Economics 104-002                                                                e-mail: gjonesb@gmu.edu

Macroeconomic Principles                                                   Phone: 314-973-7243

Spring 2010

Instructor: Garett Jones                                                      

Office Hours: Wednesday, 1:30-3:00 pm, Carow Hall 8A.

Welcome to the course!  This semester we’ll use the economic way of thinking to understand why some countries are richer than others, why we are so much richer than our ancestors, and why market economies have boom-bust cycles.  Throughout the course, we’ll use historical facts to see how chalkboard theories help to explain the world around us. 

Required Textbooks, available in the University Bookstore: 

Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen, Modern Principles: Macroeconomics, Worth Publishers, 2009. 

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, any edition.

Tabarrok and Cowen will be the main textbook for the course, and we’ll largely work through the ideas in their book chapter by chapter.  We’ll read Rand’s book throughout the semester, with questions regarding the text’s economic ideas on every exam including the final. 

Course Outline

Chapters 5-7: Economic Anatomy and Economic Growth.

Chapters 8: Savings and Investment (Read “Price Ceilings” portion of Chapter 4)

Finish Rand, Part 1: Non-Contradiction

Midterm 1

Chapter 9: The Stock Market

Chapter 10 (and “Price Floors” portion of Chapter 4): Unemployment and Job Search.

Chapters 11-12: Business Fluctuations.

Finish Rand, Part 2: Either-Or

Midterm 2

Chapters 13-17: Monetary Policy, The Federal Reserve, the Financial Crisis, and your Fiscal Future.

Finish Rand, Part 3: A is A

Final Exam: Thursday, May 6, 10:30-1:15.  Please plan accordingly

I reserve the right to slightly alter the syllabus (deleting or shifting a chapter, for instance), as well as to require a few short (<5 pages) additional readings over the course of the semester. 

Honor Code

Please keep in mind that George Mason is an Honor Code University.  All forms of academic dishonesty are forbidden in this course.  I encourage you to form study groups, but all exams must reflect your own work. 

Grading

As the outline indicates, you will have two midterms and a final exam.  I will always announce exam dates at least one week in advance, and I will also provide sample questions at least one week in advance.  The final will be largely but not fully comprehensive: I will list the omitted chapters and readings well before the final exam.  Testing in Rand will not be comprehensive.  No extra credit will be offered aside from the occasional extra credit question on an examination. 

Exams:                        30% each

Final:                           40%

As a rule, makeup examinations will not be given.  When they are given, I reserve the right to provide an essay examination instead of the examination given to the class as a whole. 

Communication

I encourage you to come to my office hours and to contact me via e-mail.  I particularly hope that we’ll be able to use Blackboard successfully in this course: I will store practice questions and old exams there. 

Students with Disabilities

I am happy to make all necessary accommodations for students with disabilities.  University policy states that students who would like to request such accommodations should first contact the Office of Disability Services (993-2474, Sub I Room 222). 

Again: Final Exam: Thursday, May 6, 10:30-1:15.  Please plan accordingly.