SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Course Name:
Introduction to Macroeconomics
Course Code
& Section No: ECO 104, Sections 10

Semester: Summer 2024

INSTRUCTOR AND DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

1. Instructor Name: Dr. Amin Masud Ali
2. Office Room NAC 806
3. Office Hours: MW 10.40 am – 12 pm
4. Office Phone: 01720041767
5. Email Address: [email protected]
When emailing me, at the end of the message, include your full name and student ID#. The subject
should always read: “ECO 104” and a brief description of the topic(s) to be discussed in the main
body such as “appointment”, “missed class” etc.
6. Department: Economics
7. Important Links: Canvas: http://www.northsouth.edu/canvas/

COURSE INFORMATION
Class Time & Location MW 9.25 am-10.40 am at NAC402

Course Prerequisite(s) None

Course Credit Hours 3.0

Course Description The course introduces the principles of macroeconomic analysis, its analytical methods with current
institutional and empirical issues. It familiarizes students with basic macroeconomic concepts such
as prices and unemployment, nominal and real GDP, aggregate demand and aggregate supply. The
course covers topics such as Classical Macroeconomics and the Self-Regulating Economy;
Keynesian Macroeconomics and Economic Instability; Fiscal Policy and the Federal Budget;
Money, Banking and the Financial System; Money and the Economy; and monetary policy. It also
provides introductory accounts of economic growth and international trade.
Course Objectives The objectives of this course are to introduce key macroeconomic concepts to students and equip
them with useful analytical tools so that they learn how to think about broad economic problems.

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Student Learning By successfully completing this course, students should be able to:
Outcomes
1. Compute and explain the basics of the major macroeconomic measures such as GDP, real GDP,
unemployment and inflation.
2. Apply both aggregate demand/supply and aggregate expenditure analyses to determine aggregate
output.
3. Understand the basic mechanisms of and key differences between the framework of self-
regulating economy and the framework that argues in favor of government intervention.
4. Evaluate the role of fiscal and monetary policy in bringing about changes to aggregate output and
price level.
5. Explain the key factors that lead to economic growth and how these factors affect growth.

TEXT BOOK (S)

Required Text:
• Arnold, Roger A. 2019. Macroeconomics. 13th Edition. Cengage Learning. [A]
Supplementary Texts:
• Dornbusch, R., Fischer, S. & Startz, R. 2011. Macroeconomics. 11th Edition. McGraw-Hill. [DFS]
• Mankiw, N. Gregory. 2017. Principles of Macroeconomics, 8th Edition, Cengage Learning. [M]
• Parkin, Michael. 2014. Economics (Chapters 21-31). 11th Edition. Pearson - Global Edition. [P]

TEACHING STRATEGY
For each topic, I will prepare lecture slides that the students can download from the Canvas. During lectures, I will use these
slides to explain the topics in as much detail as possible. I will often present additional materials that will not be in the lecture
slides and therefore, students are expected to take notes to supplement the lecture slides. Students are encouraged to ask
questions and participate actively in class. The tentative lecture plan is given below:
Lecture Topic Relevant
No. Chapters

1 Introduction & General Discussion -

2 What Economics is about A: 1

3 What Economics is about A: 1

4 Supply and Demand: Theory A: 3

5 Supply and Demand: Theory A: 3

6 Macroeconomic Measurements, Part I: Prices and Unemployment A: 6

7 Macroeconomic Measurements, Part I: Prices and Unemployment A: 6

8 Macroeconomic Measurements, Part II: GDP and Real GDP A: 7

9 Macroeconomic Measurements, Part II: GDP and Real GDP A: 7
10 Macroeconomic Measurements, Part II: GDP and Real GDP A: 7
11 Quiz1 + Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply A: 8

12 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply A: 8

13 Classical Macroeconomics and the Self-Regulating Economy A: 9

14 Midterm 1 Chs. A: 6, 7, 8

15 Keynesian Macroeconomics and Economic Instability A: 10

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 16 Keynesian Macroeconomics and Economic Instability A:10

17 Keynesian Macroeconomics and Economic Instability A:10

18 Quiz 2 + Fiscal Policy and the Government Budget A: 11

19 Fiscal Policy and the Government Budget A: 11

20 Midterm 2 Chs. A: 9, 10,11

21 Money, Banking and the Financial System A:12

22 Money, Banking and the Financial System A:12

23 Central Banking A:13

24 Central Banking A:13

25 Money and the Economy A:14

26 Quiz 3 +Money and the Economy A:14

27 Monetary Policy A:15

28 Monetary Policy A:15

29 Economic Growth A: 17

Final Exam Syllabus: Chs. A: 12, 13, 14, 15, 17

Note: The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the course outline as well as the syllabus if necessary.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
The weights on each component of the overall course grade are as follows:
ASSESSMENT STRATEGY AND GRADING SCHEME

Grading tool % contributing towards the final score

Attendance 5%
Quiz 15%
Exam 1 25%
Exam 2 25%
Final 30%
Total 100%

GRADING POLICY
Grades will be assigned according to NSU grading policy. However, grading will also depend on the performance of the
whole class.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
5% of the final score has been assigned to attendance. This is to give the students an additional incentive to attend classes
since attending lectures is of paramount importance if one wants to do well in this course. Just by attending all classes, a
student can obtain these points. If a student is not present in the class, the student WILL NOT get this point. No point will be
deducted if a student misses only one class. After that, for each class one misses, 1/2 point (that is 0.5% of the final score)
will be deducted. For example, if a student misses 3 classes, s/he will receive 4/5 for attendance; if a student misses 5 classes,
s/he will receive 3/5 for attendance and so on.

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Students are expected to arrive at the lectures on time and stay for the full lecture time. Walking in late disrupts the class and
creates a negative externality (impact) on your classmates and me. One way to deal with negative externalities is to impose
penalties (cost) on such activities to reduce the demand for such actions. Consequently, should I feel that tardiness is becoming
a problem, I may increase the cost of being sluggish.

The purpose of these policies is to create a fair learning environment and, at the same time, give you the flexibility to make
utility maximizing decisions with regards to your preferences for studying, sleeping, working, socializing etc. This
environment makes you responsible for your actions. I will not subsidize the costs of your decisions. If you want an
academic environment in which the instructor subsidizes the costs of your decisions or feel you should be treated
differently, or judged according to different academic standards than your classmates, then this section is not for you.

POLICY ABOUT MAKE-UP EXAMS

There will be no make-up quizzes. Make-up examination will be feasible only in cases of documented illness or extreme
personal emergencies. Students with such cases will be allowed to take a make-up examination only for one of the midterms
i.e. if anyone misses both the midterms, s/he will be assigned zero in one of those. The make-up Midterm will be in the form
of a comprehensive Final exam, i.e., the syllabus of the comprehensive Final exam will be cumulative of both the Midterms
(irrespective of which Midterm the student may have missed) and the Final exam and the Comprehensive Final Exam will
carry a weight of 50%.

CLASSROOM RULES OF CONDUCT

A student can use her/his laptop in the class for class related work, e.g., taking notes. Use of laptop for non-class related work
or in any manner that will be distracting to other students or the instructor is strictly prohibited. Students should keep all their
communication devices (such as mobile devices, pagers, iPods, beepers etc.) turned off during the class. In case of
extraordinary circumstances, if someone needs to use such devices, then s/he should go outside of the classroom.

COMMUNICATION POLICY

All communications outside of the classroom or of office hours should take place via my official email (listed above).
Announcements made in the class will override any statement made in the course outline. It is your responsibility to be
aware of any announcement(s) made in the classroom.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY

School of Business does not tolerate academic dishonesty by its students. At a minimum, students must not be involved in
cheating, copyright infringement, submitting the same work in multiple courses, significant collaboration with other
individuals outside of sanctioned group activities, and fabrications. Students are advised that violations of the Student Integrity
Code will be treated seriously, with special attention given to repeated offences. For details, refer to NSU Code of Conduct
for Students (http://www.northsouth.edu/newassets/images/proctor/NSU%20COC-English-May18-2021.pdf)

APPROPRIATE USE POLICY

All members of the North South University community must use electronic communications in a responsible manner. The
University may restrict the use of its computers and network systems for electronic communications subject to violations of
university policies/codes or local laws or national laws. Also, the university reserves the right to limit access to its networks
through university-owned or other computers, and to remove or limit access to material posted on university-owned
computers.
Wish you all the best. Let’s hope to have a wonderful semester!!

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