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GENERAL INFORMATION

• INSTRUCTOR: Mark Healy
• OFFICE: J262
• PHONE: 925-6352
• E-MAIL: Harper: mhealy@harper.cc.il.us

Web Page: http://www.harper.cc.il.us/mhealy/eco212

Office Hours:

See: http://www.harper.cc.il.us/mhealy/officehours.htm

TEXTS

Required:

• Macro-Economics by Campbell R. McConnell and Stanley L. Brue, 14th edition, McGraw Hill, 1999. [http://www.mhhe.com/economics/mcconnell/index1.mhtml]
• Study Guide to Accompany McConnell and Brue Macro-Economics by Bingham and Walstad, McGraw Hill, 1999.
• Textbooks can be bought at the Harper College bookstore (L building) or online at: http://www.harper.bkstr.com

Optional:

• DiscoverEcon 3.0 Software Tutorial by Gerald C. Nelson

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

Almost every day we hear news reports of economic problems and successes from around the world. All over the world, countries are undertaking economic reforms (often called STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT POLICIES) that their leaders believe will provide their citizens with lower unemployment and higher living standards.

This course will cover the area of economics commonly defined as macroeconomics. The main goal of macroeconomics is to gain a better understanding of the causes of, and remedies for, UNEMPLOYMENT and INFLATION, as well as the factors that affect ECONOMIC GROWTH.

We will study these macroeconomic issues in an international context to try to understand the economic reforms many countries are undertaking.

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GRADING

See syllabus on the class web site.

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MAKE-UP POLICY

Exams:

My normal make-up policy is:

Students will be allowed to take an exam or quiz at a time other than the scheduled class period only IF:

1. the instructor is notified BEFORE the scheduled exam time AND
2. the student has a very good reason to miss the exam at the scheduled time.

This shortened interim course may require a modification of this policy. Changes will be discussed in class.

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UNIT 1

Part 1 Why is the World Moving to Capitalism?

Ch. 23	Transition Economies - An Intro. to the Global Economy
Ch. 4	Pure Capitalism and the Market System
Ch 1, 2	Introduction to Efficiency and to the Study of Economics

Part 2 How Capitalism Works

Ch. 3	Efficiency and Markets: Supply and Demand
Ch. 5	Efficiency, Equity, and the Role of Government
Ch. 6, 20	Efficiency, Specialization, and Exchange (Trade)

UNIT 2

Unemployment, Inflation, and Economic Growth

Ch 5	Government Finance
Ch. 11	A Model of the Macro Economy: AS and AD
Ch. 8	Unemployment and Inflation
Ch. 7, 18	Economic Growth
Ch. 22	Growth and the Less Developed Countries

UNIT 3

Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Ch. 12	Fiscal Policy and the Multiplier Process
Ch. 13-15	Monetary Policy

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ATTENDANCE POLICY

Class attendance is strongly recommended, but not required. Former students have indicated that the material covered in class is very helpful at the time of the examinations.

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CLASS WEB PAGE

(http://www.harper.cc.il.us/mhealy/eco212)

It is planned that lecture outlines and most overhead transparencies and class handouts will be made available to students on the world wide web at the above address. Students without experience on the internet are advised to take a seminar offered by Harper's Learning Resource Center (library). More information will be provided in class.

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HOW TO PASS ECONOMICS

This is a difficult course! There is an old rule of thumb concerning studying for college courses: on average students should study TWO hours for every ONE hour of class. This is an average, which means some courses require more study time and some less. You may find that economics requires MORE.

The following suggestions should help you learn economics:

1. Passive reading of the textbook is not very helpful. Read with a pen in your hand and a notebook on which to list, repeat, copy, calculate, etc. ALSO, pay close attention to the TABLES and GRAPHS. THEY ARE IMPORTANT.
2. Attend class. Your instructor will review the material from the textbook, add additional material, and answer questions. Come to class with your questions and problems. While in class TAKE NOTES and lots of them! We will go fast. If you want something repeated, ASK.
3. Do problems. The internet site will list the problems from the textbook and Study Guide that you are responsible for in each unit. DO THEM ALL. If you can't do a problem ask about it in class or you will do poorly on the quizzes and exams.
4. When doing the multiple choice questions in the Study Guide, it is suggested that you do NOT circle the answers in the book. Rather, write the letter of the answer that you selected on a separate sheet of paper. There are two reasons for doing this: (1) it is easier to grade them since all answers are listed together at the end of the Study Guide chapters, and (2) by not writing in the study guide you can go over the questions again and again without having the correct (or incorrect) answers already marked.
5. See the instructor for assistance. This should be done EARLY in the semester. The Tutoring Center also offers help.
6. Keep up. It is easy to get behind. To get a good grade you will have to devote a significant amount of out of class time to studying economics. If you get behind there simply will not be enough time.
7. Try to APPLY the concepts learned in class to the "real world" including issues in the news and aspects of your personal life.

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SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DATES

The following dates are TARGETS only. THEY CAN BE CHANGED!. Any changes will be announced in class at least one week before the scheduled date of the quiz, exam, or paper and posted on the internet.

QUIZ 1	Intro/Ch. 1, 4, 23	Thur., Sept 7
QUIZ 2	Supply and Demand	Thur., Sept. 21
QUIZ 3	Ch. 20/Trade	Thur., Sept. 28
EXAM 1	Unit 1	Thur., Oct. 5
QUIZ 4	AS / AD	Thur., Oct. 26
EXAM 2	Unit 2	Thur., Nov. 9
	LAST DAY TO DROP A CLASS	Sat.., Nov. 11
QUIZ 5	Fiscal Policy	Thur., Nov. 30
EXAM 3	Unit 3	Thur., Dec. 7
FINAL EXAM	Comprehensive	Tue/Thur., Dec. 12/14

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