EC 214 - MACROECONOMICS II

Spring 2018-2019

Syllabus

Instructor: Oğuz Öztunalı (e-mail: oguz.oztunali@bilgi.edu.tr)

Office location: L1 - 216
Office hours: Monday 14:00-16:00
Teaching Assistant: Orkun Doğan (e-mail: orkun.dogan@bilgi.edu.tr)
Lectures: EC 214.01 Monday 11:00-12:50 S-EK.205
EC 214.02 Thursday 12:00-13:50 S-EK.204

Recitations: Monday 14:00-14:50 S-E2.213

Tuesday 15:00-15:50 S-E1.306
Tuesday 17:00-17:50 S-E4.205

Textbook: Macroeconomics, 8th Edition by N. Gregory Mankiw

Course objectives: The main objective of this course is to enable students to have an insight into
the contemporary macroeconomics by exploring the fundamentals of the macroeconomic theory
- starting from the Keynesian ”classical theory” and moving towards neoclassical macroeconomic
theory. First, the definition of macroeconomics, with its distinction from microeconomics in terms
of its methodology and variables of interest, will be provided. Next, the focus will be on definitions
and determinants of main macroeconomic variables, such as output, employment/unemployment,
inflation, interest rates...etc. After these introductory lectures, utilizing the Keynesian IS/LM
framework, both short-run and long-run dynamics of the main macroeconomic variables will be
studied in a closed-economy environment.

Grading: The overall course grade will be based on a midterm exam and a cumulative final exam
(dates of these exams will be announced during the semester). The weights are as follows:

• Midterm exam: 50% of the overall grade

• Final exam: 50% of the overall grade

The method that will be used to determine letter grades can be accessed via the following link:
Credit-based Undergraduate Educaiton and Examination Regulations. However, students’ grades
may be adjusted based on the average and standard deviation of the cumulative grades of the
class.

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Attendance: Attendance is not required but strongly recommended.

Recitations: There will be regular recitations that will be held weekly/biweekly by the teach-
ing assistant. During regular recitations, example questions related to past course content will be
solved.

Communication: E-mail and the Bilgi Learn webpage of the course are going to be the primary
means of communication outside the classroom, and I will be sending e-mails whenever necessary
to inform the students about updates related to the course over the term (updates are also be
announced through the Bilgi Learn webpage of the course). Make sure to check the Bilgi Learn
webpage of the course or the e-mail account you submitted to the university during registration
regularly so that you will not miss any of the announcements.

Make-up exam policy: All students are required to attend both the midterm and final exams.
Those who do not attend the midterm exams due to medical and other emergencies should fill out
the exemption form (the physical copy of this form can be obtained from and should submitted to
the faculty secretary Neslihan Sözeri) within 3 days after the end date of your health report or the
issue date of the related document, together with a proof of their emergency situation (late appli-
cations will not be evaluated). Please note that the submission of such forms does NOT guarantee
eligibility for a make-up exam. Our university has strict rules on what type of emergencies are
acceptable for make-up exam. Therefore, we strongly recommend students to enter to the exams
in case of moderate illnesses. A board of faculty members will discuss each form and decide on the
eligibility of each student. In the case of the final exam, make-up exam will only be given to the
list of students who are announced to be eligible by the University’s Make-up Exam Committee.

Exam re-grading policy: If a student believes that the grade she/he has earned from an exam is
unfair, then she/he has to inform the instructor beforehand via e-mail and see her/his exam paper
herself/himself during the objection period. After reviewing her/his paper with the instructor, if
the student still believes that her/his grade is unfair or miscalculated then she/he has to submit a
written document to the instructor stating which her/his answer on the exam paper is correct and
describing the exact reason (in detail) she/he believes that entitles her to object against her/his
grade. Re-grade inquiries of students who fail to present any justifiable reason will not be taken
into consideration under any circumstances.

Academic integrity: The undergraduate program of the Department of Economics is conducted

within the framework of the Student Discipline Regulations of the Turkish Council of Higher Ed-
ucation (TCHE, Yuksekogretim Kurulu, YÖK in Turkish). For the student discipline regulations
by the TCHE (YÖK), see (in Turkish): the student discipline regulations by the TCHE

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Tentative course outline

• Chapter 1: The Science of Macroeconomics

• Chapter 2: The Data of Macroeconomics

• Chapter 3: National Income: Where It Comes From and Where It Goes

• Chapter 4: The Monetary System: What It Is and How It Works

• Chapter 5: Inflation: Its Causes, Effects and Social Costs

• Chapter 7: Unemployment and the Labor Market

• Chapter 10: Introduction to Economic Fluctuations

• Chapter 11: Aggregate Demand I: Building the IS-LM Model

• Chapter 12: Aggregate Demand II: Applying the IS-LM Model

• Chapter 14: Aggregate Supply and the Short-Run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemploy-
ment (optional, will be covered if time permits)

• Chapter 8: Economic Growth I: Capital Accumulation and Population Growth (optional, will
be covered if time permits)

• Chapter 9: Economic Growth II: Technology, Empirics and Policy (optional, will be covered
if time permits)

• Chapter 6: The Open Economy (optional, will be covered if time permits)

• Chapter 13: The Open Economy Revisited: The Mundell-Fleming Model and the Exchange-
Rate Regime (optional, will be covered if time permits)