UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Economics 100B Economic Analysis: Macroeconomics

Professor Steven A. Wood
Administrative Detail: Class Sessions: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30 p.m. 5:00 p.m., 1 Pimentel

Textbook:

Frederic S. Mishkin Macroeconomics: Policy and Practice (Custom Edition) Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011 ISBN-10: 1-256-21822-7

OR

Frederic S. Mishkin Macroeconomics: Policy and Practice (Hardback Edition) Prentice-Hall, 2012 ISBN-10: 0-321-43633-4

The custom edition is a subset of the full textbook. If you so desire, you can use either a new or used copy of the hardback textbook.

Required Supplies:

iClicker Set of colored pens or pencils (black, red, blue, and green)

Office:

F502-H Haas School of Business

Office Hours:

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:15 p.m. 3:15 p.m. and by appointment.

E-mail Address:

swood@haas.berkeley.edu

Prerequisites:

Economics 1, Economics 2 or PENR 1, and Math 1A or 16A.

Course Description: This is a course in intermediate macroeconomics with an emphasis on real world applications. There are two main objectives for this course. 1. To develop simple models that can be usefully applied to generate realistic explanations about the behavior of important macroeconomic variables such as output and income, employment and unemployment, interest rates, the government budget balance, exchange rates and the current account balance, and inflation. To apply these models to understand and interpret current and historical macroeconomic developments including monetary and fiscal policy choicesand to make predictions about future macroeconomic events, primarily in the industrialized countries.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Discussion Sections: Discussion section is important. Lectures move quickly. Discussion section with your GSI is a key part of learning the material. Your GSI will go over the material in the text and from the lectures and answer any question you may have. News articles will also be discussed in section. Your active participation in section will enhance your understanding of the course material which should be helpful on problem sets and exams. For your first discussion section, please write a letter of introduction to your GSI. This should include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Your name (and a picture), Your year, Your major or intended major, Why you are taking this course, and Any other information that you would like your GSI to know about you.

This letter will help your GSI to get to know you better and more quickly.

Attendance: Attendance will NOT be taken in class. You do not need to contact either me or your GSI if you will miss class. However, there will be iClicker questions on nearly every non-exam day that will count toward your course grade. Attendance WILL be taken in discussion sections during the first week of the semester (from August 23rd even though the class has not yet metthrough August 29th). You MUST be present at BOTH meetings or have an excused absence from the instructor. Otherwise, you WILL be dropped from the course in order to make room for someone on the waitlist. If you want to change discussion sections, wait until AFTER the first week. All official section changes must be done through Tele-Bears.

Waitlist / Adding the Class: I cannot add you to the class. Enrollment is handled automatically by Tele-Bears. The waitlist will stopped being processed after week 5 (Friday, September 21st is the last day to add classes). It is unlikely that the entire waitlist will be able to be enrolled. The Departments procedures for adding students on the waitlist to the class can be found at http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/econ/ugrad/enrollmentproc.shtml. Instructor Approval requests are handled exclusively by the Economics Departments Head GSI who can be contacted at headgsi@econ.berkeley.edu. Students on the waitlist who are eventually added to the class are still responsible for all assignments due before they are formally admitted into the class. Therefore, you should participate in the iClicker quizzes and Problem Set #1. Your participation, however, does not guarantee that you will be admitted to the class.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Economics Tutoring: The Economics Answer Center (EAC) provides drop-in and reserved office hours for ECON 100B students at no out-of-pocket cost to you. The EAC website can be accessed through the Economics Department undergraduate homepage: http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/econ/ugrad/eac/eac.shtml. The EAC also maintains a list of available tutors for hire for ECON 100B.

Website: We will use bSpace as our course website. This site will include this syllabus, my lecture notes, problem set assignments and answers (after the fact), exams and answers from the previous semester, exams and answers (after the fact) for this semester, and any other information relevant to the class.

Podcast: This course is being podcast. To use this feature go to http://webcast.berkeley.edu to subscribe (free of charge).

Classroom Etiquette: Class is from 3:40 p.m. 5:00 p.m. I will make every effort to begin class promptly and to end class on time. If you arrive late and/or leave early, please make every effort to do so quietly. In consideration of your fellow students and the instructor, please refrain from talking with your neighbors during class.

The Use of Electronic Devices in Class: Laptops and tablet computers may only be used in class for academic purposes related to this course. They should not be used for sending or receiving emails, surfing the Internet, checking Facebook or other social media, or any other activities not directly related to the class. Cell phones should be turned off (or be on silent mode) and put away during class.

Email Policy: Your first point of contact for questions regarding course material is your GSI. I am available to answer questions about course policy and course material. If you email me you should identify which course you are taking. I will try to respond within 48 hours of receiving your email (which means that it is unlikely that I will respond in a timely manner to questions asked the day of an exam).

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Learning Goals: As part of Berkeley's Undergraduate Student Learning Initiative (USLI), the Economics Department has developed learning goals for the Economics major. See http://emlab.berkeley.edu/econ/ugrad/ugrad_goals.shtml\ The specific learning goals for this course aims achieve are: CT1. Apply economic analysis to evaluate everyday problems. CT2. Apply economic analysis to evaluate specific policy proposals. CT3. Compare two or more arguments that have different conclusions to a specific issue or problem. CT4. Understand the role of assumptions in arguments. PS1. Solve problems that have clear solutions. CS1. Communicate effectively in written, spoken, and graphical form about specific economic issues. LL2. Know how to locate and use primary data sources LL3. Understand and evaluate current economic events and new economic ideas.

Responsibilities and Expectations: 1. As the teacher, my responsibilities are to come to class prepared to teach; to organize and present the material in a manner that facilitates your learning; to respond to and encourage questions; to oversee grading of assignments; to be available during office hours and for scheduled appointments, and to stimulate an enthusiasm for economics and for learning. As a student, your responsibilities are to come to class prepared to learn and to participate in lectures and discussions; to complete the assigned readings before class (allowing time to re-read difficult material); to complete 6 problem set assignments on time, and to take 3 exams. You are also responsible for complying with the Berkeley Campus Code of Student Conduct. This Code requires each student to act with integrity in all academic activities and to hold his or her peers to the same standard. Lying, cheating, or plagiarism of published work, work posted on the Internet, or work done by professors or other students will NOT be tolerated. Actions that have negative effects on others will not be tolerated in the classroom.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Grades and Grading: There are five (5) graded assignments during the semester with the following weights and due dates. iClicker quizzes: Problem Sets: Exam #1: Exam #2: Exam #3: 10% 25% 20% 20% 25% (nearly every day except exam days) (various dates) (Thursday, September 27th in class) (Thursday, November 1st in class) (Monday, December 11th from 11:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m.)

Note that Exam #1 is scheduled for AFTER the deadline to drop classes. Your problem sets and exams will be graded by your GSI and/or a Reader. Your answers are graded solely on their content and not on their intent. This means that we do not grade what you meant to say but what you actually write, even if you knew the answer but just could not say it right. This also means that answers that are illegible, rambling, or poorly organized will not receive high scores.

Code of Ethics / Assignment Affirmation: In concert with the Berkeley Campus Code of Student Conduct, academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty is all forms of academic misconduct including but not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, or facilitating academic dishonesty. Any evidence of cheating will result in a score of zero (0) on that assignment or exam. Cheating on the final exam will result in an F for the course. Incidences of cheating will also be reported to Student Judicial Affairs which may administer additional punishment. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, bringing notes or written or electronic materials into an exam, using notes or written or electronic materials during an exam, copying or editing off another persons assignment, copying off another persons exam, allowing someone to copy off of your assignment or exam, and having someone else do an assignment or take an exam for you. On every problem set, you will be asked to sign the following assignment affirmation: The answers on this problem set are entirely my own work. I neither copied from the work of others nor allowed others to copy from my work. Failure to sign this affidavit will result in a zero for that problem set. On every exam, you will be asked to sign the following test affirmation: The answers on this test are entirely my own work. I neither gave nor received any aid while taking this test. I will not discuss the questions on this test until after [end of exam period] on [date of exam]. Failure to sign this affidavit will result in a zero for that examination.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

iClickers Quizzes: iClicker is an audience response system that enables you to respond to questions posed during class. You are required to purchase or rent an iClicker from the Cal bookstore for in-class participation. You will be graded on that feedback beginning Tuesday, August 28th. Each class will include 5 multiple choice questions; each question will be asked twice. During the first round of questioning, each question is worth 3 points; during the second round of questioning, each question is worth 1 point. For each class, a maximum of 20 points can be earned. In order to receive this credit, you will need to register your iClicker remote device. You should begin participating in class immediately even if you have not yet registered your iClickeryour responses will still be linked to your iClicker ID and synced with your Student ID once you have registered it. To register, go to http://www.iclicker.com/support/registeryourclicker/. Complete the fields with your first name, last name, student ID, and remote ID (which is found on the bottom of the back of your iClicker remote). It is your responsibility to make sure that your iClicker is registered and working properly. iClicker scores will be posted on the class bSpace site.

Problem Sets: There are 6 problem sets of which the highest 5 scores will count toward your final course grade. Problem sets will be posted on bSpace in Word format and you must complete your problem set on that template. Problem set solutions are due at the BEGINNING of class on the due date. There is a 10-minute grace period. 1. 2. 3. Problem sets submitted after the grace period will NOT be accepted. Problem sets MUST be word-processed although you may do graphs and equations by hand. Problem sets MUST be stapled and have your name (last name first), SID number, and GSIs name in the upper right hand corner.

Although you may work on problem sets with your classmates, the answers which you hand in are expected to be your own effort. Each student MUST submit only his or her own work; copying and/or editing another persons work from disk or paper are NOT permitted. 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. Graded problem sets will be returned in discussion section. Problem set scores will be posted on your GSIs bSpace site. It is your responsibility to make sure that they are correct. Any discrepancies should be reported to your GSI immediately.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Exams: Exam #1 is scheduled for Thursday, September 27th in class; you will have the entire class time to complete it. Exam #2 is scheduled for Thursday, November 1st in class; you will have the entire class time to complete it. Exam #3 is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11th at a location still to be determined; you will have from 11:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. to complete it. If you have or anticipate a conflict with the final exam schedule, you should DROP this course now and retake it in another semester. Conflicts include other exams, nonrefundable airline tickets, weddings, or other commitments that require you to leave campus before the end of Exam #3. Each exam will cover the materials assigned for that section of the course (including the lecture before the midterm exams). Although the exams are not intentionally cumulative, macroeconomics is, by its very nature, cumulative. The exams from last semester will be posted on bSpace. Exams will be closed book and closed notes and are to be done without any outside help. No calculators, laptops, beepers, cell phones, other electronic devices, or cheat sheets are allowed during exams. You should not bring scratch paper into exams; it will be provided. However, you will need a set of colored pens or pencils. There should be no communications between students during exams, either one way (peeking at or copying someone elses work) or two-way (sharing answers with or helping out another student). There are no scheduled make-up exams. Students who miss an exam for any reason must communicate with me by email or phone no later than the start of the exam. You will need to provide valid medical and/or legal documentation explaining why you were unable to take the exam on schedule. Except under the most extreme circumstances, if you do not have an excused absence before the exam starts and you do not take the exam, you will receive a zero (0) on the exam. Graded exams will be returned in discussion section. Exam scores will be posted on bSpace. It is your responsibility to make sure that they are correct. Any discrepancies should be reported to you GSI immediately.

DSP Exam Accommodations: If you are entitled to special accommodations on exams you MUST make an appointment to speak with me no later than the end of the second week of the semester. You will eventually need to provide an evaluation form from the Disabled Students Program office.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Exam Re-grade Requests: The GSIs take great care in grading exams. However, if you believe there has been an arithmetic error in adding up the points on your exam, simply point this out to your GSI at the end of section when you receive your exam back. If you believe that there has been an error in the GRADING of your exam, here are the steps you must follow. 1. Within 7 days of the time that exams are first returned in section (which will be less than 7 days from the time you receive your exam if you missed section when exams were first returned), give your GSI your exam and a written (i.e., word processed) request of what question(s) you think should be re-graded and an explanation of why. Do not change the answers on your exam; type out your request separately and give both your request and your original exam to your GSI. Your GSI reserves the right to re-grade your entire exam, not just the question(s) mentioned in your re-grade request. Scores on any question can be changedincreased or decreased. Therefore, it is possible that you could wind up with fewer points at the end of the re-grade than you had originally. I have advised the GSIs to reject any re-grade request that is for only 1 or 2 points per question. It is simply not a good use of anyones time. If you are spending your (and your GSIs) time challenging the grading of anything less than 3 points, please get out your principles textbook and study the section on opportunity cost.

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It is important to remember that exams are not just assessment tools, they are also learning tools. I hope you will learn from the exams. You are welcome to talk with your GSI or with me about what concepts you missed or were confused on so that we can help you be clear on the material. Just remember that the reason for the conversation is not about changing points, its about helping you understand the material.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Course Letter Grades: Your course letter grade will be determined solely from the weighted average percentage of your graded assignments. Your iClicker scores will be counted. The 5 highest scores on your problem sets will be counted. All 3 exams will be counted.

In determining their contribution to your final course grade, your iClicker scores (excluding the first day) will be totaled. They will then be converted to a percentage based on 85% of the total possible points but with a maximum of 100%. The 85% adjustment allows for late registrations to the class; official and unofficial absences; forgotten, lost, broken, or inoperative iClickers; brain freezes, etc. In determining their contribution to your final course grade, your problem set and exam scores are converted to percentages. Each graded assignment percentage is then weighted by the weight for that assignment. There are no alternative weightings of graded assignments. There are no extra credit assignments. Great care is taken to ensure that the SAME QUALITY OF WORK will, at the end of the semester, receive the SAME LETTER GRADE, regardless of who graded the work. Uniformity of grading standards (i.e., making sure that the same quality of work receives the same letter grade) is ensured by having students letter grades determined within their GSIs discussion sections. This way, we are giving the SAME LETTER GRADE for the SAME QUALITY of work, rather than for the SAME NUMBER OF POINTS. This means that you do not have to worry if your GSI has lower averages than other GSIs because the course letter grades depend upon the quality of your work and not on the number of points you have scored. Experience shows that this process works! There is no pre-set or common scale whereby a certain number of points corresponds to a certain letter grade. Nor is there a fixed curve dictating what share of students will receive a particular letter grade. However, past performance of students in my Economics 100B classes indicates that approximately 20% of the class will receive some sort of A, about 50% will receive some sort of B, and the remainder will receive some sort of C or below. Students taking the course under the P/NP option must earn at least a C- in order to pass the course. Please note that if you are fulfilling a requirement for the economics or business administration majors, you cannot take this course P/NP. You will be able to retrieve your final exam score, your course weighted average score, and your final course letter grade on bSpace. Course letter grades will also be available on BearFacts. Your final exam will be held by the Economics Department for 12 months. Finals cannot be re-evaluated once grades are submitted to the Registrars Office. You can look at your graded exam in 508-1 Evans Hall, generally beginning about 3 weeks after the end of the semester.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

Reading, Problem Set, and Exam Schedule: The class-by-class reading, problem set, and exam schedules follow. The reading assignments are from the assigned text and are provided for both the Custom and Hardback editions of the book. You are strongly urged to read the assigned materials in advance of the lectures. Additional handouts concerning current applications of macroeconomic theory and policy may be assigned and discussed as well. You are responsible for ALL assigned materials. Lectures will generally follow the textbook but NOT cover all of the material. In addition, I WILL add lecture material that is not in the textbook. On occasion, the lectures will extend and/or modify the textbook material and handouts. Where differences occur between lecture and textbook or handout materials, the lecture will be deemed correct for grading purposes. You should also read the business section of a major newspaper and/or weekly periodical to stay abreast of current macroeconomic issues. Recommended newspapers include the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Recommended weekly periodicals include Business Week and The Economist.

Reading, Problem Set, and Exam Schedule August 23, 2012 (Thursday) Class #1, The Policy and Practice of Macroeconomics Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 1 15; Hardback edition: Chapter 1.

August 28, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #2, Measuring Macroeconomic Data Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 18 45; Hardback edition: Chapter 2.

August 30, 2012 (Thursday) Class #3, Aggregate Production and Productivity Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 47 67; Hardback edition: Chapter 3.

September 4, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #4, Saving and Investment in Closed and Open Economies, Part 1 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 69 104; Hardback edition: Chapter 4 and Appendix.

September 6, 2012 (Thursday) Class #5, Saving and Investment in Closed and Open Economies, Part 2 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 69 104; Hardback edition: Chapter 4 and Appendix.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

September 11, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #6, The Sources of Growth and the Solow Model, Part 1 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 148 171; Hardback edition: Chapter 6. Problem Set #1 due.

September 13, 2012 (Thursday) Class #7, The Sources of Growth and the Solow Model, Part 2 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 148 171; Hardback edition: Chapter 6.

September 18, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #8, Drivers of Growth: Technology, Policy, and Institutions, Part 1 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 179 201; Hardback edition: Chapter 7.

September 20, 2012 (Thursday) Class #9, Drivers of Growth: Technology, Policy, and Institutions, Part 2 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 179 201; Hardback edition: Chapter 7.

September 25, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #10, Money and Inflation Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 106 129; Hardback edition: Chapter 5. Problem Set #2 due.

September 27, 2012 (Thursday) Class #11: EXAM #1

October 2, 2012 (Tuesday) Class # 12, Business Cycles: An Introduction Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 204 225; Hardback edition: Chapter 8.

October 4, 2012 (Thursday) Class #13, The IS Curve Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 228 246; Hardback edition: Chapter 9.

October 9, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #14, Monetary Policy and Aggregate Demand Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 248 267; Hardback edition: Chapter 10.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

October 11, 2012 (Thursday) Class #15, The Money Supply Process Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 130 145; Hardback edition: Chapter 5 Appendix.

October 16, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #16, Aggregate Supply and the Phillips Curve Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 275 291; Hardback edition: Chapter 11

October 18, 2012 (Thursday) Class #17, The Aggregate Demand and Supply Model, Part 1 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 294 318; Hardback edition: Chapter 12.

October 23, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #18, The Aggregate Demand and Supply Model, Part 2 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 294 318; Hardback edition: Chapter 12. Problem Set #3 due.

October 25, 2012 (Thursday) Class #19, The Financial System and Economic Growth Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 355 372; Hardback edition: Chapter 14.

October 30, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #20, Financial Crises and the Economy Reading Assignment: Custom edition: handout; Hardback edition: Chapter 15. Problem Set #4 due.

November 1, 2012 (Thursday) Class #21, Exam #2

November 6, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #22, Macroeconomic Policy and Aggregate Demand and Supply Analysis, Part 1 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 324 354; Hardback edition, Chapter 13.

November 8, 2012 (Thursday) Class #23, Macroeconomic Policy and Aggregate Demand and Supply Analysis, Part 2 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 324 354; Hardback edition, Chapter 13.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Department of Economics

Econ 100B Course Outline Fall 2012

November 13, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #24, Exchange Rates and International Economic Policy, Part 1 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 401 431; Hardback edition: Chapter 17. Problem Set #5 due.

November 15, 2012 (Thursday) Class #25, Exchange Rates and International Economic Policy, Part 2 Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 401 431; Hardback edition: Chapter 17.

November 20, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #26, Fiscal Policy and the Government Budget Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 374 400; Hardback edition: Chapter 16. Problem Set #6 due.

November 22, 2012 (Thursday) No Class: Thanksgiving Holiday

November 27, 2012 (Tuesday) Class #27, The Role of Expectations in Macroeconomic Policy Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 434 457; Hardback edition: Chapter 21.

November 29, 2012 (Thursday) Class #28, Where do Macroeconomists Agree and Disagree? Reading Assignment: Custom edition: pp. 460 470; Hardback edition: Epilogue.

December 11, 2012 (Tuesday) FINAL EXAM, 11:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. at a location still to be determined.

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