ECN 232
Macroeconomics
Stu Stover
Office Hours- before and after class and by appointment
Home Phone: 517-219-1571
Email: stoverstewarth@jccmi.edu or
sstover53@hotmail.com
About the Course
Macroeconomics covers basic economic concepts including resource scarcity, supply
and demand, and the economic roles of households and businesses. We will also look
at the role of government in providing public services, encouraging growth, and fighting
inflation and unemployment. The course will also cover current economic events such
as unemployment, imports and exports, national debt, tax cuts and budget deficits, and
the actions of the Federal Reserve Board in setting interest rates. Students will also
learn about economic data commonly reported by the news media.
ECN 201 is equivalent to first year economics courses in colleges and universities and
transfers as an equivalent course. The course is intended for business or other majors
who require economics as part of their program. However many students take it as an
elective so they may become more knowledgeable about the US economy and the
government's economic policies. The course benefits:
Business majors and others who need some overall economic understanding,
working people who want some understanding of economic forces affecting their jobs,
investors who need to understand the economy and economic data. Understanding
economics is important in being a good citizen in a democracy.
This course will contribute to the following Associate Degree Outcomes:
ADO 5 Understanding human behavior and social systems Students will learn to:
Recognize factors that determine and govern human behavior. Distinguish between
individual and external factors.
Understand the methods of analysis and interpretation used by economics to explain
economic outcomes.
Begin to use appropriate terms and concepts.
Describe at least two economic principles that govern human behavior.
ADO 7 Critical Thinking
Students will learn to:
Identify impact of human emotion on economic behavior.
Describe larger consequences of choices made by individuals and groups.
Describe steps in solving an economic problem.
Apply an economic principle to a new context
Class Resources
The text is Macroeconomics by Tucker (recent ed). A DVD accompanies the text and
has some good short video presentations.You can buy the DVD or there are some on
reserve in the JCC library. You should consider purchasing the Study Guide that
accompanies the text, many students find it helpful.
Assignments
There are number of assignments that seem appropriate for an economics class.
A midterm that allows you to convince me that you understand the concepts and the
applications of what we have covered over the first few weeks. Three questions will
be required, 2-4 pages each.
Possible questions include:
1. Are inflation and unemployment adequate indicators of the economic health of
the nation?
2. Why is inflation getting harder to determine? Explain why the Fed seems so
intent on keeping it low?
3. Explain why when oil prices went up so much a few years ago (and fell so
dramatically in the last year) that commodity did not seem to effect inflation that
much. In the past price spike and decreases had an significant effect on the
inflation rate in this country and other countries around the world.
4. Adam Smith created a new economic theory. What was wrong with the old one
and what did he propose?
5. Explain comparative advantage, absolute advantage and explain what that has to
do with today’s economy.
6. There are many folks in America today that seem to think cutting wages, benefits
and having more employees on part time work schedules will solve America’s
economic problems. On the other side there are those that think the government
should drastically raise the minimum wage, provide more employment security,
and benefits for the workers. Is there any economic theory that will help us
weave our way through these ideological positions? Do other countries handle
these issues differently than we do?
Final – Three questions will be required, 2-4 pages each. Questions you did not use
on the midterm will be available plus any of the following questions.
1. Let us assume that Cuba has decided to become a democratic, capitalist nation.
You are the key consultant to help them make the transition. Come up with a
plan to determine what to keep from the old system, what to get rid of and what
to adopt.
2. There has been a strong sentiment in some parts of America (and around the
world) to go back to protectionism. Explain your position on free trade or
protectionism.
3. Keynes is widely respected for coming up with an approach to dealing with the
Great Depression. What did he propose and how did it work?
4. There has been a lot of talk in the media about socialism. It seems that many
countries around the world have been pretty successful with a socialist approach.
Explain the economics of the pros and cons of adopting a more socialist
approach.
5. Bill Clinton famously said about other countries around the world, “Just hook
them on capitalism.” Is the solution to world poverty just to hook people on
capitalism?
6. Greece is the latest country that seems to have crashed and burned
economically requiring the IMF and the EU to step in and bail them out. Explain
what went wrong and how the IMF does what it does to help get countries back
on track.
7. Economically what is the difference between a supply side and a demand side
approach to stimulating the economy?
The third assignment is a group presentation. This will be discussed in more detail in
class. In general the idea is to come up with a topic such as explaining the Great
Depression, Scandinavian style socialism/capitalism, WTO/GATT and managing world
trade, FTAA, mini dragons, BRIC countries, China, Global financial meltdown, why we
must save or let go the US auto industry, Federal Reserve and the Banking system,
global poverty or many other potential topics. We will save much of the time for the last
three class sessions for this..
Grading System
The midterm will be worth
33%
The final will be worth
33%
The presentation (and general classroom participation)
33%
Quizzes may be necessary based on attendance. If quizzes are used that will modify
the grading system.
How To Do Well in This Class
Economics is a hard subject which means it takes more time to learn it. Previous
students who did well in this class reported they spent at least six hours a week outside
of class studying economics. Reading the text is important but you should also use the
other class resources on the course and text web sites. Some students like to use the
Study Guide that accompanies the text. Tutors and study groups are available and are
good sources of help.
Tentative Schedule
Wk 1
Ch. 1
Wk 2
Ch. 2-3
Wk 3
Ch. 4+5
Wk 4
Chapter 6
Wk 5
Ch. 7, 8
Wk 6
Ch. 9, 10 (we will discuss some of the issues in Ch. 7 and 8 also)
Wk 7
Ch. 11
Wk 8
Ch. 12
Wk 9
Ch 13, 14 (money issues)
Wk 10
Ch 16, 16W,
Wk 11
Ch. 17
Wk 12
Ch 18
Wk 13
Presentations
Wk 14
Presentations