Economics
304: Intermediate Macroeconomics
Fall 2007
Reed College -- Professor Jeffrey
Parker
Course
Outline and Reading List
Note: Dates shown below
are a rational forecast of our progress in the course. Depending on our actual
progress, exams and assignment dues dates may change.
Additional readings
will be added as the course progresses. Be sure to check the Web site regularly
in order to keep up with any changes; don't just print this page at the beginning
of the course and rely on that for the entire semester.
Course
Outline (Links)
1. Introduction
to macro; measurement of macro variables
2. The basic IS/LM
framework
3. Macroeconomics of the labor market
4.
Aggregate supply/demand and the Phillips curve
Mid-Term
Exam #1
5.
Economic growth
6. Expectations and the macroeconomy
Mid-Term
Exam #2
7.
Open-economy macroeconomics
8. Macroeconomic pathologies
9.
Macroeconomic policies
Final
Exam
1.
Introduction to Macro; Measurement of Macro Variables
August
27: Introduction. No reading assigned.
August 29 and 31: Macroeconomic
variables
August 31: Homework
#1 due
2.
The Basic IS/LM Framework
September 5: The Keynesian Cross
- Blanchard,
Chapter 3.
- Keynes, John Maynard, The General Theory of Employment,
Interest and Money, (Original edition 1936), Chapter 10.
September
7 and 10: The Monetary System
- Blanchard, Chapter 4.
- Teles,
Pedro, and Ruilin Zhou, "A
Stable Money Demand: Looking for the Right Monetary Aggregate," Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago Economic Perspectives 29 (1), 50-63, First Quarter
2005. (On the instability in the money-demand function.)
- O'Brien, Yueh-Yun
C, "Measurement
of Monetary Aggregates across Countries," Washington, D.C.: Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Finance and Economics Discussion Series,
No. 2007-2, November 2006. (Look at this to get an idea of how money is measured
in many countries.)
September 7: Homework
#2 due
September 12 and 14: IS/LM Equilibrium
September 14: Homework #3 due
3.
Macroeconomics of the Labor Market
September 17, 19, and
21: The Aggregate Labor Market and Natural Unemployment
- Blanchard,
Chapter 6.
- Ritter, Joseph A., and Lowell J. Taylor, "Economic
Models of Employee Motivation," Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review
79:5, September/October 1997, 3-21.
- Rocheteau, Guillaume, "Understanding
Unemployment," Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Economic Commentary,
October 15, 2006.
- Nickell, Stephen, Luca Nunziata, and Wolfgang Ochel,
"Unemployment
in the OECD since the 1960s: What Do We Know?" Economic Journal 115
(500), January 2005,1-27.
September 21:
Homework #4 due
4.
Aggregate Supply and Demand and the Phillips Curve
September
24 and 26: Aggregate Supply and Demand
September
28: The Phillips Curve
- Blanchard, Chapter 8.
- Phillips,
A.W., "The
Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the
United Kingdom, 1961-1957," Economica 15(99), August 1958, 283-299.
- Friedman, Milton, "The
Role of Monetary Policy," American Economic Review 58(1), March
1968, 1-17.
September 28: Homework #5 due
October
1: Applying the Model
October
3: Mid-Term Exam #1
5.
Economic Growth
October 5: Growth Basics
October 8, 10,
and 12: Solow Growth Model
- Blanchard, Chapters 11 and 12.
- Abramovitz,
Moses, "Catching
Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," Journal of Economic History
46(2), June 1986, 385-406.
- Parker, Jeffrey, Economics
314 Coursebook, 2007, Ch. 5, pages 17-45.
October
12: Homework #6 due
October 22: Growth and the Macro Model
6.
Expectations and the Macroeconomy
October 24: Expectations in
Macroeconomics
October
26: Homework #7 due
October 26 and 29: Financial Markets
October 31 and November 2: Consumption and Investment
November 2: Homework #8 due
November
5: Expectations and Macroeconomic Policy
November
7: Mid-Term Exam #2
7.
Open-Economy Macroeconomics
November 9 and 12: Trade and the
Macroeconomy
- Blanchard, Chapters 18 and 19.
November
12: Draft outline of research proposal due
November 14: International
Financial Markets
November
16 and 19: Floating and Fixed Exchange Rates
November 16: Homework #9 due
8.
Macroeconomic Pathologies
November 21: Depressions
November 26: Inflation and Hyperinflation
- Blanchard,
Chapter 23.
- Sargent, Thomas J., "The Ends of Four Big Inflations,"
in Inflation: Causes and Effects, ed. by R. E. Hall, (Chicago: National
Bureau of Economic Research and University of Chicago Press, 1982).
9.
Macroeconomic Policy
November 28 and 30: Rules vs. Discretion
November 30: Homework #10 due
December
3 : Monetary Policy
December
5: Fiscal Policy
- Blanchard, Chapters 26 and 27.
December
5: Final draft of research proposal due
Final
Exam: Tuesday, December 11, 1-5pm