Teaching Assistant: BEL 247; 644 7091
Philip Stone, Bel 211, 644 7073 Office hours: MTWRF 9 - 11
pts1132@garnet.acns.fsu.edu jcobbe@coss.fsu.edu
Office hours: T 9 - 10.30, R 3.30 - 5
ECONOMICS OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
Text: James D. Gwartney and Richard L. Stroup, Economics: Private and Public Choice, 8th Edition. Required.
Studenmund, Gwartney, and Stroup: Coursebook to accompany Macroeconomics: Private and Public Choice, 8th edition. Strongly recommended. [You do NOT need to bring the books to class. You DO need to read/use them.]
Objectives: At the end of the course, students should be able to:
1) Understand and explain to others the major concepts, terminology, and theoretical ideas of mainstream North American macroeconomics;
2) Interpret and critique articles in serious media such as the Wall Street Journal on macroeconomic topics;
3) Formulate and present an argument concerning a macroeconomic policy issue on the basis of data and information provided.
Requirements: 1) Read the book. This may sound obvious, but students do sometimes omit to do it, and it does make a difference. Whenever possible, read ahead -- i.e. read the assignments before they are discussed in class [twice; once quickly, once slowly]. That way you will usually get much more out of the classes.
2) Obtain the coursebook and work through [alone or with a couple of friends; the small study group method works best for many] the chapters corresponding to the assigned textbook chapter. Economics is very much a subject that you learn by doing, not by listening or reading. In addition, given the size of this class it is necessary to grade on the basis of multiple-choice exams, and the coursebook contains many examples of the style of multiple choice question you will be asked on exams. Coursebook exercises will not be collected or graded, but you should feel free to ask Mr Stone or Dr Cobbe in their office hours or the help sessions to explain any questions in the coursebook you do not understand. For those who like browsing the web, try also Economics in the News at http://www.wwnorton.com/wsj.
3) There will be daily "participation quizzes," "one-question one-sentence-answer quizzes," or other exercises in class. The form these will take will NOT necessarily be announced in advance, and they will be graded in addition to being learning exercises. They give you an incentive to attend class. Grading in all cases will be two points for an acceptable correct answer, one point for any answer, zero if absent. There should be at least 25 items, the best 20 will count 20% toward your final grade.
4) Two mid-terms and a final. The mid-term exams will be on Tuesday 9 February and Tuesday 30 March. The final is a common final for all standard ECO 2013 sections in the Department; it will be on Monday 26 April 12.30 - 2.30 p.m., location to be announced in class. Both midterms and the final will be multiple choice and cumulative, i.e. they may include questions on all material covered in the semester up to their date. [The material is cumulative so the exams are too!]
5) Make-ups. If you have an unavoidable and legitimate reason for not being present during a scheduled exam, see me beforehand to make arrangements for a make-up [if you have an emergency on the day of the test, call the main Department office, 644 5001, and speak to me or leave a message: no make-ups will be arranged after the event]. There is a scheduled time for a make-up for the common final at 5.30 p.m. on Friday 30 April, but you must have written permission from Dr Cobbe to take it. If you are registered for ECO 2013 and 2023 simultaneously (which both have their common block final on Monday 26 April at 12.30 p.m.), you may either take both exams one after the other (in the same room) in the block time on Monday 26 April, or take one on Monday and one in the make-up time on Friday, but you must tell both ECO instructors what you are going to do no later than the last week of classes.
6) Have an email account. There will be an email mailing list for the class, plus my intent is to post your quiz and test scores by social security number on the web. The first couple of quizzes and the first midterm will give you the opportunity to agree to this; if you do not want any scores posted by social security number, please tell me. This syllabus and other information is posted on the web, accessible through Web-MC, CLUE, Economics homepage, or mailer.fsu.edu/~jcobbe. Web MC site URL is eco2013-12.sp99.fsu.edu, student username eco2013-12.sp99, student password m8W8tGyl (case-sensitive; needed for mailing list and discussion board on the Web-MC site -- see separate handout on Web-MC).
Grading: I use + and - grades. Your grade will be determined 25% by each of the midterms, 30% by the final, and 20% by pop quizzes, class exercises, and attendance. The grading scale for the common final is determined by the Department. The grading scale on the midterms will be determined after the event on the basis of performance, i.e. they will be 'curved.' If you want your grade posted by your social security number, sign the release that will be incorporated in the first graded quiz and first midterm. Otherwise you can get your grade from Mr Stone during office hours.
The Honor Code is rigorously enforced by the Department of Economics; any academic dishonesty detected will be punished severely [F on the activity at a minimum]. If you have any doubt about the content of the Honor Code, ask.
Students with disabilities who feel they need special accommodations should (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC); (2) bring a letter to Dr Cobbe from the SDRC confirming the disability; (3) discuss requested accommodations with Dr Cobbe. This should be done within the first week of class if possible.
Progress and Help: This course covers a lot of material quickly. The material is cumulative, i.e. it builds on itself. You MUST keep up. If you are having trouble, RUN to Mr Stone's or Dr Cobbe's office hours. In addition, if the demand is there, I will schedule "help sessions" to go over coursebook questions and before exams.
Approximate Outline: The following will not be adhered to slavishly, but it is roughly what will be covered each day. Any changes in coverage for exams will be announced in class.
R 7 J: Chapter 1, Introduction. Be sure to read pp. 24-32, "Understanding graphs;" it is vital you do understand graphs.
T 12 J: Chapter 1, Chapter 2: Intro continued, basic tools.
R 14 J: Chapter 2 continued.
T 19 J: Chapter 3, Supply, Demand, Markets.
R 21 J: Chapter 3, Markets continued.
T 26 J: Chapter 4, Simple Public Choice.
R 28 J: Chapter 5, Basic Public Finance.
T 2 F: Chapter 6, National Income Accounting.
R 4 F: Review and/or catch-up, chapters 1 through 6.
T 9 F: First Midterm, Chapters 1 - 7.
R 11 F: Chapter 7, Business Cycles.
T 16 F: Chapter 8, Aggregate Markets.
R 18 F: Chapters 8, 9, Aggregate Markets continued.
T 23 F: Chapter 10, Keynesian foundations.
R 25 F: Chapter 10, more Keynes, Chapter 11, Fiscal Policy.
T 2 M: Chapter 11, Fiscal Policy, Chapter 12, Money and Banking.
R 4 M: Chapter 12, Money and Banking.
T 9 M, R 11 M: SPRING BREAK, NO CLASSES
T 16 M: Chapter 13, Monetary Policy.
R 18 M: Chapter 14, Expectations.
T 23 M: Chapter 15, Stabilization.
R 25 M: Chapter 16, Budgets deficits and debt, review.
T 30 M: Second midterm, Chapters 1 - 16.
R 1 A: Review Macroeconomics
T 6 A: Chapter 32, International Trade
R 8 A: International Trade continued
T 13 A: Chapter 33, International Finance
R 15 A:. Chapter 34, Growth and Development.
T 20 A: Development continued.
R 22 A: Review
Monday 26 April, 12.30 - 2.30 p.m., Final, Chapters 1 - 16, 31 - 33; room to be announced. More detail on exact coverage for the final will be provided after Spring Break.