This course is the go-faster and do-more version of intermediate macroeconomics. Two books are required:

• The draft of DeLong's intermediate macroeconomics textbook (which will be available from Copy Central, northside, and the first five chapters of which are available online at the links below) Why I wrote this textbook. McGraw-Hill's textbook website.
• The Economic Report of the President (available online at http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/).
• You might also browse, for recent economic data, the CEA-JEC Recent Economic Indicators.

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If you want to look at my own lecture notes, they are here...

August 27: Introduction: The Six Key Macroeconomic Variables (Chapter 1, Chapter 2)

Animations: U.S. Unemployment, 1960-Present

August 29: Thinking Like an Economist (Chapter 3): Problem Set 1 out.

• Animations: The Circular Flow of Economic Activity | The Circular Flow: The Expenditure Side | Flows: Incomes, Expenditures, Factors, and Goods

September 5: The Theory of Economic Growth I (Chapter 4): Problem Set 2 out. Problem Set 1 due (answers).

• Growth Theory Handout
• Growth Theory Primer: An Alternative Introduction to Chapter 4
• Online Math-Heavy Appendix to Chapter 4: How Fast Does the Economy Head Towards Its Steady-State Balanced-Growth Path?
• Animations: Technological Change | Convergence to the Steady-State | The Steady-State Capital-Output Ratio

September 10: The Theory of Economic Growth II (Chapter 4)

• Growth Theory: The Golden Rule

September 12: The Past of Economic Growth (Chapter 5): Problem Set 2 due (answers).

• A Model of Malthusian Economics

September 17: The Present and Future of Economic Growth (Chapter 5): Problem Set 3 out.

Animations: Long-Run American Growth

September 19: Building Blocks of the Flexible-Price Model (Chapter 6).

• Animations: The Consumption Function | Interest Rates and the Exchange Rate | The Magnitude of Exchange Rate Movements

September 24: Equilibrium in the Flexible-Price Model (Chapter 7): Problem Set 3 due (answers).

Flex-Price Primer: Using the Flexible-Price Model

September 26: Using the Flexible-Price Model (Chapter 7). Problem Set 4 out.

October 3: Prices and Inflation in the Flexible-Price Model (Chapter 8): Problem Set 4 due (answers). Problem Set 5 out.

October 8: Income and Expenditure in the Sticky-Price Model (Chapter 9).

Animations: Inventories and Equilibrium | Building Up the Income-Expenditure Diagram | The Income-Expenditure Diagram: Effects of an Investment Boom | The Income-Expenditure Diagram: Effects of a Collapse in Durables Spending | The Multiplier | Stepping Through the Multiplier | The Multiplier and the Marginal Propensity to Consume

October 10: Investment, Net Exports, and Equilibrium in the Sticky-Price Model (Chapter 10). Problem Set 5 due (answers).

• Dilemmas of Federal Reserve Policy, 2000: Responding to the Crash of the NASDAQ
• Dilemmas of Federal Reserve Policy, 1998: Reacting to Russia's Default and the Bankruptcy of LTCM
• Animations: The IS Curve: Effects of Different Kinds of Government Stimulus Policies | From Investment Demand to the IS Curve: High Interest Rates | From Investment Demand to the IS Curve: Low Interest Rates

October 15: Extending the Sticky-Price Model (Chapter 11): Mock Exam out.

Animations: Supply Shocks and Stagflation

October 17: Pre-Midterm Review: last year's midterm 1999 midterm

October 22: MIDTERM EXAM

October 24: The Phillips Curve and Expectations I (Chapter 12): Problem Set 6 out.

• Animations: What Is the Phillips Curve? | A Steep Phillips Curve | A Shallow Phillips Curve | Expected Inflation and the Natural Rate of Unemployment | U.S. Inflation, 1960-Present | The U.S. Phillips Curve, 1960-Present | The Monetary Policy Reaction Function | Easing Monetary Policy--Adaptive Expectations | Easing Monetary Policy--Rational Expectations

October 29: The Phillips Curve and Expectations II (Chapter 12)

October 31: Stabilization Policy Issues I (Chapter 13): Essay 1 assignment out. Problem Set 6 due (answers). Extra reading: 2001 Economic Report of the President, "Macroeconomic Policy and Performance" (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/), pp. 55-73.

• (Advanced Math-Heavy)Appendix to Chapter 13: Central Bank Credibility and Consistency: Analytics
• Animations: The Liquidity Trap | Loss of Central Bank Inflation-Fighting Credibility | Growth and Fluctuations, 1980-1998

November 5: Stabilization Policy Issues II (Chapter 13).

November 7: The Macroeconomics of Debts and Deficits (Chapter 14): Extra reading: 2001 Economic Report of the President (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/), pp. 74-93. Problem Set 7 out.

November 14: International Economic Policy I (Chapter 15). Extra reading: 2001 Economic Report of the President (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/), pp. 145-186.

• Argentina's Currency Board in Crisis

November 19: The Current Situation I: The "New Economy"?: Problem Set 7 due (answers).

November 21: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving): Essay 1 due.

November 26: The Current Situation II: The Current Recession in the United States: Essay 2 out. Extra reading: 2001 Economic Report of the President (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/), pp. 95-144.

November 28: The Current Situation III: The Outlook for the Rest of the World. Extra reading: 2001 Economic Report of the President (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/), pp. 187-224.

December 3: The Evolution of Macroeconomics and the Macroeconomy (Chapter 16). Mock Exam Out.

December 5: The Future of Macroeconomics and the Macroeconomy (Chapter 17; Epilogue).

December 10: Final Review. Exam-Time Solutions Guide: How to Solve Intermediate Macro Problems

December 12: Essay 2 due

December 15: 8-11 AM Final Exam. Leconte 2.

Course Requirements:

One midterm (October 22 each 25%), one final (December 15, 49%), seven problem sets (2% each, no late problem sets will be graded, problem sets due at the start of lecture on Wednesday), and two papers (6% each, 1200 word maximum) with bonus points for class participation and intelligence in section.

Course readings:

Draft textbook--available for purchase at Copy Central (northside).

Economic Report of the President (not yet available in the bookstore, but available online at http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/)

If you want another textbook as well, let me recommend two: Greg Mankiw's Macroeconomics (4th edition): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572596449/

And Olivier Blanchard's Macroeconomics (2nd edition): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/013013306X/

Course website:

This is it. This is http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Econ_101b_f2001/Econ_101b_f2001.html

Course philosophy:

This is the go-faster and do-more version of macroeconomics--the study of the determination of output, production, income, employment, and prices in the economy as a whole. As a group, the class will be made up of people comfortable using calculus, so I'll feel free to use it in lectures, handouts, and in problem sets (and on exams). If you aren't comfortable using calculus, you probably don't belong here and may well not have a good time...

Since you are also guinea pigs for my draft textbook-to-be, I am also going to be very concerned with issues of pedagogy: what ways of communicating the subject matter of this course are effective, and what ways are not effective?

Grading:

Almost everyone here could be taking Econ 100b instead--and get at least a B+, probably an A-, A, or A+. This will be taken into account in setting the curve for the class. I have no desire for anyone who could handle 101b to take 100b instead in the hope of getting a higher grade...

Midterm Format:

The first third of the midterm will be "police the readings" questions about national income accounting, and similar issues of economic measurement. The questions will be easy if you have read the book, and very difficult if you have not.

The rest of the exam will be made up of three problems. Two of them will be straightforward use-the-model problems like those on the homework. The third will have a twist...