COURSE OUTLINE:

September 21, Class #1: 

Introduction to the class;

Chapter 1, A Tour of the World; 

Chapter 2, A Tour of the Book; 

September 28, Class #2: 

Chapter 3, The Goods Market;

Chapter 4, Financial Markets.

October 5, Class #3: 

Chapter 5, Goods and Financial Markets: The IS-LM Model; 

Chapters 3-5, The Short Run.

October 12, Class #4:

Chapter 6, The Labor Market; 

Chapter 7, Putting All Markets Together. The AS-AD Model.

October 19, Class #5:

Chapter 8, The Natural Rate of Unemployment and The Phillips Curve; 

Chapters 6-8, The Medium Run.

October 26, Class #6:

Chapter 10, The Facts of Growth; 

Chapter 11, Saving, Capital Accumulation, and Output.

November 2, Class #7:

Chapter 12, Technological Progress and Growth; 

Chapters 10-12, The Long Run.

November 9, Class #8:

Chapter 18, Openness in Goods and Financial Markets; 

Chapter 19, The Goods Market in an Open Economy.

November 16, Class #9: (official midterm week)

Misterm (Chapters 1-12).

November 23, Class #10:

Chapter 20, Output, the Interest Rate, and the Exchange Rate; 

Balance of Payment.

November 30, Class #11:

IS-LM-BP Model

Chapter 21, Exchange Rate Regimes.

December 7, Class #12:

Sterilization and Non-Sterilization; 

Chapter 22, Depressions and Slumps.

December 14, Class #13:

Chapter 23, High Inflation; 

Chapter 24, Should Policy Makers Be Restrained? 

December 21, Class #14:

Chapter 25, Monetary Policy: A Summing Up; 

Chapter 26, Fiscal Policy: A Summing Up

December 28, Class #15:

Overview.

January 4, Class #16:

Group Presentation.

January 11, Class #17: (official final week)

Final Exam.

Note: This syllabus might be revised from time to time according to the actual progress of the class during this semester.

 

TBA.

GRADING:

There are three graded assignments during the semester which the following weights.

Problem Sets: 15%

Group presentation: 15%

Exam #1: 30%

Exam #2: 40%

Grading disputes may arise. With the exception of arithmetic errors, and in order to avoid problems associated with self-selection, disputes involving points scored on individual questions will NOT be considered. However, if you wish, the entire assignment will be re-graded. This re-grading may result in either a higher or lower number of points being scored.

Requests for re-grading must be submitted in writing to the instructor within one week of the assignment first being returned.

PROBLEM SETS

There are problem sets every two or three weeks. Problem sets MUST be word-processed although you may do graphs and equations by hand. Problem sets MUST have your name (last name first) and student ID number in the upper right hand corner. Problem sets are due at the beginning of class on the assignment due date. Faxed or e-mailed problem sets will NOT be accepted; late problem sets will NOT be accepted. If you want to turn your problem sets in early, you can make arrangements with me or the TA.

Although you may work on problem sets with your classmates, the written answers which you hand in are expected to be your own effort. In general, you should use study groups to figure out how to solve a problem, to make sure you have made your calculations correctly, and to discuss the answers to questions that ask you to summarize or draw conclusions from the exercise. On your own, you should write up your answers, making sure you understand yourself how to solve the problem step-by-step, and answering nonquantitative questions in your own words.

Solving the problem sets in this way is important not only for the sake of academic integrity but because the primary value of the problem sets is not in counting toward your course grade but in building your own understanding and ability to solve problems. Using the Internet and/or “test banks” deserve special mention. The general principle governing collaborative work is that it is truly collaborative: namely, it is work shared by a group of people, all of whom are learning from the experience. Copying from someone, looking for answers or hints on the Internet, or looking at problem set or exam solutions from previous semesters are not collaborative. There is a difference between being interested in an issue raised by a problem set and using the Internet to learn more about it, and searching the Internet to figure out how to solve the problem.

GROUP PRESENTATION

The presentation groups will be arranged by self-selection and the presentation will be held during the last week of the class as specified below. A group includes 2 or 3 members with one representative. To form the groups, please note that it cannot be that a group includes only Taiwanese students. Each team should come up with a case study applying the knowledge studied from the lectures to the macroeconomic events on the newspapers. We value highly the group presentation components because this is in my view the best for training yourself to think like an economist rather than just an ordinary media reporter or newspaper writer.

 

TEXTS:

Oliver Blanchard, 

Macroeconomics, 5th edition, 

Pearson, 2011, 

ISBN 0130387711