Behavior of systems at the national and international levels. Topics include the methodology of economics as a social science, supply and demand, definition and measurement of important macroeconomic variables, and theoretical models of growth, inflation, interest rates, unemployment, business cycles, stabilization policy, exchange rates and the balance of payments. Not open to students who are enrolled in or who have received credit for ECON 332. May be used for general education credit.

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the principles and applications of macroeconomics. Macroeconomics aims to explain the functioning of the national economy as a whole, and it is therefore concerned with the “big” issues, such as economic growth,unemployment, inflation etc. We will start off by introducing some general economics concepts and gaining a basic understanding of the supply and demand forces in an economy that determine how much of a particular product is supplied and at what price. Then we will move to macroeconomics. We will first define some major concepts that we will use throughout the semester, such as inflation,unemployment, GDP etc. Then we will spend some time discussing the major factors behind long run growth rates, which determine nations’ living standards. The last major part of the class will be concerned with deviations from potential levels of output and macroeconomic policies aimed at correcting such deviations. When an economy is using its available resources at their“normal” levels (i.e. no overtime), it is said to be growing at its potential rate. Fluctuations in real output, interest rate, employment and prices may cause an economy as a whole to depart from its potential growth path, and grow at a lower or higher rate. Usually policy officials view such deviations from potential growth rates as undesirable– when an economy grows at a rate 2below its potential level this implies high unemployment rates; when an economy grows at a rate above its potential growth rate this usually raises concerns of rising inflation. Thus, government monetary and fiscal policies are often used to correct for deviations from potential growth rates.The last topics will be international trade and exchange rates in open economies.At the end of the semester you should be able to analyze and describe economic events using the basic concepts and techniques provided by macroeconomic theory. So, independently of your current major and your future career, this course will allow you to better understand economic events and make a more informed decision on your choices as citizens and voters.Course also known as:
200
GECON200

Course also known as:
MACRO
MACROECON
MACROECONO