William Rainey Harper College

MACROECONOMICS

IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

SYLLABUS

Spring 2014

~/~ Home ~/~ Syllabus ~/~ Schedule ~/~ Lecture Outlines ~/~ Assignments ~/~ Textbook Website ~/~ Online Lectures ~/~ Blackboard ~/~

TWO SECTIONS

These web pages will be used by two different class sections: ECO 212-001 (Monday/Wednesday, 9:300, J-251) and ECO 211-002 (Monday/Wednesday, 11:00, J-251)

GENERAL INFORMATION

TEXTBOOKS

[The options and prices below are not guaranteed by your instructor. They are provided only to give students information on some of the options available. Students should verify the information before purchasing.]

REQUIRED:

 

Macroeconomic by Campbell R. McConnell, Brue, and Flynn, 19th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2012

  • ISBN: 9780077337728
  • Textbooks can be bought or rented at the Harper College Bookstore (L building) or online at: http://www.harperstore.com
    • buy new for $216 plus sales tax [Students can sell the book back at the end of the semeser]
    • buy used for $162 plus sales tax [Students can sell the book back at the end of the semeser]
    • rent for $93 and pay NO sales tax.

    OR

  • For various online sources see TextbookRecycling.com.
    • Used prices: $64 - $80
    • New prices: $95 - $200
    • Rental prices: $40 - $80

RECOMMENDED:

 

Study Guide For Macroeconomics, McConnell/Brue/Walstad, 19th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2012

 

  • The Study Guide can be bought at the Harper College Bookstore (L building) or online at: http://www.harperstore.com
    • ISBN 9780077337964
    • Cost about $65 new, $40 used, plus tax

     OR

  • The Study Guide is also available in an online version for only $15:

OR

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 GLOBALIZATION or 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 (unemployment, inflation, and economic growth).

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

 

BLACKBOARD

All students must log-in to our Blackboard website, study the syllabus, and take the required 5-point, online, "Syllabus Quiz" on, or before Wednesday, 1/22.

Blackboard Instructions:

  • Always use the the Firefox browser when using blackboard (http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/)
  • Go to http://harper.blackboard.com
  • Follow the instructions to "log-in",
  • You should see "ECO 212-001 002 - MACROECONOMICS (Spring 2014)" in the "My Courses" box. If you do not please e-mail the instructor: mhealy@harpercollege.edu 

E-MAIL

When e-mailing your instructor always put "ECO 212" and a message in the subject line. Please use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Option to Forward Mail from your Harper E-mail Account

If you are not planning on using your Harper email account, you can find instructions on how to forward email from that account to one you check frequently by logging in to the Harper Student Portal and clicking on the "My Harper E-Mail" tab. All correspondence in this class will be sent to your harper e-mail account. All correspondence in this class will be sent to your Harper e-mail account.

GRADING

The final grade for the class will be awarded according to the following point system. Changes may be made to this grading policy. All changes will be announced in class and posted on the class web page. 

ACTIVITY

INFORMATION

POINTS

1 syllabus quiz

5 points, taken online (Blackboard)

5 points

12 Required Activities

The Required Activities are online (Blackboard) chapter review quizzes of about 20 questions - usually multiple choice. They are worth two points per quiz/chapter. They can be retaken as many times as you wish and only the highest score will be included in the grade book.

24 points

5 in-class quizzes

10 multiple choice questions, 1 point each each, best 4 of 5 counted

40 points

3 unit exams

40 multiple choice questions each *

120 points

Final Exam

80 multiple choice questions, COMPREHENSIVE

80 points

|

|

TOTAL: 269 POINTS
* Each of the three unit exams will also have an extra credit essay question worth about 3 points

Letter grades will be awarded as follows:
90%=A, 80%=B, 70%=C, 60%=D, below 60%=F

MAKE-UP POLICY

Exams:
Students will be allowed to take an exam 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.

Quizzes:

Since only four of the five quizzes will be included in the final point total, there should be little need to take a quiz at a time other than the scheduled class time.

COURSE OUTLINE: MACROECONOMICS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

The exact reading assignments can be found at: Assignments

UNIT 1 - WHAT IS ECONOMICS and GLOBALIZATION

Part 1 Why is the World Moving to Capitalism?

Ch. 1

Introduction to Efficiency and to the Study of Economics

Ch. 2

An Introduction to the Global Economy

Part 2 How Capitalism Works

Ch. 3

Efficiency and Markets: Supply and Demand

Ch. 20

Efficiency, Specialization, and Exchange (Trade)

Ch. 5

Market Failure and The Role of Government in a Market Economy

UNIT 2 - INTRODUCTION TO MACROECONOMICS

Ch. 12

A Model of the Macro Economy: AS and AD

Ch. 6

An Introduction to Macroeconomics

Ch. 9

Business Cycles: Unemployment and Inflation

Ch. 7

Measuring Domestic Output

Ch. 8

Economic Growth

Ch. 22 W*

The Economics of Developing Economies
* Chapter 22W is online at:

UNIT 3- -MACROECONOMIC POLICY

Ch. 10, 13

Fiscal Policy

Ch. 14-16

Monetary Policy

NOTE: This outline may be changed. All changes will be posted on the Blackboard announcements, announced in class, and sent via e-mail.

 

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.

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 "assignments" web page lists the assigned problems from the textbook and Study Guide. 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 printed 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. Or, or ask questions on the Blackboard Discussion Board
  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.

 

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.

ACTIVITY
DATE

SYLLABUS QUIZ - Take the 5-point Syllabus Quiz at: http://harper.blackboard.com/

Wed., 1/22

QUIZ 1 - Ch. 1 and 2: (5Es, Economic Systems, and Structural Adjustment Programs)

Wed., 1/29

QUIZ 2 - Chapter 3: Supply and Demand

Mon., 1/10

QUIZ 3 - Chapter 20: Trade

Mon., 1/24

EXAM 1 - Unit 1

Wed., 3/5

QUIZ 4 - Chapter 12: AS / AD

Wed., 3/19

EXAM 2 - Unit 2

Wed., 4/9

LAST DAY TO DROP THE CLASS

Sun., 4/20

QUIZ 5 - Chapters 14 and 15: Money Creation

Wed., 4/30

EXAM 3 - Unit 3

Wed., 5/7

FINAL EXAM
Comprehensive (Cumulative)
[FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE]

ECO 212-001 9:30 class

  • Mon., 5/12, 9:55-11:40
  • in our regular classroom

ECO 212-002 11:00 class

  • Wed., 4/14, 11:50-1:35
  • in our regular classroom

Accessibility Statement / Access and Disability Services: Your success in this class is important to me. If you have a disability (learning, physical, psychological or other) and may require some accommodation or modification in procedures, class activity, instruction, requirements, etc. please contact me early in the semester so we can refer you to ADS who will discuss and arrange for reasonable accommodations. The Access and Disability Services department is in the Building D, D119, 847.925.6266 or TTY (847) 397-7600

Equal Opportunity Statement: William Rainey Harper College provides equal opportunity in education and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability.

Student E-mail Notifications: All notifications related to student registration or other business activities are sent to students via a G-mail account that is assigned to students upon registration. Students access the G-mail account via an icon in the student portal (where you registered for classes). Please check this e-mail frequently. To forward e-mails from this account to a personal e-mail account please follow the instructions for forwarding Harper e-mail available at http://harper.blackboard.com/  

Academic Honesty Policy

Harper College is strongly committed to the promotion of high ethical standards. Such standards can best be accomplished in an environment where honesty and integrity are practiced. For this reason the College strongly condemns academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism or other improper appropriation of another’s work as one’s own and falsifying records to advance one’s academic standing.

Cheating includes but is not limited to copying answers, stealing and/or disseminating tests or answer keys, using someone else’s data in preparation of reports or assignments, and assisting others in such practices.

Plagiarism involves the presentation of another person’s words, ideas, or work as one’s own. It includes but is not limited to copying any material (written or non-written) without proper acknowledgment of its source, and paraphrasing another’s work or ideas without proper acknowledgment.

Falsifying records includes but is not limited to falsifying or improperly altering college records and documents, or knowingly supplying false or misleading information to others (e.g., the College, other educational institutions, or prospective employers).

Any form of academic dishonesty as defined by the faculty member or department is a serious offense requiring disciplinary measures. Discipline for academic dishonesty involving a specific course shall be first determined by the instructor of the course and may include failure of the specific assignment, project or test, or failure of the course. The student may appeal the instructor’s decision in accordance with the College’s Student Academic Complaint Procedures. In cases of academic dishonesty the faculty assigned grade supersedes a student-initiated withdrawal. In cases where disciplinary measures beyond course failure may be deemed appropriate by the instructor, or dishonesty that is not related to a specific course, the student may be disciplined in accordance with the Student Conduct Policy with the appropriate vice president involved in the decision.