1. Healthcare

Econ 310: Macroeconomic Theory
Class Time:
Section 1: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30AM-10:45AM: 211 Stephens Hall
Section 2: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30PM-1:45PM: 211 Stephens Hall
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Chambers
Office: 103A Stephens Hall
Phone: 410-704-3576
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: 11:00-12:30 PM T,Th and by appointment
Webpage: http://pages.towson.edu/mchamber
(This is my homepage, there will be a link to this class on this page)
Required Texts: Stephen D. Williamson: Macroeconomics, 5th edition.
If you have the 4th edition it will work fine, just watch out for changes in chapter
numbers and titles.
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Course Outline and Overview
This course is the core course in macroeconomic theory for undergraduate economics majors and for non-majors with appropriate background and are interested in macroeconomic theory and policy.
In this class, we will discuss long-run economic growth and short-run economic fluctuations, business cycles. Growth theory describes and explains how
economic aggregates( such as output, consumption, employment, inflation, interest rates, trade balances, and exchange rates) evolve on average over time.
Business cycle theory looks at how these aggregates fluctuate around these longrun growth trends. Once we have an understanding about the economy evolves
over time, we can then begin analyzing macroeconomic policies, either fiscal or
monetary, and their effects on the economy.
This course has two main objectives. First, by the end of the course everyone
should be able to critique articles on economic issues in news publications such as
The Economists, the Wall Street Journal, or the New York Times using good
economic intuition and knowledge. Second, students should be able to grasp
the framework and language of modern macroeconomic theory. Specifically,
students we have a very good understanding of the workhorse for macroeconomic
theory, the neoclassical growth model.
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Course Organization and Prerequisites
This course relies heavy on materials you have seen in your previous economics
courses. The prerequisites for this course are both principles courses (ECON
201 and ECON 202) and either (MATH 211 or MATH 273). Intermediate Microeconomics is not a prerequisite for the course, however, students with this
background will find the framework in this course very similar to that used that
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course. There will be some use of calculus in this course, mostly derivatives.
I will be stressing economic intuition throughout the course, however, sometimes in economics, mathematical tools are used to make a point more concise.
Students should also comfortable with statistical concepts such as standard deviations and correlation coefficients. Many things, such as budget and resource
constraints are conveniently formulated into mathematics and students will be
expected to be comfortable preforming calculations on such things. If you find
that you do not meet these requirements, contact me after the first class.
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Course Materials
There is one required textbook for this course. The book is Williamson’s
Macroeconomics. We will be using this book throughout the course. In addition to the textbook, I will post lecture notes for the course. I will post these
notes on the course webpage. These notes are not a substitute for the book.
These lecture notes merely summarize the main ideas from each class. The
textbook will contain details that are not found in the notes. I will also post
other materials on the course webpage, (homeworks, homework solutions, etc.)
as needed.
Finally, try to keep informed about current events. I will try to address
current issues from time to time as they fit into the course material. Discussing
these topics is more rewarding and enjoyable if students are actively involved
and knowledgeable.
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Course Requirements and Grading
Your grade in the course will be based on your performance on homework, a
country report, 2 midterm exams, and a final exam. There will be a total of 6
homework assignments. When I calculate your grade, I will drop your lowest
homework grade. In total these homework assignments will constitute 15% of
your final grade in the course. The country report will count as 10% of your
grade. The 2 midterm exams will combine to make up 45% of your grade, and
the final exam will account for the final 30% of the grade.
4.1
Homeworks
Each homework will be worth 20 points. There are 6 homeworks, but I will
only count the best 5 scores when I calculate final grades. At the end of the
semester will take your five best scores and add them up to get your homework
percentage. The following rules regard to all homework assignments without
exceptions.
1. Homeworks will be available, via the internet, on or before the date specified in the course calendar. It is your responsibility to download these
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assignments. The due dates for these homeworks will be announced in
class, posted on the web, and placed on the assignment itself.
2. Homeworks are due on the specified date and time on the course webpage.
You may turn-in the assignment at the end of class or in my mailbox
inside Stephens Hall 101. Late homework will not be accepted. If
you cannot make it to class or my office, please make prior arrangements
to have your homework delivered on time.
3. You are allowed to work in groups. However, each student must hand in his
or her unique assignment. If two students hand in identical assignments,
I will consider this a violation of the academic honesty code, and the
situation will be treated accordingly. Note, that the exams in this class
will be similar to the problems given in the homework, so it is to your
benefit to try and work the problems on your own.
4.2
Country Report
Each student will be assigned a country. Throughout the semester, students
will be tasked will reporting a variety of economic issues about their country.
These tasks will show up in the homework assignments. Near the end of the
semester each student will turn in a report summarizing their country.
4.3
Midterm Exams
There will be two in-class midterm exams. These exams will count for 22.5% of
your course grade apiece. There will be no make-up exams for these midterms
unless you have conflict. If you have a conflict you must notify me before the
exam. If you miss the test for any other reason, and do not have an excused
absence, you can not make-up the exam, and you will receive a zero.
4.4
Final Exam
There will be an in-class exam during final exam week. Everyone must take
the final exam. If some emergency arises that will cause a conflict with this
schedule, come see me as soon as possible.
4.5
Extra Credit
There will be one option for extra credit in this course. Since this easiest way to
learn the material in this course is by working homework problems. I will give
students the opportunity to earn bonus points for working additional problems
beyond the homework assignments.
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4.6
Grades
Your grade will be calculated based on the top 5 of 6 homework assignments,
country report, midterm exams and a final exam. Homework and country report
grades will be calculated out of the total points possible. Exam grades will be
calculated off of the highest score in the class. The following grading scale will
be used when calculating grades in this course.
Percent
100-93.00
92.99-88.00
87.99-84.00
83.99-78.00
77.99-74.00
73.99-70.00
69.99-64.00
63.99-55.00
below 55.00
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
D
F
If everyone deserves a good grade, I will give only good grades. But in order
to receive a good grade in this course, you must be prepared for class and work
hard on the homework assignments.
4.7
Attendance
I will not be taking regular attendance in this course. However, since the is an
upper level course, I would expect student to attend class. Typically students
who attend class regularly score much higher than those who do not.
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Academic Honesty
Cheating will not be tolerated in this course. Students are expected to maintain high standards of academic integrity. Cheating and plagiarism are serious
violations and will result in a zero on the assignment and are grounds for a
failing grade in the course. Student’s should refer to the University’s policy
on academic integrity in the University catalogue. Violations of the Academic
Integrity Code will be remanded to the Academic Honor Council for additional
punishment as appropriate.
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Students with Disabilities
In accordance with university policy, if you have a documented disability and
require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact
the instructor at the beginning of the semester and when given an assignment
for which an accommodation is required. Students with disabilities must verify
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their eligibility through the Office of Disability Support Services located in the
Administration Building Room 232.
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Tentative Schedule
Date
1/27
1/29
2/3
2/5
2/10
2/12
2/17
2/19
2/24
2/26
3/3
3/5
3/10
3/12
3/24
3/26
3/31
4/2
4/7
4/9
4/14
4/16
4/21
4/23
4/28
4/30
5/5
5/7
5/12
5/14
5/13
Topic
Introduction and Overview
National Income Accounting
National Income Accounting
Consumer Behavior
Firm Behavior
Closed One-Period Model
Intro to Neoclassical Macro: Malthus
Neoclassical Growth Model
Neoclassical Growth Model
Endogenous Growth Theory
Review
Test 1
Two Period Model of Savings
Ricardian Equivalence
Life Cycle Model
Properties of the Life Cycle Model
Life Cycle Model: Government Finance
Real Intertemporal Model with Investment
Review
Exam 2
Money,Banking, Prices, and Monetary Policy
Money,Banking, Prices, and Monetary Policy
Business Cycle Theory: Market Clearing
Business Cycle Theory: Market Clearing
Business Cycle Theory: New Keynesian
Money, Inflation, Banking
Money, Inflation, Banking
Money, Inflation, Banking
Review
Section 001:Final Exam 8:00AM-10:00AM
Section 002:Final Exam 12:30PM-2:30PM
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Readings
Syllabus
W Ch 1
W Ch 2
W Ch 4
W Ch 5
W Ch 7 220-237
W Ch 6 237-267
W Ch 8
W Ch 9 292-321
W Ch 9 321-341
Lecture Notes
W Ch 11
W Ch 12
W Ch 3,13
W Ch 14
W Ch 17