Principles
of Macroeconomics (EC2105)
Dr. Susan Laury
slaury@gsu.edu,
404-651-2618
Room 436 School of
This
syllabus contains important information about this class including: exam dates
and coverage, class policies, and information on how to get in touch with me.
You are responsible for reading this syllabus and understanding the
information contained in it.
To
ensure that you understand the information contained in this syllabus, you must
complete and pass a quiz on Web-CT. (The quiz is located in the “Syllabus Quiz” link
on the Web-CT home page.) You
can refer to this syllabus when you take the quiz, but you are expected to take
it on your own. You can take it as
many times as necessary until you get 90 percent of the questions correct.
This quiz will count the same as an in-class quiz, and the score may NOT be dropped. (You can take it as often as you like, if you want to improve your score. The score you receive the last time you take this quiz is the one that I will record at the end of the semester.)
This
quiz is NOT optional, and I encourage you to take it as soon as it is
posted. The quiz will be available on Web-CT from Tuesday Aug. 31 through
Tuesday Sept. 14. If you do not score at least 90 percent on the quiz by
Tuesday, Sept. 14 you will be dropped from the course.
This
syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.
Office Hours:
I don’t hold regularly-scheduled office hours, but I’m available by
appointment. Email is usually the
best way to reach me to schedule an appointment.
Prerequisite:
Math 1111 (College Algebra) – take this seriously.
You will use algebra regularly.
Course Objective:
This course provides an introduction to the structure of the national
economy and how government policy can affect it.
The focus will be on issues facing the
Method of
Instruction: Lecture,
class discussion, quizzes, examinations
Textbook
and Other Resources:
Textbook:
Economics by David C. Colander (5th edition)
Recommended
Web Text:
http://www.econweb.com (the basic 6-month subscription is $9.95).
This is a terrific resource that a lot of students have found useful.
WebCT:
I
make extensive use of WebCT. You should check my WebCT site on a regular basis
for announcements, handouts, assignments, and quizzes.
If I post any information or handouts on WebCT at least 24 hours before
class, then you are responsible for this information.
I
also post copies of exams and practice questions from past semesters.
If you are looking for resources to help you study, you should start
here. One
word of caution: if you have copies of my old exams and practice
questions from other sources, you should use those posted on my WebCT site
instead. My coverage of the material has changed over time, and these changes
are reflected on the exams or practice questions that I have posted on WebCT.
Evaluation:
All
exam dates are listed below. No
makeup exams, quizzes, or problem sets will be given under ANY circumstances!
The information below explains how I handle any missed quizzes,
assignments, and exams.
Grades
are based on:
Three in-class exams (55%)
Final exam (30%)
Online quizzes (10%)
In-class quizzes (5%)
In-class
quizzes will count for 5 percent of your grade.
I will give between 6 and 8 short in-class quizzes.
The dates for the quizzes will not be announced in advance.
Missed quizzes are scored as a zero; your highest 5 scores will be
averaged for this part of your grade.
I
will also post occasional quizzes on WebCT, which will count for 10 percent of
your grade.
I will announce these quizzes during class, and on WebCT. Quizzes will
cover class material and also material that I have posted on the Web.
The quizzes will be posted by the end of the day on Thursday, and must be
completed by
There
will be three in-class exams, and a cumulative final exam given during the
regular final exam period.
The in-class exams are worth 55% and the final is worth 30%.
Your lowest-scoring test is worth 5%, and your remaining two in-class
exams are worth 25% each.
If
you miss one in-class exam, your score on the final exam will substitute for the
missed exam. If you miss any
additional in-class exams, your score on the final will substitute for the
additional missed exam.
You
can NOT “drop” a test after taking it and doing poorly.
No exceptions. Nor do I offer
extra credit on an individual basis. I
will never offer one student an opportunity that I do not provide to the entire
class.
I
do, however, offer everyone a reward for improvement on the final exam.
If your final exam grade is higher than at least one of your in-class
exams, I will add an improvement bonus to your final exam score.
This bonus will be equal to 1/5 of the difference between your final exam
score and your lowest exam score. For
example, if you receive an 80 on the final exam, and your lowest in-class exam
score was a 60, your improvement bonus would be calculated as: (80 – 60)/5 = 4
points. I would therefore enter (80
+ 4) = 84 in my grade book as your final exam score.
(If you missed one or more in-class exams, this improvement bonus is NOT
included where your final exam score substitutes for the missed exam; continuing
with the example above, if you missed one in-class exam, your raw score on the
final (80) will substitute for the missed exam.)
You may NOT miss the
final exam, or take it at any time other than the scheduled final exam time.
If you miss the final for ANY reason (other than a documented
medical illness that prevents you from taking the exam, or a death in your
immediate family) you will receive a grade of 0 for the final exam. Don’t even
ask me to make an exception – the answer will be a definite no.
Calculators:
You cannot use programmable calculators during exams or quizzes. Both
Staples and Office Depot sell several inexpensive calculators (less than $5)
that will work fine for this class.
Grading:
I do not "curve" grades into a bell-shaped distribution, but
will add "mercy points" to all exam scores in order to bring the
average grade on any exam up to a C. The
following grading scale will be employed:
A (90% - 100%), B (80% - 89%), C (70% - 79%), D (60% - 69%), F (0 - 59%)
Your
grade will be determined by calculating the percentage of the possible points
that you earned during the semester. Any
fraction greater than or equal to 0.5 rounds up, all others round down.
For example, a final weighted average of 79.5 rounds to 80, which is a B;
a 79.4 rounds to 79, which is a C.
Grades of Incomplete
(I): I will
assign a grade of Incomplete (I) only if you are unable to take the final exam and you meet the criteria stated above for making up the final exam.
I will not assign an Incomplete under any other circumstances. According
to University policy, the Incomplete must be removed by the end of the next
semester (if the student is enrolled in that semester), or at the very latest
the end of the 2nd academic term after the Incomplete was assigned.
If the Incomplete is not removed by the University deadline, it will
automatically be changed to an F. It
is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements to take the make-up final
in a timely manner.
1.
Give a WF to
all those students who are on their rolls, but no longer taking the class and 2.
Report the last day the student attended or turned in an assignment.
Students
on financial aid should take note of this as there may be financial consequences
if you stop taking the class. Attendance
will be determined based on participation in exams and quizzes given during your
break-out section.
Academic Honesty:
It is your responsibility to avoid any activity that suggests cheating.
Specifically: talking, passing notes, having crib sheets, using a
programmable calculator, or having books or notebooks open during a test are
among the activities sufficient to justify a charge of a major violation of the
GSU academic dishonesty policy. Please
refer to the University policy on academic honesty, section 409.
Misc.
Policies:
Turn
off your telephones, pagers, etc. when class begins.
If
you must miss a class, get notes from a classmate and check WebCT to see what
you missed.
Exam Schedule (all
exams are on Thursdays)
Exam 1:
Sept. 23 (covers 8/24 – 9/16)
Exam 2: Oct. 28 (covers 9/21 – 10/21)
Exam 3: Dec. 2 (covers 10/26 – 11/18)
Final
Exam (Cumulative): Thursday, Dec. 16,
Tentative Course
Outline
This is
a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.
I typically skip parts of
chapters, and my classroom presentation sometimes differs from that in the text
book. In this case, you are
responsible for the material as I have covered it in class!
You are not responsible for material that was not covered in class or
during your break-out section.
Basic
Concepts and Math Skills – Chapter 1 (including Appendix A)
Trade.
Trade-offs, and Government Policy – Chapter 2
Growth,
Business Cycles, Unemployment and Inflation – Chapter 22
Measuring
Gross Domestic Product – Chapter 23
Growth,
Productivity, and the Wealth of Nations – Chapter 24
Aggregate
Demand, Aggregate Supply, and Modern Macro – Chapter 25
The
Multiplier Model – Chapter 26
Fiscal
Policy – Chapter 30
Government
Budget – Chapter 31
Money
and Banking – Chapter 27
Monetary
Policy – Chapter 28
More on
Inflation – Chapter 29
International
Issues
International
Trade and Exchange Rates – Chapter 33
Open
Economy Monetary and Fiscal Policy – Chapter 34
Learning Outcomes