AP MACROECONOMICS- COURSE REQUIREMENTS
2014
TEXT: McConnell and Brue. Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies. 15th ed. New
York: McGraw Hill, Inc., 2002.
***Additional reading assignments and exercises will be required throughout the course.
Warning: No textbook can compete with your best friend, cell phone, computer, etc...
Therefore, you will have to decide to devote the appropriate amount of effort and energy to
understand this (or any) economics text. In order to prepare adequately for the Advanced
Placement Macroeconomics Exam in May, you must spend considerable time preparing for
class. The text must be read and problems completed in a timely fashion.
These readings will be supplemented with class handouts from various news sources such as The
Economist, USA Today, and Time. Students are also responsible for keeping up with daily events
by reading local or national NBC, or Fox news and www.freakonomics.com.
***NOTE: This course is the equivalent of a college course. College-level textbook and readings are essential.
However, a textbook is not enough. For students to do well on the AP National Exam, students must be
prepared to use current examples and applications that may not be in the textbook.
GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION & EXPECTATIONS: To give students a thorough
understanding of the principles that apply to an economic system as a whole, including basic
concepts, measures of performance, national income and price determination, the financial
sector, stabilization policies, economic growth, and international economics.
Students must meet the high expectations for the course and share the responsibility for mastery
of the course objectives. This will involve the careful “reading for understanding” of the text and
reader, class participation, and cooperation and collaboration with peers throughout the semester.
In order to be successful in a course of this type, students must be able to utilize proper
organization and time management skills. The specific lessons and activities that will be used as
tools to build mastery will involve individual and collaborative effort.
READING: Understanding the required reading and the ability to analyze and discuss articles
will figure prominently in formal evaluation (tests and quizzes). Students will also be tested on
their ability to analyze and understand various charts and graphs concerning economics,
economic behavior and macroeconomics.
DAILY WORK: The following will constitute 40% of a formal grading evaluation. It is the student’s responsibility
to keep up with the reading assignments for the various units. Students are formally assessed on the following:
 Textbook chapter reading quizzes (quizzes count as 40% of your daily grade)
 Current Events assignments and miscellaneous assignments
EXAMINATIONS: Exams will constitute 60% of the formal grade. Examinations will include multiple choice
questions along with free-response questions. The examinations are modeled after the AP National Exam. The dates
for tests will be given well ahead time for you to prepare. If you miss a test, you will be given an opportunity to
make them up, if the absence was excused. If you are going to be absent the day a test is given, it is your
responsibility to make it up. If you miss the day before a test is given you will be expected to take the test the day
you come back.
AP MACROECONOMICS- COURSE REQUIREMENTS
2014
Test makeup: If a test is failed students will be given an opportunity to make up the test after you have
defined the vocabulary on the unit syllabus, draw the graphs or formulas for the respective unit and retake a different
test up to a 70%.
FINAL EXAM: Students can be exempt from the final exam if they have an 85 semester average and no more than
2 absences. The final exam will be a released AP Macroeconomics exam and will count 15% of their grade.
ECONOMIC CURRENT EVENT ARTICLES from a business/economic magazine. The articles must be chosen
from Money Magazine, Business Week, The Economist, Time, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, or other
magazine/newspaper approved by the instructor. The article must be at least 1 page, and the summary must be at
least 1 page typed. As you summarize the articles, you will need to relate it to a unit we have studied and highlight
any vocabulary terms, as well as provide the definition of the term, we have seen (I will give you 5 points extra
credit for each word, 5 words max on the next test). You will also need to explain how this article topic could affect
YOU as an individual in the economy. (This assignment needs tobe typed and printed out and the article needs to be
included.) Due dates will be announced.
LATE WORK: Long term projects and daily assignments are due on the due date. Any assignment turned in 1
day late will be at least a 70%, 2 days late 50%, and no assignment will be accepted afterwards.
ACADEMIC HONOR CODE: In order to sustain a community of trust in which the students and teacher can
work together to develop their educational potential and goals, ethical standards of honesty are expected. Everyone
is expected to compete fairly in the classroom to earn their academic standing through their own efforts. Violations
of the honor code include lying, cheating, or stealing. Students who violate the community of trust will receive no
credit on the assignment on which the violation occurred.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS: You are expected to maintain professional standards in this course. This
means you are expected to come to class prepared to take notes, discuss the material, and ask questions on topics
you don't understand. You are expected to maintain a professional attitude in class. Talking excessively to your
neighbors, reading the paper, sleeping or doing assignments for this or any other class are not professional behaviors
and will not be tolerated.
Professional standards are also expected in the work you submit for a grade. Homework assignments do not have to
be typed (unless otherwise instructed), but I expect them to be completed in ink. Paper and articles must be typed
and spell-checked and edited for grammar. (I will take off 1 point for every spelling error and/or grammar mistake.)
Failure to maintain such standards may result in a lower grade on that assignment. (In short, if you want an A, you
have to be willing to work for that A, they are not given out.)
Special note on Senioritis: a term used to describe the laziness displayed by students who are nearing the
end of high school. Its symptoms can include slowness, procrastination, apathy regarding schoolwork,
and a tendency toward truancy. This imagined affliction is a symptom of students' complacency once
they have all but guaranteed their place in college. After college admission letters arrive in early spring,
high school seniors feel even less pressure to push themselves academically. In an effort to combat
senioritis, many colleges require that an updated transcript be sent from the high school after the end of
the school year, and will revoke admission or scholarships if a student's grades drop. In other words,
don’t let this happen to you.
Please see my website for any other questions or for a copy of this syllabus at www.longovt.com
I look forward to a challenging and rewarding semester!
Jeff Long, MA History
jeff.long@kellerisd.net
817-744-2067
www.longovt.com
AP MACROECONOMICS- COURSE REQUIREMENTS
2014
The following is a general outline of the content covered on the AP Economics Test. I have also included the
approximate amount of class time spent on each area.
Unit I: Foundations
In this unit we will define economics and the economic problem, discuss alternative economic systems and
the economists who are associated with them, explain why countries trade, and begin a basic model of our economy.
Basic economic concepts
Scarcity, choice and opportunity costs, Production possibilities curve, Comparative advantage, absolute
advantage, specialization and exchange, Demand, supply and market equilibrium, Macroeconomic issues: business cycle,
unemployment, inflation, growth
Graphs: Production Possibilities curve (frontier), Demand and supply curve showing equilibrium, Demand and
supply curves showing shifts in demand/supply
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 1&2; Chap 6 p 98-101
Unit II: Markets- Supply, Demand, and Price
Unit Question: Be prepared to explain verbally, symbolically, and graphically changes in demand, supply, and
price due to any change in a determinant of supply or demand.
In this unit we will define markets and they way in which they determine prices through the interaction of supply
and demand.
Basic economic concepts
National income accounts, Inflation measurement and adjustment, Unemployment
Graphs used: Circular Flow model, Phases of business cycle
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 3
Unit III: The American System-Free Enterprise in a Mixed Economy
Unit Question: give two examples of market failures and government policies that address those failures. In each
case, does society maximize its collective utility better with government intervention or without? Defend your decisions.
In this unit we will extend our understanding of the free-enterprise system and how it answers the five
fundamental questions to which every economic system must respond. Then we will describe the way in which this system
functions in the US, the organization of businesses in this country, and the means through which the government addresses
questions of normative economics and responds to market failures.
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 4&5
Class periods: 6
Unit IV: Measuring Economic Performance
Unit Question: Given appropriate data, the learner must be prepared to compute the level of unemployment, real
GDP, and the inflation rate. Student should also be prepared to explain the likely effects of these indicators on different
segments of society (who is most likely to be hurt or helped).
In Unit Four we examine the measurements used to assess the economic health of a system. We will look at the
look components of GDP. We will also discuss the calculation and use of other income accounts, the price level, and
unemployment rates in the economy as it moves through its historical cyclical swings in the business cycle. We will also at
criticisms of these measurements as reliable indicators of overall economic well-being.
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 7&8
Class periods: 12
Unit V: The Aggregate Expenditure Model
Unit Question: Given a chart of DI, C, and S, students should be able to complete the chart, calculate MPC, MPS,
APC, and APS. They should be prepared to predict changes in equilibrium GDP based on changes in the determinants of
C, I, G, and net X and the multiplier effect and should be able to demonstrate their predictions graphically.
In Unit Five we examine a fixed price level model of GDP and the ways in which changes of the components of
aggregate expenditures affect the overall GDP. This provides the basis for analysis in the next unit in which prices are not
held steady.
Basic economic concepts
Aggregate demand, Aggregate supply, Macroeconomic equilibrium
Graphs and concepts: MPC, multiplier effect, determinants of AD, short and long run AS, prices and wages,
equilibrium output and price level, full employment; utilization of resources, investment demand curve, AD and
short run AS curve, AD and long run AS curve
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 9 & 10
Class periods: 13
AP MACROECONOMICS- COURSE REQUIREMENTS
2014
Unit VI: Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand
Unit Question: Given changes in determinants of AD or AS, students must show changes in AS, AD, PL, and
Output/real GDP, and must account for the ratchet effect. Students must be able to show these changes graphically.
Unit Six covers the basics of mainstream economics. The effects of shifts in the AD and AS curves on GDP will
be emphasized, demonstrating the effects on output and price levels for an economy. This will provide us with a basis for
discussion of the normative decisions that must be made by governments when they propose fiscal and monetary policies.
Basic economic concepts
Aggregate demand, Aggregate supply, Macroeconomic equilibrium
Graphs and concepts: MPC, multiplier effect, determinants of AD, short and long run AS, prices and wages,
equilibrium output and price level, full employment; utilization of resources, investment demand curve, AD and
short run AS curve, AD and long run AS curve
Unit VII: Fiscal Policy
Unit Questions: Given a set of economic indicators, students must identify in which range the AD curve crosses
the AS curve and recommend appropriate fiscal policy from either a conservative or liberal economist’s perspective.
Unit Seven distinguishes between discretionary fiscal policy and other economic and budgeting decisions made by
Congress and the President. Student will identify appropriate situations in which expansionary or contractionary policies
would be appropriate, and indicate with methods of achieving those goals would be preferred by conservatives or liberals.
These discretionary decisions will be contrasted with automatic stabilizers in the economy, and critiqued in regard to
difficulties in the passage and implementation of these policies. The cause and effect change of events that cause a net
export effect will also be discussed, as well as supply-side theory.
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 12
Class days: 7
Unit VIII: Money, Banking and Monetary Policy
In this unit, we will first take an overview of the functions and measurements of money and its demand in the
money market. We will then review the history and purpose of the Fed. We will follow this with a chapter long study of
the way in which the commercial banking system can increase or decrease the money supply by a multiplier which is
greater than the initial change in reserves. Finally, we will look at the Fed and its tools for controlling the money supply,
the cause-and-effect changes of loose and tight monetary policies, difficulties with implementation, and current Fed
practices.
Basic economic concepts
Money, banking, and financial markets
Graphs and concepts: Functions of money, measures of money, money market, loanable funds market,
organization of Federal Reserve, tools of monetary policy, Money market graph, Loanable funds market graph
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 13-15
Class days: 15
Unit IX: Productivity, Growth and Problems and Controversies in Macroeconomics
In this unit we will extend the time frame under consideration to include both short and long term responses
to changes in the determinants of AD, and how this affects our analysis of inflation and unemployment and
appropriate responses. We will look at the Laffer curve, and discuss Reagonomics.
Basic economic concepts
Fiscal and monetary policies, inflation and unemployment
Graphs and concepts: Fiscal policy and AD/AS, monetary policy and AD/AS, long run AS, demand pull and
cost push inflation, the inflation-unemployment relationship, AD/AS model, Phillips curve, Laffer curve, labor and
productivity, ingredients of economic growth, human capital, physical capital, technological advances
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 16 & 17
Class Days: 8
Unit X: Foreign Trade
Unit Question: Is the US better off when the dollar is strong or when it is weak? Support your answer graphically and through
explanation.
We will revisit topics discussed concerning the value of the dollar abroad and its effect on trade, the history of exchange rates,
and the current trade imbalance. We will also review comparative advantage, and discuss the costs and benefits of free trade/fair trade.
Basic economic concepts
Balance of payments, foreign exchange market, net exports and capital flows, links to financial/goods markets
Concepts and graphs: absolute and comparative advantage, balance of payments, foreign exchange markets, implications of
foreign trade, effects of domestic fiscal and monetary policies on capital flows and foreign exchange markets, foreign exchange market
graph
Text: McConnell and Brue, Chap 6, 37, 38