Econ 201 - Fall 2004 - Syllabus INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: MICROECONOMICS Professor Stephen Haynes Distance education: General Information. Online classes are offered for students who are
unable to attend regular classes (because of job commitments, distance
from Eugene, etc.) or who prefer the flexibility that an online class
adds to their schedule. The material covered in online economics classes
is similar to that in regular economics classes, and the exams are
similar in format and difficulty. Online classes require more discipline
by students than regular classes given the necessity of mastering the
material primarily from the textbook and related sources (both offline
and online). Thus, students should keep up with the readings in an
online class in a timely fashion and not simply "cram" the
last minute for exams. This is especially important since we will be
proceeding at about the same pace as regular principles classes. Exams for On-Campus Students. Students on campus will take all exams
in the Social Science Instructional Laboratory (SSIL) located in 445
McKenzie Hall. On-campus tests are given by appointment only. Before
scheduling an exam, you must complete "On-Line Test Taking Introduction" located
at the distance ed webpage -- http://distanceeducation.uoregon.edu/ --
after clicking on the light-blue button entitled "Take the On-Line
Test Taker Introduction." After completion of this introduction,
you will be given a Test-Taker Personal Identification number and password,
which will enable you to log on to the Test-Taker Home Page from the
distance ed webpage. From the Test-Taker Home Page, you can make appointments
to take tests, cancel appointments, see your test scores, change your
test-taker password, email me, and more. If you have further questions
about testing, contact de@ssil.uoregon.edu. Exams for Off-Campus Students. If you are taking
the course off campus, proceed to the distance ed webpage -- http://distanceeducation.uoregon.edu/
-- and click on the Off-Campus tab at the top of the page. Examine the
information on the subsequent pages. Note that prior to taking a test,
you must obtain a proctor and have the proctor approved by SSIL. To check
for approval, fill out the "remote site request form" on the
web page, and forward it to SSIL. SSIL will then notify you if your proposed
proctor is acceptable. You must obtain approval of the proctor by the
end of the first week of the term. If you have further questions on testing,
contact de@ssil.uoregon.edu. Blackboard. This course will use Blackboard for a variety of purposes.
Thus, you need to make sure that you can log on to Blackboard at http://blackboard.uoregon.edu,
following the instructions on the homepage of Blackboard. Your username
will be your computing center email account address (gladstone account
for students and darkwing account for GTFs), with the corresponding password
for that account. For example, if you have a gladstone account, your
username will be username@gladstone.uoregon.edu. If you have problems
logging in, make sure you can log on to your gladstone (or darkwing)
account, since you might have an old password. You can also check your "official" email
address in Duck Web. If you still have problems, contact the computing
center for assistance in 151 McKenzie. ECONOMICS 202 Prerequisite. The prerequisite for this course is Ec 201, Principles of Microeconomics, or the equivalent. Course Information. In this course, we will examine how key aggregate variables such as real economic activity, economic growth, unemployment, and inflation are determined. These variables will first be examined in the long run using Classical analysis, which assumes full employment through price flexibility. They will then be analyzed in the short run from a Keynesian point of view, which assumes relatively fixed prices. For both analyses, the possible effects on these variables of government macro policy -- in particular monetary and fiscal policy -- will be explored. We will conclude the course with an examination of several current issues in macroeconomic policy. Grading and Exams Deadlines. Three exams are required. The deadline for completing the "On-Line Test Taker Introduction" and the deadlines and weights for taking the exams are listed next. "On-Line Test-Taking Introduction" Deadline is
Saturday, April 3 Three Important Notes on Exam Deadlines. First, there will be no exceptions to these deadlines, and there are no makeup exams and no extra credit. You must take an exam by the deadline to receive credit for the exam. Second, exams may be taken prior to the exam deadline, and a reservation is required to take an exam. But do not wait until the last minute to schedule your exams; the class is likely to be full, and testing slots will fill up fast. Third, SSIL's webpage allows you to make appointments for exams two weeks in advance regardless of the deadlines given above. For example, if you log on April 14 to make an appointment for exam 1, SSIL will permit you to schedule the exam on, say, April 28. But note that April 28 is beyond the deadline for exam 1 (by one week), and that exam will not count! Do not interpret the dates given by the SSIL webpage as extensions of the exam deadlines -- they are not! Grading Procedures and Exam Coverage. I will grade on a curve, as is
normally appropriate for a large class, adjusted by class performance.
I will not formally compute a curve after Exams 1 and 2, but will provide
sufficient feedback so that students will know how well they are doing
relative to the class. Text, Other Learning Sources, and Practice Questions. In addition to the text, there are a number of excellent learning sources and sets of practice questions. This material is especially important to study for online courses. Some of the material is included in the Course Documents section of Blackboard, as noted next. 1. Text (required):
Microeconomics, Principles and Tools, by Arthur O'Sullivan and
Steven M. Sheffrin, Prentice Hall, Third Edition, 2003. Reading List from Textbook and Schedule of Exam Deadlines. For each chapter, all pages are assigned except the appendices. Note that, if you schedule an exam prior to the deadline date, you will have to accelerate your study of the material relative to the pace outlined next. For this reason, I have frontloaded the majority of readings to the first half of each of the three parts of the course. PART ONE: MACRO BASICS AND THE ECONOMY IN THE LONG
RUN PART TWO: ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS, FISCAL, & MONETARY
POLICY PART THREE: MACRO POLICY |
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