ECON201 Principle of Macroeconomics
Course Syllabus
Department of Economics
University of Maryland, College Park
Instructor: Xing Hong
Course Webpage: elms.umd.edu
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Summer Session II, 2016
Email: [email protected]
Semester: June 11- August 19, 2016
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PREREQUISITES: MATH 110 or must have math eligibility of MATH111 or higher. Econ 200
(Principles of Microeconomics) is recommended but not required.
COURSE MATERIALS ONLINE: All course material can be accessed through ELMS (www.elms.umd.edu).
On ELMS you will find the syllabus, calendar, announcements and links to McGraw-Hill Connect.
All readings and problem sets will be accessed and submitted via Connect.
CONTACT: The best way to contact me is by emailing me at [email protected]. As I discuss
below in more detail, I will answer questions online Mondays through Fridays via emails and/or
ELMS.
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ONLINE OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday and Thursday 2-3pm. Moreover, I will be monitoring your
study progress M-F, and you should expect the reply of your email within 24 hours. Depending on
the nature of your questions, I may take different approaches in addressing them. There will be
some questions that I can simply answer by email. If I think your question may be useful to the
rest of the class, I will send out an explanation to everyone. There will be other questions that may
require more discussion.
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Depending on the progess of the course, we may use the virtual classroom environment (called
‘conference’) available through ELMS. Typically I will put together a list of all of the questions that
fall into this category and then send out an email to the class with the list of topics I will cover
during my virtual office hours. I will of course also include the exact time of those office hours.
Anyone that is interested in these topics can participate in the virtual classroom where I will discuss
and answer all the questions on this list. Attending the discussion is not mandatory but defintely
encouraged.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: We will study several key macroeconomic variables: output, unemployment and inflation. We will learn how each variable is measured and behaves over time.
Then we will build two basic models of the economy (aggregate expenditure model and aggregate
demand-aggregate supply model) to help us explain the behavior of these variables. Then we conclude by exploring the impact of various government policies (monetary and fiscal) on the economy
in the context of the variables and models we have learned.
TEXTBOOK AND ONLINE MATERIAL: A textbook packaged with an online homework
system from McGraw Hill is required for the course. Please refer to the instruction on ELMS on
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how to make this purchase. We will use the textbook Principles of Macroeconomics, 6th edition
by Robert H. Frank and Ben S. Bernanke. I know you may be thinking of buying this book on
Amazon...don’t. Since this is an online course all of your actual homeworks, reading assignment
and exams will be done online. If you do not purchase the online textbook and homework package
you will not be able to complete any of the assignments.
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ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING: This course will consist of four types of assignments –
readings, problem sets, a midterm and a final exam. Since this course is taught online I will
use the resources we have available to us through Canvas and ELMS to guide you through the
material. I have chosen the readings and problem set questions carefully to emphasize the key
learning objectives. Since this is an online course some of you may be tempted to try cramming
in all of the readings and problem sets at the last possible minute...don’t. I have structured this
course so that the amount of time you should be spending on the material of each class is roughly
the same amount you would spend on it if you were in the classroom (2 to 3 hours per class).
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The description of each type of assignment with its weight are listed as follows:
• Online readings (25%): on the Monday of each week, I will assign roughly three chapters of
material for you to read through over the week. Connect has a nice feature (called LearnSmart)
that will guide you through the readings in an interactive manner. Specifically, as you read
you will be asked a series of multiple choice questions over the most important information
in the chapter. The number of points each reading assignment is worth will be based on the
length and difficulty of the chapter.
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• Online problem sets ( 25% ): after you have finished the reading assignment you will be ready
to move on to the problem set. These problem sets will include multiple choice, worksheet
and graphing questions over the assigned readings. All problem sets will be completed and
submitted through Connect.
• Online midterm ( 15% ): there will be one midterm scheduled on the week of August 1.
The best way to prepare for this exam is to keep up with all the readings and problem sets.
Questions will be similar to those asked in both the reading assignments (LearnSmart) and
problem sets.
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• Online final exam ( 35% ): there will be one timed final exam on August 19. You will be
given 2 hours to work on the final in a 24-hours window. Make sure that you will have internet
access on that day. The final will be cumulative, with more focus on the materials covered
after the midterm.
No late homework will be accepted. But to give you some leeway, I allow you to drop your lowest
online reading score and lowest problem set score in computing your final grade. If you won’t have
internet access for more than three consecutive days, you must inform me ahead of time. Once the
due day is passed, there is nothing we can do about it.
COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS: Below I provide a roadmap to your semester. The
schedule may be modified as the class progresses. My recommendation is to follow this schedule as
closely as possible.
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Topic
Reading
Problem Set
Due
M 7/11
Measuring the output
Long run growth
Business Cycles
Ch. 4
Ch. 7
Ch. 10
PS 1
PS 2
PS 3
7/17
M 7/18
Wages and unemployment
Inflation and the price level
Savings and financial markets
Ch. 6
Ch. 5
Ch. 8
PS 4
PS 5
PS 6
7/24
M 7/25
Supply/demand and graphing
Aggregate expenditure model
Aggregate expenditure model
Ch. 3
Ch. 11
Ch. 11
PS 7
PS 8
PS 9
7/31
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Date
M 8/1
Agg. expenditure model
Midterm
Agg. demand-agg. supply
Ch. 11
Practice Midterm
8/7
Ch. 13
–
8/7
M 8/8
Aggregate demand-aggregate supply
Money and banking
Monetary policy and the Federal Reserve
Ch. 13
Ch. 13
Ch. 9
PS 10
PS 11
PS 12
8/14
M 8/15
Macroeconomic policy
Review
PS 13
Practice Final
8/18
Ch. 12
Ch. 14
Final Exam
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Class
Week 1
1
2
3
Week 2
4
5
6
Week 3
7
8
9
Week 4
10
11
12
Week 5
13
14
15
Week 6
16
17
18
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F 8/19
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