| Instructor:
Office: Hours: E-mail: Grader:
|
Alexei Deviatov
404 Kern Graduate building Friday 10:00am-12:00noon and by appointment Deviatov@psu.edu Sergio De Souza
|
TEXTBOOK: Macroeconomics, by A.B. Abel and B.S.
Bernanke, 4th Edition, Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
COURSE WEB PAGE: http://www.personal.psu.edu/ayd1/
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Macroeconomics is the study
of the overall performance of the economy. It addresses such issues as
national income, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, the federal budget
deficit, and business cycles. This course will present the basic tools
of macroeconomic theory and discuss their implications for economic policy.
It builds on Econ 4, but it is different. This course not only introduces
the important variables in the economy but also develops mathematical models
and uses them to explain the underlying factors for economic phenomena.
GRADE: Homework (30%): every week except the third and the last week (see tentative outline section). Midterm exam (30%): Monday, July 16th, during regular class time. Final exam (40%): Friday, August 3rd, time and place to be announced.
Class attendance is mandatory in this course. Although regular attendance will not increase your grade, grades of students who are noticed to miss classes without a valid excuse will be lowered compared to what they would otherwise be (see Faculty Senate Policy 42-27). Because students are expected to attend class on a regular basis they are also expected to be aware of all oral announcements made in regard to this course.
All exams will consist of Multiple Choice, True/False (without explanations), and Short Answer questions. All home work is due to the beginning of class on the due date and will be collected at that time. Late home work will be accepted and graded, yet a substantial discount will be applied unless you have a valid excuse. As a general policy, no make-up midterm exams are given in this course. If you miss a midterm exam and have a valid excuse, your grade will be based on the remaining elements of the course.
In most cases valid excuse represents an unforeseen circumstance beyond
student's control such as illness or family emergency. If you are unable
to attend certain classes because of a circumstance, which qualifies as
a valid excuse, please notify instructor as soon as possible. Please be
ready to provide written evidence of your situation. To see the full version
of the class attendance policy (which includes complete list of valid excuses
and description of supporting documentation), please click here.
Please read carefully the guidelines of the Department of Economics regarding
academic
integrity.
| Date |
|
Readings |
| June 25 | Introduction: what macroeconomics is about. | ch. 1, sec. 1 |
| June 26 | What macroeconomists do and why they disagree. | ch. 1, sec. 2 & 3 |
| June 27 | Measurement and structure of the national economy. | ch. 2 |
| June 28 | Productivity, output and employment: the production function. | ch. 3, sec. 1 |
| June 29 | Demand and supply of labor. | ch. 3, sec. 2 & 3 |
| July 2 | Labor market equilibrium. Unemployment. HOMEWORK 1 DUE. | ch. 3, sec. 4, 5 & 6 |
| July 3 | Consumption and saving. | ch. 4, sec. 1 |
| July 4 | Independence Day: no class. | |
| July 5 | Investment. Goods market equilibrium. | ch. 4, sec. 2 & 3 |
| July 6 | Sources of economic growth. Setup of the Solow model. | ch. 6, sec. 1 & 2 |
| July 9 | Solow model (continued). Growth dynamics. HOMEWORK 2 DUE. | ch. 6, sec. 2 |
| July 10 | Endogenous growth theory. | ch. 6, sec. 2 & 3 |
| July 11 | Money. Demand for money. | ch. 7, sec. 1, 2 & 3 |
| July 12 | Asset market equilibrium. Money growth and inflation. | ch. 7, sec. 4 & 5 |
| July 13 | Business cycles. Introduction. | ch. 8 |
| July 16 | MIDTERM EXAM | ch. 1-4 & 6-8 |
| July 17 | IS and LM curves. | ch. 9, sec. 1, 2 & 3 |
| July 18 | General equilibrium in IS-LM model. Aggregate demand and supply. | ch. 9, sec. 4, 5 & 6 |
| July 19 | Business cycles in the classical model. | ch. 10, sec. 1 |
| July 20 | Money in the classical model. | ch. 10, sec. 2 & 3 |
| July 23 | Wage and price rigidities. HOMEWORK 3 DUE. | ch. 11, sec. 1 & 2 |
| July 24 | Keynesian theory of business cycles. | ch. 11, sec. 3 & 4 |
| July 25 | Unemployment and inflation. | ch. 12 |
| July 26 | Exchange rates and the IS-LM model for an open economy. | ch. 13, sec. 1, 2 & 3 |
| July 27 | Fixed and flexible exchange rates. | ch. 13, sec. 4 & 5 |
| July 30 | Monetary policy and the Fed. HOMEWORK 4 DUE. | ch. 14, sec. 1 & 2 |
| July 31 | Conduct of monetary policy: rules vs. discretion. | ch. 14, sec. 3 |
| August 1 | Government budget, spending and links to macroeconomy. | ch. 15, sec. 1 & 2 |
| August 2 | Deficits, debts and inflation. | ch. 15, sec. 3 & 4 |
| August 3 | FINAL EXAM | ch. 1-4 & 6-15 |
Penn State defines academic integrity as the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. All students should act with personal integrity respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts (Faculty Senate Policy 49-20). Please see the Department of Economics integrity statement on the department's web site at: http://econ.la.psu.edu/
Dishonesty of any kind will not be 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 the academic work of other students. Students who are found to be
dishonest will receive academic sanctions and will be reported to the University's
Judicial Affairs office for possible further disciplinary sanction.
DISABILITY ACCESS:
The Pennsylvania State university encourages qualified people with disabilities
to participate in its programs and activities and is committed to the policy
that all people shall have equal access to programs, facilities, and admissions
without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance,
or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal
authorities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this
course or have questions about physical access, please tell the instructor
as soon as possible.