Georgia Highlands College

Econ 2105 – Macroeconomics

 

Fall Semester, 2007

R, 6:30-9:15 – CRN#80010 – W 202

 

John Reiners … jreiners@highlands.edu

Office: W 121, Main Campus

Phone: 706/295-6327 (Bus Dept) … 706/295-4450 (home)

Office hours: MTWR 1:30-2:30; or by appointment

 

Prerequisites:  READ 0099; ENGL 0099

 

Materials:

            1) Holt, Jeff.  2007.  Principles of Economics, 3rd Edition.  McGraw Hill – Custom Publishing.

            2) other materials as assigned

            3) Class PowerPoints, assignments, and syllabus are at WebCT vista -- http://highlands.view.usg.edu

 

Course Description:  The class is intended to introduce students to concepts that will enable them to understand and analyze structure and performance of the market economy as a whole. 

            Macroeconomics focuses on the big picture of economics – how countries and societies make decisions on the use of limited resources.  Students will learn to understand and analyze economic measurements such as gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, unemployment rate, and money supply.  The impact of macroeconomic policies on the US economy (especially fiscal policies of the President and monetary policies of the Fed) will be analyzed and discussed.

 

Course Objectives:

1)      Learn about learning … understand how you learn best

·         Ability and effort … information competency … leading to self-efficacy;

2)      Understand economic market systems

·         historic development of US economy … demand, supply, equilibrium, graphs … economics & ethics … international trade

3)      Understand macroeconomics measures and policies

·         GDP, unemployment rate, inflation

·         Fiscal policy, monetary policy, banks & money, federal deficits

4)      Apply economic principles to current news

·         Summary/presentation of a current issue … proficient use of e-mail, Excel, & PowerPoint … write and speak logically and clearly about economic issues.

 

Method of Instruction:  Each class will have specific objectives; and assignments, exams, and projects are tied to these objectives.  Classes will include lecture, discussion, individual presentations, group exercises, and individual projects.  Active student involvement and participation is an important part of the learning process (and of your grade).  Teaching methods stress application of economic concepts to real life situations and understanding economic principles that are evident in the daily headlines. 

 

Note: this syllabus is provided as a guideline to help student understand the content, the expectations, the assignments, and the grading procedures of Econ 2105; and some variations from this syllabus may be necessary during the course.

Econ 2105 – fall semester 2007 -- page 2

 

Grading:                     Exams (4)                                            40 %

                                    Quizzes                                                10 %

                                    Individual projects                               40 %

                                       E-mail assignment                 ---

                                       Excel graph                            5%

                                       Article Summary                    5%

                                       Article presentation                5%

                                       Excel-GDP chart                   5%

                                       Excel-GDP forecast             10%

                                       PPT-fiscal/monetary policy   10%

                                    Attendance/participation                                   10 %

                                                total                                                      100 %

 

Attendance:  Attending class is critical.  Exam questions will be based primarily on topics covered in class.  As well, quizzes will be given at the beginning of class – students absent or arriving late will not be allowed to make up quizzes.

Exams:  Half of a student’s grade is determined by exams. There will be four exams.  The exams will typically include 25-30 multiple choice questions and two of three essay questions.    Students may drop their low test score.  The four exams scores will count for a total of 40% of the course grade.  Because the emphasis in this class is upon understanding and application, students may use a one page summary sheet (8 ½ x 11, one side) of their own making (not Xeroxes of class PPTs) during each exam.

Quizzes:  Several quizzes will be given during the semester.  The low grade will be dropped.  Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class – in fact, quizzes will be available 15 minutes before class begins – and will be collected at 10 minutes after class begins.  The quizzes will be open book, open notes – and students are encouraged to collaborate with other students.

Individual Assignments: Seven individual assignments are scheduled (more details will be provided later):

            1) e-mail: Each student will e-mail the instructor with biographic information and identify three largest economies in world in 2012 and estimate rate of GDP growth, inflation, & unemployment in US in 2012 – this is an ungraded assignment.

            2) Excel graph: Each student will enter supply & demand data into an Excel spreadsheet and generate a graph of supply and demand.

            3) Article summary:  Each student will select a current news article (Atlanta JC, Newsweek, www.dismal.com, or other sources), summarize it and relate it to key economic issues.  A one page report plus an outline of the report will be turned in.

            4) Article Presentation:  Each student will present a summary & analysis of a different, second news item to the class.  Again a one page report and an outline are to be turned in.  The 1-2 minute presentation is to be made from your outline – do not read your report to the class.

            5) Excel chart:  Each student is to collect economic data on GDP performance for the past four years and record it in an Excel spreadsheet in table using Excel formulas to calculate average and % change for each year.

            6) GDP forecast:  Using the data collected in the Excel chart, each student will discuss the past performance and future expectation of consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports and forecast GDP for 2007.

            7) PowerPoint (PPT) project: Each student will prepare and develop a 4-6 slide PowerPoint presentation on fiscal policy or on monetary policy.  No PPT presentations will be made, but PPT note pages should be prepared as if presentation were being made.

Participation: Participation grade will be based upon contributions during class and e-mails with the instructor.

Calculation of grades: The grading scale will be: A's 90+, B's 80-89, C's 70-79, D's 60-69, and F's less than 60.

 Econ 2105 – Fall Semester 2007 -- page 3

Class Schedule R night – 15 class sessions -- tentative

Date

Topic

Assignments

Aug 23

Introduction, goals, syllabus

US econ history, trade

Donut market

Intro, Ch 1 text

Aug 30 – Q1

 

Economic decisions, self-sufficiency v. trade, PPF, …

Ch 1-2; e-mails due (ungraded)

 

Sep 6 – Q2

 

Supply & demand;

GDP intro

Ch 3, Ch 5; Excel graph due

 

Sep 13

 

Exam 1

 

Intro, Ch 1-3, 5; Article summary due

 

 

Sep 20 – Q3

Return exams;

inflation & unemployment

 

 

Ch 4;

 

Sep 27 – Q4

GDP data … Inflation

 

Ch 5; article presentations begin

 

Oct 4

Aggregate model; classical model

 

Ch 6-7;

 

Oct 11

 

Exam 2

Ch 4-7

Oct 18 –Q5

 

 

Classical & Keynesian models

last day to withdraw with “W”

Ch 7-8; GDP data due

Oct 25 – Q6

Fiscal Policy

 

Ch 9

 

Nov 1

 

 

Money

 

 

Ch 10; GDP forecast due

Nov 8

Exam 3

 

Ch 7-10

Nov 15– Q7

Return exam 3;

The Fed; Monetary policy

 

 

 

Ch 11, 12; Policy PPTs note page due

Nov 22

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

 

Dec 29 – Q8

 

Taxes & deficits

Ch13; Policy PPT due

Dec 6

 

Exam 4

Ch 11-15

Dec 11

 

Final exam @ 6:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 
Page 4                                                  ASSIGNMENTS & POLICIES

 

Assignments:  All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date due.  All assignments are to be clearly titled (including student name and date) and to be typed.  Please assume that nothing will go right.  Do your work early and be pleasantly surprised when all goes well.  Keep copies of all your assignments.  I encourage everyone to find a study partner(s) to work with and discuss class problems.  Note: all assignments must be completed individually.  Late assignments are accepted but penalized -- by midnight of date due = 5% penalty; within one week = 20% penalty; later than one week = 50% penalty.

Written assignments:  Writing style counts!  Clarity, organization, and grammar will be evaluated as part of your grade.  Hard copies of all assignments are expected unless otherwise noted.  DO NOT USE PLASTIC COVERS for your assignments; I prefer a simple staple in upper left hand corner.

Internet assignments:  Students need to demonstrate competence in sending e-mail.  Be sure to use your GHC e-mail account (or set up this account to forward mail to your current address).  As well, use of internet sites in research for presentation and class projects is encouraged.  Be sure to use good reasoning and analysis in your choice of internet sites!  Electronic submission of assignments must be in Microsoft WORD documents.  E-mail is notoriously unreliable.  If you are submitting an assignment by e-mail, always be sure to keep copies of that assignment and the corresponding e-mail.   

Attendance:  Just like a business environment, 100% attendance is expected.  If you must miss a class, you must notify me (by e-mail preferably) BEFORE class.  Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class.  Students arriving late must see the instructor to be counted.  Consistent or severe lateness will be counted as absence from class.  Attendance means being on time, staying the whole class, and being attentive. 

Internet usage:  Students need to demonstrate competence in sending e-mail messages to instructor.  Students should regularly check for e-mail messages from me.  Use of internet sites for research & support of assignments is encouraged as long as students carefully evaluate the source of the information.

Make-up exams:  Students are allowed to drop one exam.  Students who miss an exam will automatically use that exam as their dropped exam. 

Save all graded assignments:  Just in case.

Classroom decorum:  Students are expected to behave in class as if they were participating in a professional business meeting at work.  Courteous and civil behavior is expected.  Pagers and cell-phones are to be turned off during class.  Students who must be “on call” during class may set they phones to a silent ring, but they must have my permission.  Students are asked to be recognized before speaking.  Interruption of others or talking while others are speaking is unacceptable behavior.  The instructor has the right to reassign the seat of any student.

Computers:  Laptop computers may be brought to class and turned on only with the instructor’s permission.  All class projects can be completed using desktop computers at home or the college computers in student labs.

Plagiarism and cheating:  Plagiarism (presenting the work of others as your own) and cheating on exams are expressly forbidden.  Students caught plagiarizing or cheating will receive a failing grade on that assignment and will be subject to dismissal from the class. Students are referred to the Floyd College Academic Integrity Policy at  http://www.floyd.edu/subwebs/academicaffairs/academicintegritypolicy.htm

Financial Aid Students:  Federal regulations state that if students did not attend classes and received failing grades, then their federal financial aid is reduced accordingly.  Students who have earned at least one passing grade on an assignment for the semester will not be affected by this regulation.

Students with special needs:  Any student who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should make an appointment with the College Access Center (706: 802-5003) to coordinate reasonable accommodations.  You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your specific needs.

Food & Drinks in Class:  Food and drinks in class can be very distracting.  Please limit any food or drinks during class; and please consume them quietly with the consideration of fellow students in mind.

Extended Absence Policy:  Students, who have circumstances that require them to miss more than 15% of the class sessions for the term, must receive written permission from the Division Chair before any course assignments can be completed while missing class.  The student must be in good academic standing in the course to make the request. All approved coursework must be completed by the end of the semester in which the course was begun.

All students: Please contact me if you are having trouble.  Please do not wait until you have failed assignments or tests; if you don’t understand something see me.  I will do all I can to assure your success in this class.