Econ 302: Intermediate Macroeconomics

Fall 2018

Course Objective:

  • The objective of this course is to help you develop the tools and skills for you to create your own opinions about macroeconomic policies. A key tool in doing this is to gather and analyze macroeconomic data, and this will be a central focus of this course. Importantly your analysis of the data may differ from my own and that of your classmates. Economists have no unified stance on the “best” policy in any given situation. Instead there are many different views derived from different objective functions and different beliefs about how the macroeconomy functions. The goal of this course is to provide you the tools to gather and analyze macroeconomic data and exposure to some of the different theories to which the data are applied to create expected outcomes.
  • From a practical standpoint the purpose of this course is to prepare students to be able to complete the Fed Challenge. At the end of the course students are expected to provide:
    • “An analysis of current economic conditions; these conditions may include broad macroeconomic conditions as well as conditions experienced in different geographic areas, in urban/rural areas, or among different demographic and socioeconomic groups (e.g., racial and ethnic groups, age groups), borrowers and savers, etc.
    • A forecast of near-term economic and financial conditions relevant to the formulation of monetary policy
    • A discussion of significant risks to the economy that should receive special attention in formulating monetary policy; these risks may include the possible effects (positive or negative) of monetary policies on different segments of the population
    • A monetary policy recommendation, encompassing both traditional tools and newer approaches as warranted; presenters should give supporting reasons for their recommendation”
    • These four components will be presented in the form of a final paper (either group or individual as decided by the class [everyone will do one or the other]).
    • A final exam will replicate the question and answer portion of the Fed Challenge. Students will individually answer questions provided at the time of the test that are similar in nature to those used in previous Fed Challenge.
    • Throughout the semester there will be smaller projects, assignments, presentations and short papers that will help you build your skills in preparation for the final project.