Global Maroeconomics
Spring 2010
Instructor Information James Murray, Ph.D. Office: 403W Wimberly Hall Phone: 608-406-4068 Email: murray.jame@uwlax.edu Meeting Time / Location Section 09: 11:00am - 11:55am, Room 136 Carl Wimberly Hall. Section 10: 12:05pm - 1:00pm, Room 230 Carl Wimberly Hall. Because the door to the classroom is in the front of the room, arriving late can be very disruptive to the class. Please be respectful of your instructor and your fellow classmates and arrive before class begins. Course Description Introduction to the functioning of the world economy. Applications of economic principals to domestic and international problems with an introduction to economic systems, economic thought, and economic history around the world. General topics include the economics of international exchange rates, global macroeconomics, international monetary systems, and economic development. Course Goals The major purpose of this course is to provide students with an analytical framework for life-long independent thinking about global economic issues. Additional objectives include: cultivating students' understanding and appreciation of the historical development of economic ideas and economic systems around the world, introducing students to the tool of macroeconomic analysis and their application to achieving stability and growth in the world economy, and promoting student awareness of the interdependence of national economies and the consequent necessity for global cooperation in coordinating macroeconomic policy. Learning Objectives For successful learning, it is important that you understand why we do the reading, lectures, assignments, etc, we do. Everything we do in this class is meant to achieve the learning objectives below. It would be useful for you to pay careful attention to what learning objectives the lectures and assignments are meant to achieve.
General Education Student Learning Outcomes
Course Resources Textbook: Frank & Bernanke. (FB) 2007. Principles of Macroeconomics. Third Edition. McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Internet Resource: Aplia. This is an online economics course learning tool. It provides many optional and required exercises to enhance your knowledge of economics, and detailed immediate feedback on your work. It is available for purchase for $35 either online or by mailing a check. Regular homework assignments will require you to use Aplia. You may register for Aplia online at https://www.aplia.com. When prompted use course key: 6D4U-2VEC-53WF.
Class website: eco120/spring2010/. All material handed out in class will be posted on the class website. Grades, announcements and other communication will be done through Desire2Learn. Office Hours Regular office hours are 2:30pm-3:45pm Monday through Thursday. These are times when you can drop by unannounced and expect me to be in my office. If you would like to make an appointment for a different time, please check my calendar and send me an e-mail. Frequently keeping up with the material usually requires frequent office visits, so I feel frequently coming to my office for questions is essential to your success.
Office hours are not a substitute for attending class. Except when missing class for very extreme circumstances that were promptly discussed with me, it is not acceptable to use office hours to ask questions about material you missed while not in attendance.
Outside of my regularly scheduled classes and office hours, my availability changes all the time. You can visit my calendar at calendar.html. It is constantly updated. OFFICE HOURS SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! I guarantee that coming to office hours to ask questions on material you don't completely understand will increase your grade in the class. If you come to office hours and still get questions wrong on the exam about the topic we discussed, I will give you those missed points back! This guarantee is subject to the following conditions:
Assessment Learning will be assessed through weekly quizzes, homework, and exams. The grading breakdown will be:
Grade Breakdown
I reserve the right to scale every person's grade up by the same amount on any graded item in the event that much of the class falls short of the scale above. However, even if the grades are significantly low, there is no guarantee that I will ever do this. Quizzes / In-class exercises / Homework There will be many announced quizzes, unannounced (pop) quizzes, and in-class exercises given throughout the semester. Adequate preparation for these will involve reading ahead for class and completing homework assignments on time. Classes will begin with your questions so that you can resolve any problems with assigned work before the quiz begins. Quizzes may sometimes be open book and/or open note. Sometimes in-class exercises will be given, some of which must be done in small groups. Aplia homework assignments will be given almost every week. Doing these assignments requires registering for Aplia. Exams There will be three midterm exams and one cumulative final exam. Each exam is worth 20% of final course grade. All exams require a calculator, so be sure to bring a calculator to class on exam days. You may not share calculators with other students. The three midterm exams will be administered during regular class time and the final exam will be administered during final exam week according to the University final exam schedule. The exam dates are as follows:
You must take the final exam at the time scheduled for the section you are registered for. You will not be able to take the final exam at an alternative time unless University policy requires different arrangements. Grade Insurance / News Report Blog The purpose of grade insurance is to insure you against the possibility that one of your exams hurts your final grade due to a bad day, bad luck, or whatever the reason may be. If you pay your premiums, the lowest of your exam grades will be raised to the second to lowest exam score, up to a maximum increase of 20 percentage points.
To pay the premiums for the insurance, write a 250 to 500 word news report, or write a 250 to 500 response/comment on a past news report according to the schedule below. Post your news report to the class blog by e-mailing it to blog@uwlmacro.posterous.com. The news story should cite a Wall Street Journal article written within the last 30 days and discuss economics concepts that apply to the story and enhance one's understanding of the story. Responses/comments to news reports are done on the class website. You will not get credit for news reports or comments posted late or posted more than one week before the due date.
News Report Blog Schedule:
Attendance Attendance is required to receive credit for quizzes, in-class exercises, and exams. However, if you need to miss a class day or exam day because of illness or emergency you can be excused and arrangements can be made for you to make up missed word. The University is especially concerned with the possible spread of H1N1 influenza. To reduce the chance of spreading the disease, the University recommends that if you experience two or more symptoms of flu that you not come to class nor stay in dormitories, but rather go home where you have contact with few people as possible, and return only after you are symptom free for 24 hours without medication. If you need to leave class early, as a courtesy please let me know before class. E-mail Guidelines I insist on the following e-mail etiquette rules (many of these are also recommended by the College of Business Administration). Failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in a reply with a friendly reminder to follow these e-mail guidelines.
Classroom Behavior Please adhere to these behavior guidelines:
Disabilities Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, or hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and the Disability Resource Services office (165 Murphy Library, 785-6900) at the beginning of the semester. Students who are currently using the Disability Resource Services office will have a copy of a contract that verifies they are qualified students with disabilities who have documentation on file in the Disability Resource Services office. It is the student's responsibility to communicate their needs with the instructor in a timely manner. Academic Dishonesty I follow the policy stated University Academic Handbook with regard to cheating and academic dishonesty. The student handbook can be found online at https://www.uwlax.edu/studentlife/eagle_eye.htm. In the event a student is caught cheating I will pursue the harshest penalty that the University will allow, regardless of how small the offense may appear. Preliminary Topics Schedule Below is a detailed list of topics and readings for this class. This is a preliminary schedule; depending on time constraints and the topics the class finds most interesting, we may choose to not cover some of the items below, cover items that are not shown below, or re-arrange the schedule. Details about the dates these topics are covered will be posted on the calendar on the class website, eco120/calendar.html
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