This is an introductory course designed to provide basic concepts and analysis in macroeconomics, which studies the dynamics of aggregate economic activities. In the first half of the course, students will learn classical macroeconomic theories that cover various topics such as production of goods and services, international trade and exchange rates, inflation and unemployment, and fiscal and monetary policies. In the second half, we go a little deeper into dynamic macroeconomic analysis of economic fluctuations and economic growth. If time allows, we will discuss additional important topics on macroeconomics, such as government debts and financial crises.

Class participation 5%
Homework 15%
Midterm exam 30%
Final exam 50%

(Week 1) Introduction to macroeconomics (Ch.1 and Ch. 2)

(Week 2) Determination of the national income in the long run (Ch. 3)

(Week 3) Money, banking, and monetary policy in macroeconomics (Ch. 4)

(Week 4) Inflation and its social costs (Ch. 5)

(Week 5) Open economies and exchange rates (Ch. 6)

(Week 6) Labor market and unemployment (Ch. 7)

(Week 7) Capital accumulation and population growth (Ch. 8)

(Week 8) Mid-term exam

(Week 9) The Solow growth model and endogenous growth model (Ch. 9)

(Week 10) Economic fluctuation in the short run (Ch. 10)

(Week 11) Aggregate demand: introduction to the IS-LM model (Ch. 11)

(Week 12) Applications of the IS-LM model (Ch. 12)

(Week 13) The open economy revisited: the Mundell-Fleming model (Ch. 13)

(Week 14) The tradeoff between inflation and unemployment (Ch. 14)

(Week 15) Stabilization policies and financial crises (Ch. 16 & Ch. 18)

(Week 16) Final exam