Introductory MacroeconomicsGwen Eudey's ClassesCourse Materials and InformationSpring 2008 |
Link to the Fall 2007 Course Materials Page |
Weekly Outlines and Assignments |
Textbook/Background Material
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Using the model: Current events and applications of the course material
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Quiz, Experiment, and Exam Dates |
Week 11/14-1/18 FYI:
No recitation this week No homework this week |
Eudey, Ch 1: An Introduction to Macro Eudey, Ch 2: Macro Data--price indices Corrected Chapter 2 "boxes" for those of you with the first edition of the textbook
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The economy today (news analysis) This article summarizes some of the data and issues that will be the focus of discussion through the course: the data, the way economic events move through and affect the rest of the economy, and the uses and limitations of policy to try to keep the economy on an even keel.
The housing market crisis This article provides a nice summary of the housing market crisis and the impact it may have on the rest of the economy. I strongly recommend reading this one!
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Week 21/21-1/25 FYI No homework this week No class Monday |
Eudey, Ch 2: Macro Data--price and output indices
Additional Honors readings: Ch 2 Honors Appendix |
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Week 31/28-2/1 Ch 2 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday |
Eudey, Ch 3: Looking at Macro Data Eudey, Appendix to Ch 3: U.S. Employment Data
Additional Honors readings: Why business cycles are smaller
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Current Economic Data: You'll need these data in recitation this week so make sure to bring them along. (These are the same data we looked at in Wednesday's lecture, so no need to print it out if you already have it.) I don't expect you to memorize any pieces of data from these charts but I do expect you to learn to read them as well as to have a general understanding of the issues currently influencing the U.S. economy. |
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Week 42/4-2/8 *Note there are two aplia experiments this week FYI Ch 3 Blackboard homework due 9am Thursday |
Eudey, Ch 4: The production function and the market for labor Eudey, Appendix to Ch 4: The labor market model and the labor market data Additional Honors readings: Honors Appendix to Ch 4 TBA |
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Aplia Labor Supply ExperimentWednesday 2/6 at 8pmor on the makeup dateThursday 2/7 at 8pm
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Aplia Labor Market ExperimentWednesday 2/6 at 9pmor on the makeup dateThursday 2/7 at 9pm |
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Week 52/11-2/15 Ch 4 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday
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Eudey, Ch 4: The market for Capital Eudey, Ch 5: Economic Growth Eudey, Appendix to Ch 5: MFP data
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First QuizMonday, Feb 11in lecture(you must attend the lecture time to you which you are assigned; there are no quiz makeups) |
Week 62/18-2/22 FYI *Midterm Review held during each of Monday's lectures
No homework this week No recitation this week |
Eudey, Ch 6: The Business Cycle
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Week 72/25-2/29 FYI: Ch 5 Blackboard Homework due 9am Monday |
Eudey, Ch 7: Financial Markets Additional Honors readings: |
United Nations Millennium Development Goals Factsheet Why do economists expect per-capita growth levels to converge (e.g. why do economists expect countries with low standards of living to have faster GDP per-capita growth than the U.S.) Why might the UN focus on poverty rather than on GDP when setting these economic goals? Many of the UN goals relate to health issues: Use the international capital market graph to help illustrate how health affects poverty through its impact on the Investment Demand curve. (Of course this is a vicious circle because poverty also affects health). On the whole, and according to the UN data, is worldwide poverty rising or falling? What regions are doing relatively well and which relatively badly?
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First MakeupMonday Feb 256-7pm |
Week 83/3-3/7 Ch 7 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday (there is no Ch 6 assignment)
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Eudey, Ch 8: Exchange rates
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Saturday, March 9 article on the state of the economy The article makes reference to lots of the things we've seen in the course. Employment's only fallen for one quarter, but the article states that when employment falls for one quarter it often means that the economy has been contracting for longer than that. Why is that? . Note that when referring to dating of recessions by the NBER, the NBER usually avoids the use of the term recession in their official language. Nonetheless the date the NBER identifies as the point at which the economy enters contraction is widely accepted as the date the recession begins, and the date that the NBER identifies as one of recovery (expansion) is considered the semi-official date at which the recession has ended. You've seen data in lecture that "shades" the NBER recession dates defined in this manner (see for example the FYI data from week 1 posted on this course materials page). |
Second QuizMonday Mar 3in lecture(you must attend the lecture time to you which you are assigned; there are no quiz makeups) |
Spring Break3/10-3/14 |
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Financial Market panic: A credit-crunch scenario This is an example of a credit-crunch: people won't lend to firms, and so that drives rates up and makes it so that firms also don't want to borrow from lenders (because costs are high). This is a leftward shift in domestic Savings curves in many industrialized economies and in the world market as well. |
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Week 93/17-3/21
*Midterm Review held during each of Monday's lectures Ch 8 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday
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What is the Big Mac Index and how is it a test of whether exchange markets are in equilibrium? What are some strengths and weaknesses of the Big Mac Index as a test of whether the U.S. dollar is in equilibrium in any exchange market? What factors might currently be causing under-valuation of the dollar in some markets? over-valuation in some markets? |
Second MidtermTuesday Mar 186-7pmExam Locations
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Week 103/24-3/28 Ch 9 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday |
Eudey, Ch 9: Household behavior Eudey, Ch 10: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply *Note: There is a typo on the bottom of page 104 in Chapter 10. It should read "AD = C + planned I + G + X - M" rather than "+ M" Article on the Current Financial Market Crisis (posted 3/20/08)
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Housing Price and Consumer Confidence Fall Again (March 25) How might a further reduction in house prices worsen the "credit crunch" in financial markets? (Hint: you should consider the links discussed in the "Article on the Current Financial Market Crisis posted 3/20/08 in the neighboring column.) How might that cause a recession? How might a worsening of financial conditions affect the size of the recession? (Hint: you should think about how credit constraints affect the size of business cycles.) How might a fall in confidence about current economic conditions affect Aggregate Demand? How does your answer depend on rationality and the long-term forcast?
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Second MakeupMonday Mar 246-7pm
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Week 113/31-4/4
Two Ch 11 Blackboard Homeworks due 9am Thursday (there is no Ch 10 assignment) |
Eudey, Ch. 11: The AD-AS model Eudey, Ch. 12: Fiscal Policy
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Which component of the Michigan Index is most relevent to forcasting Consumption spending if households are rational? rational with credit constraints? myopic? For each case, explain the likely change in Consumption implied by this report of the Michigan Index. |
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Week 124/7-4/11 FYI: Ch 12 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday |
Eudey, Ch. 13: Money Additional Honors reading: Do government deficits cause interest rates to rise?
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China, financial markets, and a U.S. recession (April 2008) Why might China's economic growth depend on its integration into international capital markets? Why might a "credit crunch" reduce the benefits from that integration? Practice graphing how a credit-crunch resulting from low returns to U.S. loans might affect the value of the Dollar with respect to the Yuan (Chinese currency) Practice graphing the impact of a U.S. recession on the Chinese goods and labor markets. For simplicity you should assume that China starts in a long-run equilibrium (though this is pretty clearly not a realistic assumption, all exam questions will start from that point).
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Week 134/14-4/18 FYI Article about Pork in the Housing Bill Ch 13-14 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday (both chapters are covered in one homework assignment)
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Eudey, Ch. 14: Money and Banking Eudey, Ch. 15: Monetary Policymaking in the U.S.
Additional Honors readings:
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The article argues that the housing crisis in the U.S. has caused a credit-crunch, which has caused mortgage interest rates to rise worldwide (you can practice graphing this effect!), which has caused housing demand to fall and for house prices to fall worldwide. We focus in this class on the gains from access to international financial markets but this is an example of how international linkages in financial markets can cause instability. |
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Week 14, 154/21-4/29 Ch 15 Blackboard Homework due 9am Thursday *Note there are two aplia experiments in Week 14. The makeup date for each experiment is on Monday of Week 15 (to accomodate students celebrating Passover) |
Constraints on the Effectiveness of Monetary Policy
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Aplia Fixed Prices ExperimentWednesday 4/23 at 8pmor on the makeup dateMonday 4/28 at 8pm |
Aplia Flexible Prices ExperimentWednesday 4/23 at 9pmor on the makeup dateMonday 4/28 at 9pm |
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Third QuizMonday April 28in lecture(you must attend the lecture time to you which you are assigned; there are no quiz makeups) |
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Week 16 no lecture or recitation |
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Final ExamWednesday May 76-7:30pm*note that date and time do not necessarily correspond to those for your lecture time slot
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Contact Information:Dr Gwen Eudey 506 McNeil 215.898.7676 eudey@econ.upenn.edu Office hours:Monday 2:15-3:30 Wednesday 11:15-12:45 Course SyllabusLink to BlackboardLink to Aplia (both the registration instructions and the course key are included in the course syllabus)Link to Document outlining Economics Department course policies |