Course Description: Economics 104

Bob Parks, Summer 2009

Seigle 315B

Course page http://econ124.wustl.edu

 

Books:

  1. Tim Yeager - via www.econweb.com Cost $9.95. You must sign up for this book. Available at the bookstore. Please view http://www.econweb.com/MacroWelcome/Join/PaymentOptions.html immediately to purchase the book. Tim Yeager was graduate student at WU – what more can I say to recommend his book except it is short and an easy read.
  2. Tim Taylor, Managing Editor of Journal of Economic Perspectives, Principles of Macroeconomics, available locally at http://econ124.wustl.edu/taylor. This book is free but contains advertisements. Tim is an excellent writer.  Compared to Yeager, Taylor is far more verbose.  There are many other books available at Freeload Press in the same advertisement format. Take a look.
  3. A new formerly free online book – Macroeconomics in Context. Well, it was free but now costs $49.95. The Website is http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/publications/textbooks/macroeconomics.html . An older version of the $49.95 book, which was free, is available on the course web site at http://econ124.wustl.edu/macincontext/index.html - you will need a username and password. This book adds a contextual aspect.

 

Two other online FREE books – these have been available since about 1996, and are being revised.

  1. Roger McCain available at http://william-king.www.drexel.edu/top/prin/txt/EcoToC.html . McCain views economics as a conversation that has been going on for over two hundred years. Some issues are resolved while others are not. The book was revised in 2007.
  2. Robert Schenk available at http://ingrimayne.saintjoe.edu/econ/TOC.html . One of the reasons I liked this book was the extensive use of hyperlinks. The revised edition may not be so hyperlinked and hence it may not be as useful as I once thought it was.

Grades: (important stuff first)

TESTS: 0 points

Question and Answer ALL THE POINTS

Each day you will EMAIL a question about Macroeconomics on the current topic on the topics list  to econ124@econ124.wustl.edu using a subject line of your last name and first letter capitalized of your first name followed by a space and QUES

E.g.,

 

Subject: ParksR QUES

 

The questions MUST BE inline messages and not attached documents.  The question must have a web reference which you have read and found interesting, but left you with a question.  The question’s content must be the current day’s (5am) or prior day’s topic.

 

Example:

I was searching for information about the GDP and GNP and came across this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/opinion/16furman.html
The last paragraph states that "a slowing economy compounds the problems facing workers, who did not receive inflation-adjusted wage gains even in the past few years of strong G.D.P growth."
I was just wondering if and why there is a correlation between G.D.P. growth and inflation rates when doesn't a rise in the G.D.P. usually means the economy is doing well.

 

I will hand out the questions each morning and you will write a one to two page 'answer' to the question I assign. Email the answer to econ124@econ124.wustl.edu with a subject line of your last name and first letter of your first name and the word ANSWER. For example,

 

Subject: ParksR Answer

 

Please submit your answers as an attachment in Word .doc format.  Please be sure to name the file with the .doc suffix if your computer does not do that automatically.

 

 Due each day by 5am. 

 

Answers:  300 to 500 words (one to two pages) including references to web articles.

 

 

Mankiw Simulation counts as the last question/answer

This is a Macroeconomic simulation in which you set policy and attempt to keep the economy stable and remain in office.  See the topics list for the assignment.

 


Grades:  There are 12 questions due (none due on the last day of class) and 12 answers due (none due on the first two days).  The last answer is the Mankiw simulation.  The first questions are due 5/19/2008 and the first answers 5/20/2008.  There are 14 class meetings.

            You can miss 1 class meeting and 1 question and 1 answer and still get an A.  Miss two answers and you can have no more than a B+.  Miss 2 class meetings or 2 questions and you can have no more than an A-.  Miss two answers, two meetings and two questions you will get a B.  Miss more than 6 class meetings, or 6 questions or 6 answers and you will FAIL.

 

Expectations:  You will read Yeager in depth.  You will read Taylor but possibly not in as much depth.  You will read some web article about the current topic.  Search google.com, news.google.com, cnn.com, nytimes.com, etc.  You will write one question and one answer per day.  You will come to class and be prepared to discuss the current topic.

 

            I will read your questions and answers and prepare a summary.  I will attempt to facilitate learning rather than lecturing to sleeping students.  My motto this year is

                        'It is not what I teach, it is what students learn that counts.'

 

NOTE:

Reading: I suggest that you do NOT print the text. Instead, read them online, and open Word, WordPad, Notepad, or whatever. When you read something you think is important, copy it to your Word, Notepad, etc. editor, save the file to a floppy disk, flash drive, CD, DVD and/or your hard disk, which you can then later view. A major value of ONLINE is the ability to search, edit, and combine. FOXIT is a Adobe Reader that allows markups to the PDF file http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

 

If you need to personally correspond with me, my email address is bparks@wustl.edu – the question and answer email address is not for correspondence.