Economics
53
Introduction
to Macroeconomics
Course
Calendar – Spring 2013
Note: This may be revised as the
semester proceeds.
|
Section |
Dates |
Topic and Reading Assignment (also periodically check the
course assignments web page) |
|
1 |
J22,24 |
National
Income Accounts and the Economy in Statistics To get a brief overview of the current U.S. economy, we will begin by reading a very current (January 2013) GDP and the Economy and Disposable Personal Income (December 2012) both published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. We will eventually cover most of this material in class. |
|
2 |
J29,31 |
Business
Cycles Download and read the Business Cycle Essay. |
|
3 |
F5,7 |
The
Aggregate Supply/Aggregate Demand Model Download
and read Chapter 1 - Economic Models. |
|
4 |
F12,14 |
The
Loanable Funds Model Download and read Chapter 3 - The Loanable Funds Model First exam:
Tuesday, February 19, covering 1-4 |
|
5 |
F21 |
Guest
lecture(s) No assigned reading here. Right after the exam we will take a break and (probably) hear a lecture offer by alumni guests. |
|
6 |
F26,F28, M6 |
Price Behavior and Inflation Download and read Chapter
4 - Inflation and Deflation |
|
7 |
M7,12 |
Employment, Unemployment and Income
Distribution Download and read How the Government Measures Unemployment. Listen to the NPR
Podcast The Secret to Germany's Low Youth Unemployment Go to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics site and use their search
feature to find the online Occupational Outlook Handbook 2012-2013
edition (this edition should appear about the time this assignment is
made) and in the left column (a) read the overview of projections and (b)
find your intended profession (such as Engineers
under the category Professional)
and read your occupational outlook. |
|
SB |
M
14,19, 21 |
Guest lecture(s) on Thursday, March 14, then
Spring Break the following week. |
|
8 |
M26,28 |
International
Macroeconomics Download,
print, and read the FRB Chicago article Strong Dollar/Weak Dollar. Download
and read U.S. International
Transactions from the BEA. Second exam: Tuesday, April 2, covering 5-8 |
|
9 |
A4,9,11, 16 |
Monetary
Policy Download and read these three Federal Reserve Publications [Some of the examples are dated but the procedures and regulatory environment are still the same, and the data will be updated in the lectures]: Overview of the Federal Reserve System |
|
10 |
A18,23,25, 30 |
Fiscal
Policy Download and read CBO's 2012
Long-Term Budget Outlook. |
|
11 |
A26 |
In-class
final: Thursday, May 2, with take-home component, all covering 9-10,
take-home due for seniors only Thursday, May 9, 5:00 PM in Parsons 1261, for
all others Tuesday May 14, 5:00 PM in Parsons 1261. |