Economics 53
Introduction to Macroeconomics
Spring 2008
Prof. Gary R. Evans
COURSE OUTLINE
Welcome to Economics 53, Introduction to Macroeconomics. In this course we will study the economic topics that you often read about in the newspaper: inflation, interest rates, the financial markets, business cycles, national production, taxes, and so forth. In a few words, we will investigate the American economy at an introductory level.
You are not required to purchase a textbook for this course. This course uses online reading material only. We will use four chapters from an internet-based macroeconomics modeling book written by me. These chapters are placed on the web site for this class in Adobe PDF format. This will enable you to display and print them as you need them. Many of the reading assignments for this course are drawn from U.S. government and other web sites. The reading assignments and the sources are found on the Course Calendar page.
Much of the material for this class, including a copy of this course outline and course calendar, and also many class assignments, will be made available on the web site for my classes, which is found at
http://www2.hmc.edu/~evans/hmcgre.html
Some homework information and important reminders are sent out to the class master list by email. Therefore, please make sure that you are on this list! If you are a Harvey Mudd student and you registered for the class last fall, you are already on the list. If you are a student from another campus or sign up for the class after registration, you probably are not subscribed. Early in the first week I will send out an email check to all of you after announcing it in class, so wait until I do that before you panic. If you are not on the list, then subscribe automatically by emailing to listkeeper@hmc.edu and in the main body of the text write
subscribe econ-53-l@hmc.edu
COURSE OBJECTIVES: In this class I offer a general overview of
the U.S. economy. We explore such
topics as economic growth, business cycles, the structure of the economy,
employment and unemployment, inflation, and government monetary and fiscal
policy. To some extent I hope to
show you how economists identify and think about economic problems. There is some exposure to theory and
modeling in this class so you can see how we organize general economic concepts
into analytic models.
READING STRATEGY: It really helps if you read the assigned material before lectures on the subject (it helps me, actually). The reading sets the stage and in some cases eliminates my need to talk about certain things. Instead of a single expensive textbook, we are drawing our reading material from a variety of sources, all of which are free. You must try to discipline yourself to check the Course Calendar for the weekly or sectional reading assignments, to find them on the internet, to print them and to read them.
GRADES: Your grade will be based upon your total point accumulation at the end of the course. I will obtain a distribution for the class. Your placement in that distribution will determine your grade. You will take two examinations during the semester and a final. All exams are weighted equally. Because of the large enrollment in this class there are no assigned papers. I give essay exams.
You have the right to protest the grading of exams. If you are dissatisfied with a grade, submit your complaint to me in writing on an 8 ½ by 11 inch sheet of paper attached to the relevant exam. This request for reevaluation must be submitted to me within a week of the date on which I returned the exam to you.
Policy on Pass/No Pass: I automatically allow any student who wishes to
take the course on a P/NP basis to do so if the student is eligible. HOWEVER,
to receive a passing grade the student must have accumulated enough points
to receive the equivalent C- or
better! Prior to the final, do not ask me how many points you must earn on the
final to pass. I will not tell you because I will not know. Your final grade
will depend upon the final distribution after the final has been taken.
CLASS ATTENDANCE: I don't require students to attend all of my classes - few teachers here do. However, please understand that this is a lecture-based course. I pull a lot of material together in the lectures. From years past I have noticed that there is a strong correlation between class attendance and grades. Because many students do miss class, I now impose certain rules. First, if you are absent for any reason it is your responsibility to obtain the class material that you missed, and if that is class handouts, the only way to get those is to come to my office. Second, under no conditions will I review in my office a lecture or any part of a lecture that you missed unless the reason for your absence was an illness. Finally, although I sometimes allow students to reschedule exams (and sometimes don't), I generally do not to this for students who miss class at lot. Further, I am under no obligation to reschedule exams and I sometimes just flat-out refuse to do it
HOW TO CONTACT ME: Although I am often in my office, Parsons 1261, the best way to reach me is by appointment via email at evans at mail2world.com.
Good luck! Let's learn a lot and have some fun.
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