Econ 206: Macroeconomic Analysis.Spring 2013. Sunday, 9:20-12:00.

Econ 206: Macroeconomic Analysis. Sunday, Fall 2012. 8:20-11:00.

The material posted here is for: 

Econ 206: Macroeconomic Analysis
Spring 2013
Sunday 9:20 - 12:00 
Room PH 114

As you probably noticed there is a direct link to this post on the right hand side of the blog. 

I can be reached at: andrew.a.bossie@gmail.com

Office Hours: Sunday:  8:00am to 9:20am and 12:00pm to 1:00pm

If I am not in the classroom (PH114) I will be in the adjunct office in the economics department: PH300B.  I will also usually be available after class. 

Syllabus

Class Slides:
1. GDP and Employment
Jones Ch 1, 2 9 (pg 227-234)
2.  Inflation and Inequality
Jones Ch 8
3.  Short Run
Jones Ch 9
4.  Great Recession
Jones Ch 10
5.  IS Curve
Jones Ch 11
6.  IS-MP
Jones Ch 12
7.  The Long Run Production Function
Jones CH 3, 4
8.  The Romer Model
Jones Ch 6 pp133-151
9.  The Solow Model
Jones Ch 5

Homework Assignments

RULES:
1. Must be handed in during class.

2. Must be stapled. Assignments not stapled will lose a letter grade 

3. You must answer all questions. Failure to answer one question will result in a check minus. Failure to answer more than one question will result in a zero.

Homework Assignment #1 Due 2/24
Homework Assignment #2 Due 3/17
Homework Assignment #3 Due 3/24
Homework Assignment #4 Due 5/5
Homework Assignment #5 Due 5/12 (Updated version posted 2:30 Monday 5/6/13)


In-class exercise March 24.

MIDTERM
Due 4/7/13

Macroeconomic Analysis Take-Home Midterm
*I have edited the take-home exam (3/25).  Question #1 did not include the growth of potential output.  As well, while the natural rate of unemployment wasn't not really necessary to answer question 2b, including it will make answering the question easier.

Macroeconomic Analysis, Midterm Clarification

A number of students have emailed me about question #1.  A large part of the confusion is that one variable label is missing (it has since been added):

( P ) = Price level GDP [%] 

This is not a CPI variable, it is a (kind of) GDP deflator.  Regardless, use this as your price level variable when answering question #1.

There is another point of confusion about the c, i and g variables.  Again, as the labels state, these are in percentage share of GDP (the variable RGDPL).  Use RGDPL when converting the shares into levels.  When you have the levels of c, g and i you can calculate the growth rates of each of these variables.

I have also had a couple of students confused over question 1d (the calculation of nominal growth rates).  This is something we have done before and I cannot walk you through it.  Hopefully, with the clarifications above it will be more obvious how to answer this question.

11/11: I will be 15-20 minutes late to Macroeconomic Analysis.

Don't leave, you need your midterm.

Class Canceled Sunday 11/4

CLASS IS CANCELED 11/4
Your midterms will still be given next week (11/11).

ATTENTION: Midterms Postponed from 11/4 to 1//11

[UPDATE BELOW (Thursday)]

Again, I AM POSTPONING THE MIDTERM IN BOTH OF MY SUNDAY CLASSES: 


ECON206 (Macroeconomic Analysis)
 and 
ECON215 (Money and Banking).

I am moving the exams from Sunday Nov 4th to Nov 11th*: 

I am doing this for two reasons:

1.  My neighborhood was hardly affected becuase I live on a hill.  However, this storm has still been enormously disruptive.  I assume a number of students have been directly affected by the flooding or power outages and it would be ridiculous to expect these students to study for their midterms under those circumstances.

Even though the Macro Analysis midterm is take-home exam, I expect many students will not be able to make it on Sunday, which means they will not be able to discuss the midterm in class, that is unfair to them.

2.  As of today (Tuesday) it is not obvious how crippled public transportation will be or even if Queens College will be open on Sunday.  I want to end the uncertainty about whether or not there will be an exam on Sunday now so that you can go about bailing out your basements or checking on your neighbors without worrying about your tests.


[Update:]  Queens College will be open on Sunday for class.  However, I have no way of getting to QC by public transportation and I do not have any gas in my car.  I am hoping that I will be able to get gas on Saturday.  If I cannot, there will no be class.  Check back here on Saturday afternoon.

We will start going over new material (that won't be on the midterm) on Sunday.

*That means I will hand out the take-home exam in Macro Analysis on Nov 11th to be due Nov 18th.

I am posting this because I do not know how to add an image to an email

Unanswered Questions Macroeconomic Analysis 10/7/12

Total US exports of weapons according to the Congressional Research Service (Table 36): $16 billion* out of total exports of around $1.5 trillion.

U6 unemployment vs U3 unemployment.  Interestingly, the wider measure of unemployment has flat lined over the last couple of months  Here is a table with the recent data:

 

Here is a short MSNBC video discussing the impact of public sector employment in general on the recession (with comparisons to past recessions).  I think some of the conclusions they draw are overstated, but the numbers are interesting:

Finally, I grossly overstated the jobs impact of hiring back teachers.  The number is actually 300,000 teachers have been laid off since Nov 2011.  Also, the info is from a tweet (from a credible source, mind you) so take that as you will.  Anyway, I have already spent too much time on this factoid!

*Estimates of arms exports varies widely, but I did  not see anyone claim more than around $20 or $30 billion in annual foreign arms sales.