SYLLABUS FOR ECONOMICS 252

PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS

FALL 2005

DR. WILLIAM SHINGLETON EMAIL: wsirius30@juno.com

PHONE: 464 9708 (HOME) WEBSITE:http://oocities.com/wsirius30

OFFICE HOURS: 15 MINUTES BEFORE AND ANYTIME IMMEDIATELY AFTER EACH CLASS.

OBJECTIVES OF ECONOMICS 252: The objectives of this course are (1) to help you to understand the functioning of a mixed enterprise economy in an interdependent world, (2) to familiarize you with some of the currently discussed policy alternatives, and (3) to give you some feel for the complexity of policy implementation in the real world.

CHEATING POLICY: The MINIMUM penalty is a grade of F in the COURSE. There shall be no second chances and no exceptions to this rule. If anything comes in under your name, it must be your own work in your own words. An honor violation may result in dismissal from the university.

ATTENDANCE: No student who has missed more than three classes has ever earned an A. In each of the last two semesters, only one student who missed any classes earned an A. Draw your own conclusions.

NATURE OF THE COURSE: This course will be a combination of discussion and lecture. While I assume no prior economic knowledge, algebra and graphs are both used extensively, and a knowledge of history and government will prove useful. The course is oriented toward current events and, at times, the news will determine the topics for classroom discussion.

MAKE‑UP WORK: All make‑up exams MUST be submitted before the beginning of the next scheduled class. The length, difficulty, and format of any make‑up examination will be at my discretion. Any make-up work that does not meet this deadline will have a grade of zero. There are no make-ups for quizzes.

WHAT I EXPECT OF YOU: You have three roles to play in the next few weeks; first, read the text assignments; second, come to class; and third, ask questions as soon as you think you sense a point of confusion. Finally, a number of students are (negatively) surprised when they get their first exam grades. Unless you have actually worked with the material, you have not prepared yourself for the application, which is the most important dimension of your study. If you only try to memorize the material you will probably fail the course. Sample questions are available on my website.

GRADING PROCEDURE: There will be three examinations (Each worth 20 percent of your grade), a 100 point final (Also worth 20 percent of your grade), and a number of unannounced quizzes. A QUIZ CAN BE GIVEN AT ANY TIME. Your average quiz grade will be worth 20 percent of your grade. If you take all of the quizzes in class you can drop your lowest score and, if we take at least seven quizzes, you can drop your two lowest scores. Your course grade will be as determined by comparing your average with the table shown below.

MINIMUM POINTS FOR GRADES/MAXIMUM 500

A 450 B 400 C 350 D 300

Borderline grades may also be influenced by individual classroom participation and improvement. If the final grade distribution is unsatisfactory I may allow a small curve. Last semester the curve was 2.3 points and that was the highest in two years. If substantial adjustments are necessary I may increase the number of points you can earn on the final. A satisfactory grade distribution is one which reflects the general quality of classroom discussion. A lively, interesting, challenging class deserves a better grade distribution than one in which I have to do all the talking, although I am lively, interesting, and challenging myself(???!!).

COURSE CONTENT; TEXTBOOK: Our text is Bradley Schiller's THE ECONOMY TODAY, 9th Edition (Boston: McGraw-Hill) 2003. Some students find the STUDENT PROBLEM SET to be quite useful, but for others it is a waste of time, so I'll leave that to your individual judgment. I would also suggest reading THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, but their delivery system in this area is fatally flawed, so I cannot require it.

COURSE CONTENT; SOFTWARE: An outline of my plan for the week is normally distributed by email on Sunday night. In addition, other supplementary materials will be available on the website at www.oocities.org/wsirius30. While old exam questions should be a starting point in your exam preparations, they should not be used to the exclusion of other materials, such as your class notes or reading assignments.

ECONOMICS 252 REQUIRED READING ASSIGNMENTS

DATE(S) TOPICS CHAPTER(S)

AUG23-25/INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION CH 1-2-3

HISTORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

USING GRAPHS

PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES

SUPPLY AND DEMAND I

AUG30-SEP1/SUPPLY AND DEMAND II CH. 3

/ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND TAXES CH 4/ PP 77-90 ONLY

SEP6-8/THOSE (IN)FAMOUS NUMBERS

JOB CREATION AND CIRCULAR FLOW

MEASURES OF INCOME AND OUTPUT CH 5

MEASURES OF LABOR MARKETS CH 6

PRICE MEASURES CH 7

SEP13/BUSINESS CYCLES CH 8

/AGGREGATE DEMAND AND AGGREGATE SUPPLY

SEP15/FIRST EXAMINATION CH 1-7

SEP20-22/AGGREGATE DEMAND I CH 9 AND APPENDIX

SEP27-29/MULTIPLIER PROCESS CH 10

OCT 4-6/FISCAL POLICY FOR POLLYANNA CH 11

OCT 11/NO CLASS PNC FALL BREAK

OCT 13/PAYING THE BILLS CH 12

/ROLE OF THE TREASURY

OCT 18/SECOND EXAMINATION CH 8-11

OCT 20-25/MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR CH 13

OCT27-NOV1/THE FEDERAL RESERVE CH 14

NOV 3-8/MONETARY POLICY CH 15

NOV10/PHILLIPS CURVE CH 16

/SUPPLY SIDE PERSPECTIVE CH 16

NOV15/THIRD EXAMINATION CH 12-15

NOV17-22/INTERNATIONAL TRADE CH 35

/INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CH 36

NOV 24/NO CLASS PNC THANKSGIVING BREAK

NOV29-DEC1/GROWTH AND GLOBALIZATION CH 17, 18

DEC 6-8/WHY POLICY IS TIED IN KNOTS CH 19

DEC 13/FINAL EXAMINATION CH 16-19; 35-36; AND REVIEW TOPICS