Macroeconomics (311-CN-64)
Instructors
Mark P Witte
Mark Witte is a Professor of Instruction and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for economics at Northwestern. While completing his Ph.D., Mark worked as a researcher for the Federal Reserve. His specialties are macroeconomics, public finance, and environmental economics. He often teaches Introduction to Macroeconomics as well as upper-level classes in his specialities, and enjoys teaching 311 because it helps him be ready for his role as coach of Northwestern’s Federal Reserve Challenge Team.
Meeting Info
University Hall 101: Tues 6:15PM - 9:15PM
Overview of class
This course covers macroeconomics and monetary policy and the behavior of the economy as a whole, with an emphasis on the current economic crisis in the United States and Europe. Topics include income, inflation, unemployment, and growth; consumption, investment, and rate of interest; monetary and fiscal policy. Midterm and final exams, weekly quizzes and homework are the requirements for this lecture-based course.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisites: ECON 201, 202, MATH 220, or equivalents. Basic algebra and graphing.
Learning Objectives
Students will be expected to understand how the interaction of the goods market and the money/asset markets can lead to possible multiple equilibria in macroeconomics, how the economy can get stuck in bad ones, and how it may be possible to make matters better...or worse. Students will understand the measurement of price level changes, labor market variables, productivity, and the macroeconomic imbalances that can exist with the government budget and for assets and trade flows between nations in world markets. Students will understand the monetary and financial systems and how they contributed to our current situation, both in the US and Europe. Students will also understand the determinants of long run economic growth, and the resulting implications.
Teaching Method
Lectures, some class participation, in-class quizzes, out of class homework, readings from texts and articles.
Evaluation Method
Midterm, final, weekly quizzes, and homework.
Class Materials (Required)
Materials will be available online.
Class Notes
You will be expected to follow the economic news because this class covers events that are unfolding in real time.
Further information about the class can be found on my webpage:
https://sites.google.com/site/markwitteeconomics/home/economics-311-intermediate-macroeconomics