This course is intended as an introduction to basic economic and macroeconomic concepts. You will learn about concepts such as comparative advantage, supply & demand, gross domestic product, unemployment, inflation, monetary policy and fiscal policy.
The intention is that by the end of this course you will understand all the basic macroeconomic terms mentioned frequently in the news but also be able to evaluate macroeconomic news for relevance and be able to place them in greater context. You should also be able to solve basic math problems related to macroeconomics and learn how to use the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and Federal Reserve Bank Data of St. Louis (FRED) websites to further your own education on the history and recent status of the US economy.
Required Textbooks:
- Achieve edition of Modern Principles: Macroeconomics, 5th Edition by Cowen and Tabarrok (C&T). The cost at the bookstore is $76.99. The access codes we sell at the store is a physical card that can either pick up from the store or have shipped to you.
The course id is 2s639w.
Grading Criteria
Each week you will have assignments to turn in depending on the schedule as outlined on Achieve.
Attendance and Participation
Your Attendance and participation grade will be based on answering PointSolutions questions in class. You will be graded based on participation in these questions rather than on accuracy although taking the questions seriously is good practice for learning the material. See below for more details.
Pre-Lecture Quiz
The first type of assignment will be pre-lecture quizzes before lecture each week to answer questions related to the reading on the first day the reading is to be discussed in class. They are not intended to be challenging but rather assess whether you have completed the reading that week. You get unlimited attempts on these quizzes and there is only a 3% penalty for wrong answers. If you take them seriously it will help prepare you for class. I’m well aware that you can use AI like ChatGPT and Claude to easily solve these problems. Don’t do it for your own sake, you will not do well on the exams. You are encouraged however to ask these services about things you do not understand but please be aware that the books answers are the final word for exam questions, not AI.
Post-Lecture Quiz
The second will be a post-lecture quiz due on Sundays at 11:59 PM each week to test your understanding of the concepts we learned during the week. You get 3 attempts with each question, but a wrong answer reduces your score on each question by 10 percent. For all assignments late turn-in is allowed but with a penalty of 1 percent per day. Since the penalty is lenient there is no exception to this late turn-in rule. I’m well aware that you can use AI like ChatGPT and Claude to easily solve these problems. Don’t do it for your own sake, you will not do well on the exams. You are encouraged however to ask these services about things you do not understand but please be aware that the books answers are the final word for exam questions, not AI.
Exams
There will be two exams, one midterm and one final. They will be given by scantron. No computer and no phones are allowed and the penalty for breaking this rule will be course failure. The final will be related only to the material covered after the midterm exam.
10% Attendance and Participation
30% Homework Assignments
30% Mid-term Exam (Wednesday 10/1 9:30-10:45 am)
30% Final Exam (Date not yet published)
Grade distribution
90-100% A
80-89% B
70-79% C
50-69% D
<50% F
Your Attendance and participation grade will be based on answering PointSolutions questions in class. You will be graded based on participation in these questions rather than on accuracy although taking the questions seriously is good practice for learning the material. See below for more details.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.
Core Impacts Statement
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
- How do I understand human experiences and connections?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcomes:
- Students will effectively analyze the complexity of human behavior, and how historical, economic, political, social or geographic relationships develop, persist or change.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
- Intercultural Competence
- Perspective-Taking
- Persuasion