ECN 142


Principles of Macroeconomics, Fall 2008


Instructor: Wafa Hakim Orman

Office hours: MW 10:00 am to 11:30 am, or by appointment

Office: BAB 309

Office Phone: (256) 824-5674

Email: wafa.orman@uah.edu

Course Website: ANGEL


Course Description: Macroeconomics studies the performance of entire economies, rather than individual industries or firms. Over the course of the semester, we will examine phenomena such as output, employment, inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates. In addition, we will examine questions like why some countries are rich and others are poor (economic growth), why the rate of economic growth changes, and why we see fluctuations in the level of economic activity (booms and recessions). We will see how government policy affects all of these, paying close attention to monetary policy and the role of the Federal Reserve. We will also look at international trade, and government trade policies and their effects.


Prerequisites: The prerequisites for the course are fulfillment of the basic skills component of the quantitative reasoning requirement.


Textbook: Economics: Principles and Policy, 10th edition, William J. Baumol and Alan S. Blinder. The book is only a reference tool and supplement to lectures, which are the primary learning tools in this class. The book will help you understand the topics we discuss in class, but we will not rely on it for questions and answers.


ANGEL: We will be making extensive use of ANGEL throughout the semester for homework assignments (which you will complete online), lecture slides, online resources, announcements, discussions, and grades. Please make sure you have access to it and that it functions smoothly.


Attendance Policy: To encourage regular attendance, we will have occasional pop quizzes on randomly selected dates.


Examinations: There will be three exams. All exams are closed-book and closed-notes. There will be no make-up exams. If you miss an exam due to unavoidable circumstances and have a legitimate excuse, the average of your scores on the other exams will count as the score for the missed exam. Otherwise, any missed or late assignment will receive zero points.


Grading: Your command of the course material determines your course grade: that is, you tell me what to record as your course grade by your performance on examinations, homework, and quizzes, and by regular attendance and active participation in class.


You can earn a maximum of 400 points by your work in this class:

First midterm: 100 points

Second midterm: 100 points

Final: 100 points

Homework: 50 points

In-class pop quizzes: 40 points

Class participation: 10 points


Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

A: 350-400

B: 300-349

C: 250-399

D: 200-249

F: < 200


Course Outline:


Part I: Introduction and Microeconomic Foundations: Ch.1-5

  1. Overview; thinking like an economist

  2. Fundamental concepts: scarcity, choice, opportunity cost

  3. Demand, Supply and Equilibrium


Part II: Macroeconomics: Ch.22-30

  1. National Income Accounting

  2. The goals of macroeconomic policy

  3. Economic growth

  4. Macroeconomic fluctuations

  5. Fiscal policy

  6. Money and the banking system

  7. Monetary policy and the Federal Reserve


Part III: International Economics: Ch.34 -36

  1. The principle of comparative advantage

  2. International trade

  3. Trade policy



Exam dates:

First midterm: Wednesday September 17

Second midterm: Wednesday October 22

Final: Wednesday December 3