ECO 2142A Course outline May/June 2015

MACROECONOMIC THEORY I
ECO2142 A
SERGE COULOMBE
SPRING 2015
COURSE OUTLINE
Professor - Serge Coulombe
Department of Economics
University of Ottawa
Office: FSS, 120 University, room 9033
 (613) 562 5800 Ext. 1689
Web site: http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~scoulomb/
 [email protected]
Office Hours – Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 3PM
Description:
This course presents basic modern macroeconomic theory. The student will learn some models,
techniques and analytical tools that will help him understand the contemporary macroeconomic
context including the financial crisis of 2008 and the macroeconomic policy responses. The
topics that will be covered in this course include the IS-LM model, the labour market, the
aggregate demand and aggregate supply, the Phillips curve, inflation and an introduction to
international macroeconomic analysis.
Textbooks:
Macroeconomics 5th Canadian Edition, N. Gregory Mankiw, and William Scarth, Worth
Publishers, Macmillan education New York 2014
The companion website for Quizzes and games is:
http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/mankiw8/default.asp#t_796152____
Evaluation:
Two midterms and one cumulative final - the final grade will be the best of the results from the
following two methods:
A) Best midterm exam 30% , weakest midterm Exam 20%, final exam 50%
B) Best midterm 30 %, final exam 70 %
A student can miss one of the two midterms without medical certificate. The only acceptable
excuses for missing another exam are illness/injury, severe illness/injury/death in the family or
jury duty. Third-party evidence will be required. For example, medical certificates will have to
be validated by the University of Ottawa Health Service on the 3rd Floor of 100 Marie-Curie.
Academic Fraud
Academic fraud is neither accepted nor tolerated by the University. Anyone found guilty of
academic fraud is liable to severe academic sanctions. For more information, students can refer
to http://www.uottawa.ca/academic-regulations/academic-fraud.html .
Course outline
1. Introduction to macroeconomics
Gross Domestic Product, Consumer Price Index, unemployment rate
(Chapters 1 and 2)
2. The classical model
(Chapter 3)
3. Money and inflation
The Quantity theory of money, the real and the nominal interest rates
(Chapter 4)
4. Output fluctuations
4.1 Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
(Chapter 9)
4.2 The Keynesian Cross
First exam after section 10.1 up to page 327 on May 20st
4.3 The IS-LM model
4.4 Fiscal and monetary policy
Macroeconomic Theory I (ECO2142 A)
Page 2 out of 3
4.5 The liquidity trap and the great recession (post 2008)
(Chapter 10 and 11)
5. The open economy
(Chapter 5 and 12)
Second exam June 13 Chapters 10, 11, 5, and 12
6. Unemployment rate and the Phillips Curve
(Chapters 6 and 13)
7. Government Debt and Budget Deficits
(Chapter 16)
Macroeconomic Theory I (ECO2142 A)
Page 3 out of 3