Intermediate Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics is the "big picture" of the economy. Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole whereas microeconomics is about how individuals and firms make decisions. Since the economy affects all of us in different ways, it's important for everyone to know about macroeconomics. In this course we will develop and analyze macroeconomic models to understand how economies grow over the long-run, how the economy operates when resources are fully employed, why economic performance might deviate from its full-employment ideal in the short-run, and what policy-makers can do - if anything - to improve economic performance and human well-being. The level of the course goes beyond macro principles in terms of both breadth and depth.

Topics of the course will include (1) the measurement of output and prices, (2) determinants of economic growth, (3) business-cycle fluctuations, (4) fiscal policy, and (5) monetary economics. We will focus on the modern theories of the determination of the level and rate of growth of income, output, employment, and the price level. We will also discuss the implications of each theory on alternate fiscal and monetary policies seeking to facilitate full employment, economic growth and price stability. Since macroeconomics is an empirical discipline, you will become familiarized with the current macroeconomic data and its relevance. By the end of the course, you should have a solid grounding in the basic theoretical approaches used in macroeconomics as well as an understanding of the economic data that is commonly analyzed. Observations from the US economy and from a number of other economies will be used throughout the course.