ECON 212-003: Intermediate Macroeconomics (Spring 2012)

Aplia will be used in this course. This is an intermediate level course where we will use basic calculus to learn several different models (in detail) for different macroeconomic questions. The primary objective of this course is to help you to understand and explain (in economic terms) macroeconomic events and policy debates discussed in the media.  A second objective is to prepare you for upper level macroeconomic courses.  You are expected to know some basic economic principles and basic calculus from courses you took before such as ECON 101, ECON 112 and MATH 111. The following questions will be answered in this course: Why do we experience recessions, and are recessions avoidable? What can a government do to prevent recessions or to aid in the recovery from a recession? What are the determinants of macroeconomic variables such as national output, economic growth, unemployment, and inflation? How are aggregate demand and aggregate supply influenced by the public and private sectors? How does the economy operate in the short-run and in the long-run? How are economic relationships determined and influenced by outside forces? The ultimate aim is that after completing this course, you should be able to think critically about macroeconomic problems and questions.