Fall 2007 Syllabus - Macroeconomics

Nassau Community College
Department of Economics and Finance

Course Outline: Economics 207: Principles of Macroeconomics, 2007– 2008

Required Text: “Economics Today – The Macro View” 14th Edition.
Roger LeRoy Miller; Pearson Education 2008.

Optional Texts: Other articles that I will incorporate into the class will either be provided by me or available free online.


Instructor: Matthew Festa, MA E-mail: M.fest19@gmail.com
Telephone: (cell) 516-987-0299 Dept: 516-572-7181
Office: None Office Hours: by request

Part I: What is this course about?

Catalog Description: This is an introductory course which views behavior of the economy as a whole and the problems of economic organization. Students will explore the fluctuations of output and prices. Problems and measurement of economic growth, inflation and unemployment as income will be discussed. Money, credit and financial institutions will be analyzed, as well as their impact on fiscal policies and international trade

Online resource: This semester I will try and incorporate the internet into the class. I found last semester that lots of quizzes, articles and even this very syllabus went missing for mysterious reasons that defy explanation. Therefore, I will try and get around that problem by posting most take home quizzes, class outlines, article, the syllabus and the course outline online on my blog. You can access this material here: http://increasing-returns.blogspot.com/ On the right hand side are the links to all important documents so you do not have to search for them.

II Grades

30% exams (2 tests)
30% Final
30% Quizzes
10% class Participation

I will be giving 2 tests, the dates of which I will determine as the course progresses. Individually each midterm will be worth 15% of your grade. A final, given at the end of the term, will be 30% of your grade. I will be giving a take-home quiz/homework assignment once a week that you can take from the comfort of your home. Each quiz is 10 points. To get your quiz score you simply divide your points by the total possible quiz points. However, since quizzes can be annoying, I will do the following. I will allow each student the option of substituting his or her quiz average for their lowest midterm grade (note: this option is not available for the final exam). As you will soon learn, incentives matter, and this should provide you with enough of an incentive to take these quizzes seriously. It also gives you a bit of a leeway if a bad day occurs on one of the midterms. No Makeup exams will be given unless there is an extraordinary circumstance. If you believe you qualify please contact me immediately.

So what about class Participation? I am basing your class participation grade mainly on your attendance and your participation in class (i.e. questions are good, sleeping is not). I will allow up to 3 absences without penalizing your class participation grade. This should allow you room in the event that you cannot make any one class for whatever reason may arise.

Extra Credit: As a student I always loved extra credit opportunities and I believe they are a good learning tool. So here is how I will help you. If there is any article that you come across that is relevant to the class (either on your own or on the website) I want a 1-2 page analysis of what the article is saying and how it applies to what I have taught you. You can do up to 3 with each one worth 2 points (maximum 6 points).

Math Background: Economics is an empirical science and thus knowledge of mathematics is essential to success in the discipline. However, being that this is a principles class, I am going to restrict the math to the basics: so knowledge of arithmetic is required for this class. Calculators are permitted (as they will be when you get a job). You do not need to know advanced math, but I will ask you to do some arithmetic work on the quizzes and tests.

Withdrawal Policy – Department Policy for withdrawals is as follows: Students can withdraw from a course at any time up to and including the official withdrawal date of November 5th. After that date, students will only be given withdrawal for extraordinary reasons supported by appropriate documentation. This documentation will be copied and retained by me.

The “W” grade is only guaranteed to those students who officially withdraw from class and obtain the faculty member’s signature during the automatic withdrawal period. Most important, a grade of “W” cannot be granted to any student who takes the final examination.

Note: The “W” grade may possibly impact financial aid and Academic Standing