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Syllabus
Econ 202: Macroeconomic Principles
Instructor: Matias Zelikowicz
Class: M/W 10:00 – 11:45
Fall 2012
Towson University
Course Introduction
This is an introductory level course on macroeconomics, theory and policy. We will
focus on the basic laws of supply and demand, structure and measurement of macro
aggregates, the tools of macro policy, the institutions and agencies that promulgate and
implement such policies, and we will explore how the foreign exchange and global
capital markets function. Along the way, issues of inflation and deflation, unemployment
and labor markets, saving and investment, the balance of payments, economic growth,
sovereign debt and financial crises will also be discussed.
Course Materials
 Required: Michael Parkin Macroeconomics, 10th
Edition, 2010. Published by
Pearson Addison and Wesley (Hereafter referred to as Parkin.)
 Strongly Recommended: A subscription to The Economist magazine.
Learning objectives: At the end of the course, a successful student will be able to:
 Download, read, manipulate, analyze, and present macro statistics in order to
support or oppose a policy action;
 Construct data indices and deflate series for inflation;
 Calculate growth rates of various macro phenomena;
 Gain a clear working knowledge of the economic tools of monetary and fiscal
policy, the institutions that utilize them, and how they can affect the short term
fluctuations in the economy;
 Understand how global capital market enable savings to shift from low- to high-
return investments, and how exchange rate and interest rate changes interact in
these markets;
 Synthesize information on past global financial crises to clarify the current debate
over regulation in these fast-moving markets; and,
 Be able to reason intelligently about current macro policy issues as they are being
debated.

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Some very useful websites to visit:
 World Bank Databank. http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do
 IMF Data Mapper. http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
 Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://bea.gov/index.htm) and Flow of Funds
accounts from the Federal Reserve:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/data.htm
 All of the Federal Reserve Banks have websites with research papers. The
general search screen for all of the regional Fed banks is: http://www.phil.frb.org
FRB of St. Louis: http://research.stlouisfed.org/index.html
FRB of New York: http://www.ny.frb.org/
Course Requirements: Macro, like all economics, is best learned by doing. That means
reading articles, synthesizing the contrasting arguments into a more coherent whole, and
playing with models and data to shed light on the behavior of the economy and its
aggregates. I believe strongly in teaching you to write clearly and well, to manipulate
simple economic calculations and understand what you’re doing, and to make clear,
informed presentations based on your economic analysis. To that end, my assignments
have research and writing, oral presentations, and economic analysis.
 Current Event Reports: For this assignment, you are to read a current article1
on a
macro topic of interest, prepare a written summary and analysis of the macro
concepts in the article, and present it in class. This report should be no more than
1-3 double-spaced pages and you must attach a copy of your article with your
report when you hand it in on the day of your presentation (this should last for
only 10-12 minutes.) CERs are to be delivered at the beginning of class on your
due date, and each report is worth 15% of your grade.
 Problem Sets: You will be assigned TWO problem sets, consisting of short
answer questions, quantitative problems, and some research questions. Your
answers must be neatly typed on clean 8.5x11” paper, and they are due on specific
due dates. No late submissions are accepted. Cumulatively, the problem sets
are worth 40% of your grade.
 Exams: There will be one in-class midterm exam, and one take home final exam.
The midterm will be held on, October 1, 2012. The midterm is worth 20% of
your grade, and the final exam will be worth 25% of your grade.
 Class participation: Regular attendance, active and thoughtful participation in
class discussions, and enthusiasm are expected in class, and will enhance your
chances of earning a higher grade.
Grading Policy
All of your assignments will be graded carefully, however, I realize that grading mistakes
are occasionally made. I will re-grade your work if you submit your request in writing,
explaining why you feel you deserve a re-grade, and attach your original submission. I
do not discuss grades. (Re-grades must be requested within one week of receiving your
1
Articles are to be drawn from reputable, published periodicals (in English). These include The Economist,
The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, etc. Check with me if you’re unsure
about your article or source.

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graded assignment, and the original assignment must be attached.) I will respond in
writing, and I reserve the right to re-grade the entire assignment. You must follow this
policy for your work to be reconsidered.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense that can result in a failing grade on the
submitted assignment, an F in the course. Plagiarism includes paraphrasing (even a
sentence or a phrase) or cutting and pasting directly from another person’s writing
without proper citation. You MUST cite the author and source correctly, using footnotes
or endnotes and quotation marks to clearly distinguish between your words and those of
another author. Always give credit where credit is due, and NEVER cut and paste from
an article without using quotation marks and citing the source in a footnote.
I encourage you to work with each other, since you can learn more by discussing
concepts and ideas than by just studying on your own. HOWEVER, when it’s time to
write your assignments, you MUST do your own work
Course Schedule
The following is a list of assigned readings and the tentative dates on which I expect to
cover them. Please note that I expect everyone to do all of the readings, and to bring their
personal computers to every class meeting (if you do not have a personal computer do not
worry talk to me and we will solve it).
9/3: Week 1: Brief Introduction to Twentieth Century History of Economic Thought,
“The Great Recession” and Basic Concepts
 Video: The Commanding Heights. Episode 1, Chapters 2, 3,4 “Hayek vs.
Keynes”, “Communism vs. Capitalism”, “Inflation vs. The People”
 IMF (2012) “Tracking the Global Recovery”(open the PDF)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2012/06/kose.htm
9/5:
 Parkin, Chapter 1, “What is Economics”
 Michael Bordo (2008) “A Historical Perspective on the Crisis of 2007-2008”
Central Bank of Chile. http://www.nber.org/papers/w14569.pdf
 Introduction to the World Bank Databank
9/10: Week 2: Measuring Macroeconomic Aggregates, PPF, Opportunity Cost
 Nominal GDP, Real GDP vs. GNP, GDP Deflator.
 Percentage change, CAGR (Compounded or Average Annual Growth Rate)
 Parkin, Chapter 5 “Measuring GDP and Economic Growth”.
9/12
 Parkin, Chapter 2 “The Economic Problem”(only pages 31-39)
 Video: Dateline’s “China’s Ghost Cities and Malls”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPILhiTJv7E

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9/17* No class
 Watch the CNBC documentary “House of Cards”
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1145392808
 Watch PBS documentary “Inside the Meltdown”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meltdown/view/
 Parkin, Chapter 3 “Demand and Supply”
9/19: Week 3
 Parkin, Chapter 3 “Demand and Supply”
9/24 Week 4
 Parkin, Chapter 4 “A First look at Macroeconomics”
9/26
 Parkin, Chapter 5 “Monitoring Cycles, Jobs, and the Price Level”
 James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation “Technology Explains Drop in
Manufacturing Jobs”. http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2010/pdf/bg2476.pdf
 Michael Elsby, B. Hobijn, and A. Sahin (2010), “The Labor Market in the Great
Recession,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper 2010-07,
March. http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/papers/2010/wp10-
07bk.pdf
 Carl Walsh (2004), “The Productivity and Jobs Connection: The Long and the
Short run of It,” FRBSF Economic Letter, 16 July 2004 (18).
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2004/el2004-18.pdf
10/1
 Assignment #1 is due at the beginning of class. Please bring a hard copy of
your Word document with your answers to class.
 Review for the Mid-Term Exam
Midterm Exam: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 (in class)

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10/8 and 10/10
 Parkin, Chapter 6 “Economic Growth”
 Radlet, Linddauer, Chapter 3 Economics of Development “Concepts and
Patterns” and Chapter 4 Theories of Economic Growth” (pages ?) on Blackboard
 Xavier Sala-i-Martin “Sources of Growth”
http://www.jvi.org/uploads/tx_abaeasydownloads/Sources%20of%20Growth.PDF
 Hal Cole, et. al. (2004), “Latin America in the Rearview Mirror,” NBER WP
11008, December.
 Philippe Aghion, Diego Comin, Peter Howitt, and Isabel Tecu (2009), “When
Does Domestic Saving Matter for Economic Growth?” NBER WP 12275, revised
January.
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/aghion/files/When%20Does%20Dome
stic%20Saving%20Matter.pdf
 B. Bosworth and S. Collins (2008), “Accounting for Growth: Comparing China
and India,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(1), Winter, p. 45-66.
 M. McMillan and D. Rodrik (2011), “Globalization, Structural Change, and
Productivity Growth,” NBER WP#17143, June.
 G. Bekaert, C. Harvey, and C. Lundblad (2009), “Financial Openness and
Productivity,” NBER WP #14843, April.
10/15
 Current Event Report Group Presentations
10/17
 Current Event Report Group Presentations continue
10/22
Poverty and Inequality
Radlet, Linddauer, Chapter 6 Economics of Development “Poverty and Inequality”
(Blackboard)
Video: Margaret Thatcher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHA7YXsu110
 Assignment # 2 will be distributed
10/24
Parkin, Chapter 7
Video: Commanding Heights Episode Three: “Capital Mobility and Financial Crisis”

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10/29
Parkin, Chapter 7
 Assignment # 2 will be due at the beginning of class
10/31
Parkin, Chapter 8
11/5
No Class -Please read Chapter 10
11/7
Parkin, Chapter 10 AD-AS
11/12
Parkin, Chapter 10 AD-AS
11/14
Parkin, Chapter 10 AD-AS Macroeconomic Equilibrium (Stagflation, Inflation,
Recession)
Parkin, Chapter 11
Parkin, Chapter 12
11/19
Parkin, Chapter 13 Fiscal Policy
11/21
Parkin, Chapter 9 Exchange Rates and the Trade Deficit
D/Y Debate
11/26
No Class-Holiday
11/28
Parkin, Chapter 14 Monetary Policy
Closing remarks, and take home final exam will be distributed
Take home final exam is due on December 1st
at 12 am (you must email it to me).