Economics 102 Fall 1997 Dennis Coates Office: Administration 808 Office Hours: MW 3:00-4:00 or by appointmentOffice Phone: 455-3243 Homepage: http://research.umbc.edu/~coates/index.htmlE-mail address: coates@umbc7.umbc.edu This course is intended to introduce the students to some basic macroeconomic concepts. Much of the focus will be on the ability of the federal government to manage the macro economy to sustain economic growth, insure against excessive inflation, and protect against joblessness. In short, the course will provide students with institutional knowledge and economic theory which will help the students better understand policy debates regarding the taxing and spending policies of the government and the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve. Because any policy action taken by the government or the Federal Reserve has political impacts, the students will also learn about the interaction of politics and policy formation. A typical class meeting will follow a lecture format, though students are encouraged to ask questions during and after the presentation of the material. The grade for the course will be determined based on two midterm examinations, worth 20% each, a comprehensive final, worth 40%, an undetermined number of pop quizzes worth 10%, and a journal worth 10%. The midterms are scheduled for Friday, October 10 and Friday, November 14. The final exam is on the scheduled date. Currently, the 9 o'clock section's final is Friday Dec. 19 at 8 a.m.; the 10 o'clock section's exam is Mon December 15 at 10:30. However, I am trying to get a common time arranged. The book review is due on Friday, December 8. The text book for the course is: Principles of Macroeconomics by Joseph Stiglitz. In addition, a subscription to The Wall Street Journal, or regular access to it, is required. Instructions for the journal You should select an article from The Wall Street Journal each week. Paste or otherwise affix it or a copy of it to a plain white sheet of paper. Include on the paper the day, date and page number on which your article was found. On a second page, type (double spaced) a one paragraph summary of the article. Bind the article and the summary together in a clear plastic report cover. At the end of the term your report cover should include one article for each of the weeks starting with the week ending Sept. 26 and ending with the week ending December 5. NOTE: Your articles must be on macroeconomic issues such as unemployment rates, inflation, fiscal policy, balance of payments, the national debt or the deficit. They may NOT be opinion pieces from the op-ed page, letters to the editor, or editorials. If in doubt, check with me first. Listserv Mailing List I have set up a listserv mailing list for use by econ 102 students. You can use it to ask me questions, to ask for help from other students in the class, or to organize study groups and so on. Since it is usually the case that several students have the same or similar questions, your question may already have been asked and answered. I will make sure that announcements of general interest are posted on the list. That way, if you miss class or are confused about something, like when an exam is or what material it will cover, that information will be available on the list. To subscribe to the list send an E-mail message to majordomo@lists.umbc.edu. The body of the message should read "subscribe econ102" (without the quotation marks). To unsubscribe, send a message reading "unsubscribe econ102". Approximate Semester Timetable Sep.3 - Sep. 17 Chapters 1 and 2 Sept. 19 - 26 Chapter 3 Sept. 29 - Oct. 6 Chapters 4 and 5 Oct. 8 - Oct. 13 Review, take, and return exam 1 Oct. 15 - Oct. 22 Chapters 6 and 7 Oct. 24- Oct. 31 Chapters 8, 9 and 10 Nov. 3 - Nov. 10 Chapters 11, 12, and 13 Nov. 12 - Nov. 17 Review, take, and return exam 2 Nov. 19 - Nov. 26 Chapters 14, 15, and 16 Dec. 1 - Dec. 10 Chapters 17, 18, and 19 Dec. 12 Review for final.