 11,
NOV 13)
WEEK 13
(NOV 18,
NOV 20)
WEEK 14
WEEK 15
(DEC 2,
DEC 4)
WEEK 16
(DEC 9,
DEC 11)
WEEK
17(DEC
18)
Chapter 11: Income and Expenditure
Chapter 12: Aggregate Demand and Supply
Review and Exam Two
Chapter 13: Fiscal Policy
Chapter 14: Money and Banking
Chapter 15: Monetary Policy
Review and Exam Three
Thanksgiving Break
Chapter 16: Inflation
Chapter 19: Open Economy
Final Exam
Data Resources
1. Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED): http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/
2. Bureau Of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/
3. The World Bank Data: http://data.worldbank.org/country
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