Syllabus PDF

Preview

Summary

Syllabus...

Description

ECON 321 Macroeconomics Winter 2021, Ina Hajdini Time and location: Monday and Wednesday 10:00 - 11:50am EST, on Zoom (link) Contact: [email protected] Office hours: Wednesday 2:00-3:00pm EST, on Zoom (link) or by appointment

Course Description ECON 321 is an intermediate macroeconomics course with applications to current events and economic policy. The objective of the course is to provide students with the foundation to understand the big macroeconomic events, and to learn how to evaluate the global economic environment in which business decisions are made. Key topics of the course include national income accounting, the central role of technological change for economic growth, the labor market, business cycle fluctuations and in particular the Great Recession following the 2008 financial crisis, and the conduct of monetary and fiscal policy. The course contains an important analytical component and frequently uses mathematical tools. Students are required to have a solid background in calculus. Mastery of the Math Review Notes posted on the course website is expected.

Prerequisites ECON 201 (minimum grade C); ECON 202 (minimum grade C); ECON 301 (minimum grade C); and MATH 102 (minimum grade C) or MATH 121 (minimum Grade C). Lectures Each lecture lasts for one hour and fifty minutes. Most lectures are divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to an in-Zoom discussion of a current policy topic or case study related to the material covered in the previous lecture. Most of the time, this discussion will be presented by a group of 2 students (see Grading below). The second part of the lecture introduces new material that prepares students for next lecture’s current policy topic or case study. Students are expected to come to class prepared and participate actively - especially 1

during the first part of the class. This is reflected in the participation grade, which accounts for 20 percent of the final course grade (see Grading below).

Course Materials Textbook. The required text is Macroeconomics (4th edition) by Charles I. Jones (henceforth Jones), W.W. Norton Co., 2018. The text comes in paper version or in e-book version. Both versions can be purchased or rented (see the bookstore or the internet for more information). Additional readings and case studies. Most lectures are also supplemented by news articles and podcasts that can be downloaded from the course website and are required material for the in-Zoom discussions. Finally, some of the in-Zoom discussions are based on case studies that will be made accessible for a small charge through www.study.net.

Course Etiquette Macroeconomics is a complex subject about important issues. You will be able to understand and form your opinion about these issues only if you actively engage with the material. You therefore must come to class regularly and prepared. The class is like a contract. My end of the contract is that I will work hard to make it worth your time. Your end of the contract is to prepare the assigned readings and current policy topics / case studies, show up for class, and participate actively. The in-Zoom discussion that occupies the first part of most lectures is designed explicitly to encourage this behavior.

Evaluation Your grade will be determined by Problem Sets (30%); a Midterm Exam (10%); a Final exam (20%), Presentation (20%) and Participation (20%). Exams. There will be one midterm and a final exam as follows: • Midterm: Monday, Feb 22; class-time in Blackboard (10%) • Final Exam (comprehensive): during finals weeks (Mar 22 - Mar 27) as scheduled by 2

the University (20%) Exams are comprehensive and closed book except for one 8.5” x 11” double-sided sheet of notes for the midterm and two for the final. Calculators are permitted but not cell phone calculators. Exams will be administered through the course website.

Important: • The final exam is assigned twice the weight of the midterm exam, yielding effectively three exam grades. The total “exam grade” will be computed as the average of the best two out 2 of the three grades. This formula provides you with insurance against both scheduling conflicts (inability to attend the midterm) and “having a bad exam day.” As a result of this drop-the-worst-exam-grade policy, no requests to reschedule or retake the midterm will be entertained. The final exam can be rescheduled only if required by university policy, and only during the official make-up period. Any request for a make-up final exam as well as notification of disability accommodations must be received at least one week before the exam. In case of serious illness on the day of the final exam, you must notify me before the exam begins and provide an official doctor’s note as soon as possible afterwards. Problem Sets. There will be 5 problem sets (6% each). The problem sets will be administered through the course website. Problem sets are due at 10:00pm sharp of the due date indicated on the course calendar below. These assignments are designed to reinforce key concepts from class and to help you prepare for the exams. No late assignments will be accepted and no regrade requests will be entertained. Answers will be posted on the course website shortly after the due date. Your problem set grade will be computed as the average of the four best problem set scores (i.e. the worst score is dropped). Presentation. The presentation grade (20%) is based on your in-Zoom group presentation of a current policy topic, as chosen by you via SlyReply. Relevant material to your chosen topic together with a few questions will be posted on Blackboard days in advance. Your 3

presentation should reflect that you have a) read the assigned material, b) linked the material to lectures covered in class, c) answered the posted questions. Research beyond the posted material is always welcomed. I highly advise you meet with me during office hours for guidance. See content under Group Work on Blackboard for more details. Participation. The participation grade (20%) is based on your active participation in-Zoom discussions related to current policy topics presented by your class mates, lectures, etc. You will observe your earned participation points on Blackboard after every class. Regrade Requests. A re-grade request must be submitted if you want any of your exams to be re-graded. The request should clearly specify why you believe you deserve more points for each question you want to be reconsidered. Course Grades. Assigned as follows: • 85% and above for an A- or higher; • 75% and above for a B- or higher; • 60% and above for a C- or higher; • 50% and above for a D- or higher; • Below 50% for a F Depending on the difficulty of the exams, cutoffs may be lowered but they will not be raised. Students with Disabilities. Any student with a documented disability who needs accommodations is encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services at (215) 895-1401. I must receive an Accommodation Verification Form at least one week prior to any exam for which accommodations are necessary. Add/Drop and Withdrawal. Please consult Course Registration Process for the course Add/Drop and Withdrawal policies

4

University’s Remote Teaching Policies Time Zones and Assignment Due Dates. Drexel’s Blackboard servers are located in the Eastern Time Zone (currently observing EDT which is UTC-4). All due dates and times should be understood as being displayed in Eastern Time. For example, an assignment that is due at 11:59 PM (EDT) on a Wednesday would be due on Wednesday at 8:59 PM Pacific (PDT) and due on Thursday at 3:59 AM UTC. Students should adjust any deadlines to their own time zone. No changes to due dates/times (or how they display in Blackboard) can be made for students in other time zones. Email Correspondence. In the case when faculty will not be meeting students in person, it is even more important for the students to check their Drexel email at least three (3) times per week for important course-related information. Students should only send questions to instructors from their Drexel email account and not from an external account (e.g. gmail). For security purposes, instructors are directed to not reply to student emails that come from non-Drexel email addresses and instructors will only use their own official Drexel email accounts to communicate with students. Faculty Feedback and Grades. If your instructor listed a preferred method of communication for student questions (email, phone, etc.), using that method may shorten response times. In general, faculty teaching remotely or online check their email at least once per weekday and at least once on the weekend, but given the current emergency, these frequencies may vary. Grades and feedback for assignments and tests will be posted to Blackboard Learn typically within two weeks of the due date. If you do not see grades after this timeframe, reach out to your instructor. Academic Honesty for Remote Courses. Taking classes remotely does not provide the same level of supervision by faculty for assessments and individual work that is present in the classroom. Students must understand that this does not affect Drexel’s policies for academic honesty. Course work should be completed using only the materials, resources, and collaboration options permitted by the instructor. Collaborating on individual assignments and tests is strictly prohibited. Academic integrity incidents will still follow the normal

5

processes and will be taken just as seriously in the remote course facilitation model as they would in person. Students who know of academic dishonesty incidents should inform faculty or college administration in a timely manner or else they may be subject to similar disciplinary actions. General Technical Support. Students who need technical support can use the following contacts. When emailing, consider including a phone number for tech representatives to call back if needed. • Drexel Accounts (can’t log in, multi-factor authentication, Office365). Email: [email protected] • Zoom support (logging in, using Zoom, etc.) 1. Help option within the Zoom app 2. LeBow Tech: [email protected] (low urgency questions during business hours) 3. Drexel 24/7 support: 215-895-1224 (high urgency or issues after business hours) • Blackboard Support (Course materials, videos, assignments, tests, etc.) 1. Drexel 24/7 support: 215-895-1224 2. LeBow Instructional Tech: [email protected] • Business software/vApps (SAS, JMP, MATLAB, Minitab, Stata, etc.) LeBow Tech: [email protected] Appropriate Use of Course Materials. It is important to recognize that some or all of the course materials provided to you may be the intellectual property of Drexel University, the course instructor, or others. Use of this intellectual property is governed by Drexel University policies, including the IT-1 policy found here. Briefly, this policy states that all course materials including recordings provided by the course instructor may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or re-posted. Doing so may be considered a breach of this policy and will be investigated and addressed as possible academic dishonesty, among other potential 6

violations. Improper use of such materials may also constitute a violation of the University’s Code of Conduct found here and will be investigated as such. Remote Class Facilitation Expectations. During the activation of Drexel’s emergency preparedness plan, courses which were to take place in a classroom will now be facilitated remotely using webinar technologies (e.g. Zoom) and through supplemental uses of Drexel’s Blackboard Learn LMS. Any synchronous class sessions will take place during the originally scheduled class time but will also be recorded and can be made available to students who, due to substantial time zone shift or illness, are not able to attend the live event (students should contact their instructor as soon as possible if they anticipate this need). Faculty office hours will also take place via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. and can be scheduled at various times to best meet student needs. Meeting links will be placed in Blackboard for easy student access. Zoom Participation and Support. When Zoom is used for class meetings and office hours, a link will normally be placed in Blackboard. Zoom apps exist for Windows and Mac computers, as well as many mobile platforms (visit zoom.us/download). Students can test compatibility prior to any class session by visiting zoom.us/test from their device. Students should minimize distractions and multi-tasking during class time to fully engage with the class. Instructors will ask students to join via audio and/or video to gauge attendance and class participation. Also pay attention to any special instructions or a required password that your instructor may have posted along with the webinar link. For security purposes, students are asked to log into Zoom using their Drexel account. Students who do not log in may not get connected to the class meeting. Follow these steps to log in the first time: 1. Visit drexel.zoom.us and click the option for Sign In Standard to ensure that your Zoom account is activated. Enter your username and password into Drexel Connect to complete the login, but then you can close that browser window. 2. Download, install, and launch the Zoom client for your device (zoom.us/download)

7

3. Click the Sign In button in the Zoom app but then click the “Sign in with SSO” option, enter Drexel as the Company Domain and click Continue. Enter your Drexel username and password into Drexel Connect and complete any multi-factor authentication steps. 4. After you authenticate, you will be asked to open a link in the Zoom application to complete your login to the Zoom client Note: You should not have to repeat this process on that computer if you stay signed into the app. So for subsequent meetings, you would just need the meeting ID or link and any meeting password.

Other Best Practices: When joining a zoom room, mute your microphone so that you don’t cause noise or feedback in the session. If you have a question/comment, you can either type it into the chat or you can use the “Raise hand” feature to signal to your instructor that you wish to speak, wait to be acknowledged, and then unmute your microphone. Be sure to mute again when finished. It is also recommended that you use earphone/earbuds on a webinar call to help reduce feedback and echo. Tip: the person causing echo in a call will usually not hear the echo themselves. Bandwidth Issues: Students who experience connectivity issues related to internet bandwidth can try the following: • Check for bandwidth usage - chances are you’re not the only one using the internet at your location. Check to see if anyone else is streaming videos and, if they are, ask if they could stop until your class is over. • Dial in from a phone - usually the most important piece of a remote class is what is being spoken. Lecture slides don’t change that often. So if you aren’t getting consistent audio, try dialing in by telephone using the “Switch to Phone Audio” option that is found under audio settings (the arrow to the right of the microphone icon on the

8

desktop client). Then be sure to mute your phone either from the handset or in the Zoom client. • Turn off your video - this saves a little bandwidth, but make sure you check with your instructor to see if video is required for attendance. If you need to disable video, at least upload a profile picture so that your face is still visible when your video is off. • Ask about the recording - some instructors will post links to class recordings in Blackboard while others may only distribute those links to students with a valid reason for missing class (e.g. substantial shift in time zone). If you were present but experienced internet issues, consider asking your instructor for the recording link so you can review the portion affected. Live Zoom support is available from within the Zoom app. Support is also available via Drexel’s 24/7 Student Support at 215-895-1224 (or for business courses only by contacting LeBow Tech at [email protected] or 215-895-2113).

9

(Tentative) Course Calendar Class Date Topic 1 Wed, Jan 13 National income accounting Mon, Jan 18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (no class) 2 Wed, Jan 20 Real GDP, inflation, and measuring economic performance over time 3 Mon, Jan 25 Why are some country richer than others? | PS 1 due 4 Wed, Jan 27 Why do economies grow? 5 Mon, Feb 1 The Solow Model Unleashed 6 Wed, Feb 3 Labor demand, labor supply, and labor market equilibrium | PS 2 due 7 Mon, Feb 8 Labor market frictions and unemployment 8 Wed, Feb 10 Understanding the steady path of consumption 9 Mon, Feb 15 The power of consumption smoothing 10 Wed, Feb 17 Midterm Review | PS 3 due 11 Mon, Feb 22 Midterm 12 Wed, Feb 24 Investment and aggregate demand 13 Mon, Mar 1 Business cycles and the IS-MP / AS-AD framework 14 Wed, Mar 3 The IS-MP / AS-AD framework in action | PS 4 due 15 Mon, Mar 8 The Great Recession and the Great Stimulus 16 Wed, Mar 10 The Federal Reserve and conventional monetary policy 17 TBD Final Exam Review | PS 5 due Mon, Mar 15 – Sat, Mar 20: Final exam (as scheduled by University)

10...