Section E

What is Macroeconomics?

Course Goals and Outline

Teaching Assistants

Course Materials

Student Evaluation and Assignment Information

Previous Years' Assignments, Midterms and Finals

Discussion Board

Links to Other Useful Sites

What is Macroeconomics?

Macroeconomics is the study of the structure and performance of national economies and of the policies that governments use to try to affect economic performance.

Macroeconomics arose as a field of economics because traditional economic analysis could not explain the protracted period of high unemployment during the Great Depression. Macroeconomic theory grows out of the desire to put a large number of market activities into simple aggregated frameworks which can be used to examine important empirical issues. Thus macroeconomics is also an applied subject. We'll study detailed applications alongside the theory. And we'll be asking and answering questions such as: What effect do changes in world oil prices have on the economy? What determines interest rates? Does Canada have a 'twin deficit' problem? Why has productivity growth slowed down during the past twenty years? Are business cycles made in Canada? What are the problems with fixed exchange rates? Can macroeconomic policy combat both inflation and unemployment? How does the Bank of Canada influence the economy? Is government debt a burden for future generations?

• To acquire an understanding of the terminology used in discussing national economic issues.
• To acquire some understanding of economic modeling.
• To appreciate the predictions of models in response to shocks.
• To understand the implications of various policies of the Federal government and the Bank of Canada.
• To understand the implications of the world economy on the Canadian economy.
• To research and understand the empirical structure of the Canadian economy.
• To research current economic trends in Canada.

Course Outline:

Topic	Chapter	Week	Comments
What is Macroeconomics?	1	1
Measurement and Accounting	2	1-2	Assignment 1 due Feb. 3 in class
Productivity, Employment, and Growth	3, 6.1 (8.5)	2-3
Savings and Investment	4, 8	4	Assignment 2 due Feb. 17 in class
Current Account	5	5
Money and Inflation	7	6	Midterm: March 2
Business Cycles	9	7
IS-LM-AD-AS Model	10, 13.3	8	Assigment 3 due March 16 in class
Exchange Rates and Macroeconomic Policy	11	9
Unemployment and Inflation	14	10	Assignment 4 due March 30 in class
Monetary Policy and the Bank of Canada	15	11
Fiscal Policy, Deficits, and Debt	16.1-16.3	12

Teaching Assistants:

Several teaching assistants are available throughout the term to help you learn the course material and understand the assignments. They have office hours scheduled at various times during the week when you can drop by to ask questions or talk about the course. Look below to find out how to get in touch with a particular t.a.

The coordinating t.a. for all sections of this course is Stefan Dodds.
Please contact him by either e-mail or telephone for any specific inquiries about ECON-222.

Stefan Dodds

Phone: 533-6000, extension 75540

Office hours: Fridays, 12:00noon-2:00pm.

E-mail: doddss@qed.econ.queensu.ca

There are two other teaching assistants to help you as well. They are:

Marwan Chacra

Phone: 533-6000, extension 74099

Office hours: Mondays, 3:00-5:00pm

E-mail: charcam@qed.econ.queensu.ca

Yasir Syed

Phone: 533-6000, extension 74454

Office hours: Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00pm

E-mail: syedy@qed.econ.queensu.ca

Course Materials:

The TEXTBOOK for this course is Macroeconomics: Second Canadian Edition by Abel, Bernanke and Smith (Don Mills: Addison-Wesley, 1999). This book may be purchased in the campus bookstore. To go to the informative homepage for the second edition, click HERE.

Another important resource, a set of LECTURE NOTES, is available from the AMS copy center for approximately $10. (An INCOMPLETE set of notes is also available in PDF file format HERE. Note: You will require an Acrobat Reader to read them). Proper use of this resource will allow you to minimize unnecessary note-taking during lectures.

A set of ANSWERS TO TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS for Economics 222 is available to copy at the AMS copy center. It is listed as a "course reserve". These answers are not bound together as a course package. Instead, you will have to photocopy all or part of them yourselves.

Finally, a set of SLIDES is available, based on the lectures for Section D. You can download them below in PDF file format . . .
[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 11]
. . . or in Power Point Format:
[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9]
[Chapter 11]

Student Evaluation and Assignment Information:

Each section has the following grading scheme:

All assignments must be submitted either in class or using the ASSIGNMENT BOX located on the third floor of Dunning Hall at the top of the circular stairwell. Assignments that are late will be marked without penalty if handed into the assignment box before 4:00pm on the day AFTER the official due date.

Assignment answers will be posted on this site immediately after this time. Once answers are posted, no more assignments will be accepted.

Choose below for the assignment or answer guide you seek (in PDF file format):

This site also contains a bank of old assignments, midterms, and finals . Most of these come with answers attached. To visit this treasure trove, click HERE .

Discussion Board:

This year, Econ222 has its own discussion board online! If you have a question about the material or course requirements, or something else course-related that you want to discuss, you can do so in a public forum. (Each topic under discussion has a separate link, so we can "compartmentalize" our chats.) Instructors and TAs will help answer questions you might have. If you want to direct a message to a particular person, but still want your remarks to be public, please say so in your posting. You will want to check the board frequently for notices about the course from the instructors.

Remember, this is a public forum, so anything you put on the board is there for all to see. Please be responsible with this resource: inappropriate comments will not be tolerated.

That being said, have fun! To visit the discussion board now, click HERE.

For further assistance, or feedback on this page, please contact Stefan Dodds at doddss@qed.econ.queensu.ca.
This site was last modified on March 31, 2000.