Introduction to Macroeconomics New York University

(ECON-UA 1) Fall, 2018

Prof. Marc Lieberman Drop in office hours (no appointment needed):

Office: 19 W. 4th St., 8th floor, #803 Tues & Thurs, 3:45pm – 5:15pm
email: Marc.Lieberman@nyu.edu

In this course, we take an overall view of the economy, with an emphasis on the U.S. economy. We'll study
key economic variables: total production (GDP), economic growth, employment and the unemployment rate,
inflation, interest rates, the federal budget deficit, the national debt, and more. By the end of the course, you'll
learn why we care about these variables, how they are measured, what causes them to change, and what we
can and cannot do about those changes. Along the way, we'll also study some of the key economic institutions
in the U.S., such as banks and the Federal Reserve System.

COURSE HOME PAGE: Our course home page is on NYU Classes. That’s where you’ll find problem
sets, announcements and course materials.

LEARNING MATERIALS: There is no required textbook for this course. All of the material you’ll need to
learn is presented in lectures, online modules and problem sets, with further help provided in recitations.

PROBLEM SETS: There will be 10 or 11 problem sets assigned during the semester. These cover the more
technical and problem-solving skills you’ll need to master in this course. You’ll be answering selected
questions from those problem sets online, at our NYU Classes site, and these will count as part of your
average score in the course.

The deadlines for submitting the problem sets online will generally be Wednesdays at 11:30am (with some
exceptions). Once the deadline passes (even by one second), any answers not “submitted” are scored as zero,
and the system does not allow me to make exceptions. So set yourself an internal deadline a day or at least
several hours before the actual deadline.

PROBLEM SET SCORING: On each problem set, you’ll get an automatic 50% of the points for merely
answering all the questions with effort (i.e. not random guessing) and meeting the deadline. The remaining
50% of the points are awarded based on the percentage of correct answers. For example, if a problem set has
questions worth 50 points, and you get 30 points correct, your score will be 80% (30 points for the correct
answer plus 50 points for completion with effort). To account for occasional Internet problems, illness, or
emergencies, the two problem sets with the lowest percentage scores (including scores of zero) will not count.
Save these “freebies” for genuine emergencies, and plan to do all of the problem sets.

Further information about problem sets will be provided when the first one is posted.

MODULES: For most of the problem sets, relevant “learning modules” will be available on our NYU
Classes site. The modules either teach or review the necessary technical tools needed to complete the
problem set. They also include “learning checks” with sample problems, answers and explanations. While
the problem sets (see above) count as part of your grade, the learning checks in the modules are optional and
don’t count.

RECITATIONS: The recitations will provide further help answering the types of questions that appear on the
problem sets. They’ll be held most weeks, on Fridays and Mondays, starting Friday, Sept 14. (The Monday
recitation will always cover the same material as the preceding Friday recitation.)

Attendance at recitation is voluntary, but strongly recommended. You must register for one of the recitations
to get credit for this course, but you can attend any one of them, or different ones each week, regardless of
registration. Times and locations will be posted on NYU Classes site a few days before the first recitations.

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 EXAMS: There are two midterm exams and a final exam, each covering roughly one third of the course
material. If an illness or other emergency prevents you from taking a midterm exam, please be sure to check
what will happen (see the course FAQ sheet, emailed to you along with this syllabus and posted on NYU
Classes).

All exam questions are multiple choice, but that does not mean they’re easy. In many cases, in order to
choose the correct answer, you’ll have to think and/or do some calculations and/or sketch out graphs.
Exam questions are based entirely on what you’ve learned from class lectures and doing the problem sets.
See the FAQ sheet for more info about exam coverage.

COURSE GRADES: Your average score in this course is a weighted average as follows:

Problem Set Average 10%

Midterm Exam #1 30%
Midterm Exam #2 30%
Final Exam 30%

However, to help students who have just one bad exam, I will shift 10 percentage points of the weight from
everyone’s worst exam (midterm or final) to their second-best exam (midterm or final). This means your
worst exam will count only 20%, and your second best will count 40%.

For more information on course grades, including grade cutoffs, see the FAQ sheet.

Additional Note about Course Grades:

I know that grades are important to students, and I do my best to treat everyone fairly. That means the same
rules apply to everyone: The course grade is based solely on problem sets and exams. No extra credit, and no
special treatment of students who come to office hours or make themselves known in other ways.

GETTING HELP: If you don’t understand some course material, there are several ways to get help:

• If something I’ve said in the lecture is confusing, and you think other students may be confused as
well, feel free to ask a question in class. I will sometimes prefer to answer one-on-one after class,
but it doesn't hurt to ask.

• Come to my drop-in office hours (no appointment needed) to ask questions as long as you attended
the relevant lecture on that topic. If you can't make my regular office hours, email me with your
schedule and we'll work out an alternate time.

• Email your TA for an appointment. The TAs are especially recommended for issues relating to the
problem sets or the topics they’ve covered in recitations, but you can ask them about other course
material as well. (TA email addresses will be posted on our NYU classes site).

• If you need tutoring, go to the University Learning Center, which has free one-on-one and group
tutoring for this course. See their website at www.nyu.edu/ulc

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 COURSE OUTLINE

Approximate
Lecture Dates
(subject to change)
I. Preliminaries
Sept 4 Introduction to Economics and this Course

Sept 6 Supply and Demand

& Sept 11 (1st half)

II. Macroeconomic Aggregates

Sept 11 (2nd half) Unemployment
& Sept 13
Sept 18, 20 Gross Domestic Product

Sept 25, 27 The Price Level and Inflation

**Note: Midterm Exam #1 is Thurs, Oct 11

[Coverage: Sections I and II of course outline]

III. Macroeconomic Models

Oct 2, 4, 16, 18, 23 The Classical / Long Run Model and Economic Growth
Related material in textbook (optional): Ch. 8, Ch. 9
Oct 25, 30, Nov 1 The Short-run / Keynesian Model and Economic Fluctuations

IV. Macroeconomic Policy

Nov 6, 8, 13 Fiscal Policy

**Note: Midterm Exam #2 is Thurs, Nov 15

[Coverage: Section III of course outline plus some of Section IV, TBA]

Nov 20, 27, 29 Money, Banking and Monetary Policy

& Dec 4, 6, 11
**Note: Final Exam is Thursday, Dec 13 at 11am
[Coverage: Section IV of course outline, including parts of Fiscal Policy (TBA) that
were not tested on Midterm #2]

IMPORTANT DATES:

Wed, Sept 12 First graded (introductory) problem set due at 11:30am.

(check NYU Classes frequently for subsequent due dates)
Thurs, Oct 11 Midterm Exam #1
Thurs, Nov 15 Midterm Exam #2
Thurs, Dec 13 Final Exam (last day of lecture, during regular class time)

Fri, Dec 21, 8am: Makeup midterm exams for those who missed a midterm exam with permission
(This is when we were supposed to have our final exam, and it’s
the only date and time for makeup midterms)
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 Unpleasant but Important Course Policies
In large classes, just a few inconsiderate students can make it harder for others to learn. The following
policies are (unfortunately) needed to prevent this. If you continue to take this course, I assume you’ve read
and agreed to the following:

(1) LATENESS: You’re expected to arrive and have taken a seat by 11:00am. To make sure, plan to arrive
early. In the rare event that you DO arrive late (i.e., after the main door is closed), enter through the
back of the lecture hall (at the top of the stairs) and quickly and quietly find a seat. Your goal, when
you are late, is to be seen by as few students for as little time as possible, and not be noticed by me.
Don’t use the front door, and don’t walk around trying to find a friend. .

(2) TALKING: Try not to talk to other students during lecture, even if you're confused about something.
You'll just miss more of the lecture and get further confused, and you’ll also disturb other students. In
fact, if you want to do well in this course, I strongly recommend that you avoid sitting next to your friends.

(3) MAKING PREPARATIONS TO LEAVE: As we approach the end of class, don’t make preparations to
leave (e.g. closing your notebook, packing up your book bag, putting on your coat) until I announce that
lecture is over. This activity makes noise and distracts me and your fellow students.

(4) MISSING A LECTURE: I treat students as adults. That means (1) coming to lecture is up to you; but
(2) if you miss a lecture for any reason, you take responsibility for it as an adult. Specifically, when you
miss a lecture, you lose the right to ask me or the TA questions about the material covered in that lecture.
Instead, you'll have to ask another student to go through the lecture with you, step by step. (Just getting
someone’s notes is not enough.) If you have questions, and that student can’t answer, that student can
come to my office hours and ask on your behalf, then explain it to you. Be sure to get phone numbers /
email addresses from some other students now, so you’ll know whom to contact about lectures or in-class
announcements that you might miss.
Explanation for this policy (for those interested): At every lecture, more than a dozen students will be absent,
some for good reasons (e.g. illness or religious holidays) others because… well, just because. Before I had this
policy, those who missed lecture –even if they copied notes from other students – would clog up my office hours
asking for lengthy explanations they would not have needed if they had attended the lecture. In effect, these
students were requiring me to repeat the lecture for them personally. This took time away from students who did
attend and needed help.

(5) EXAM DATES:

Midterms: (See previous page for dates): If you already know you cannot take one of the midterm exams,
it would be best not to take this course. If you decide to take the course anyway even though you’ll miss a
midterm, be sure you (1) let me know in advance and (2) understand that you’ll have to take a different,
makeup midterm on Dec 21st at 8am (this is the official registrar date for our final exam, but we’re using it
only for makeup midterms). Do not book any non-refundable flights out of town until after you’ve taken
both midterms.
Final: The final exam is on Thursday, December 13, the last regular day of our class. If you know you
cannot take the final exam at that time, do not take this course. I’m unable to offer the final exam at any
other time.

On a more pleasant note…Feel free to drop by during my office hours to ask questions about lectures you’ve
attended, or any other reason. I genuinely want everyone to have a rewarding learning experience in this course.

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