Economics 311 Intermediate Macroeconomics

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The following are questions that many of you will have about the class.

Q:  How does this being a five-week class matter for how it will be taught?

A:  I will lecture some, but also post video lectures on some topics because going fast for two hours is painful for me and probably not a good way for you to learn.  We will also have weekly quizzes on Fridays instead of midterms.  (No quiz in the first and last week.  If you miss a quiz, its grade weight will be moved to the final exam.)  

Q:  How are office hours going to work?  

A:  After the usual MWF lecture, I’ll stick around for an hour to take questions.   

If you’d like to talk or Zoom privately with me at another time, send me an e-mail about what you want to talk about (it can be just stuff in general), what times might work for you, and what the best medium for communication would be (phone, Zoom, semaphore flags, etc.)

Q:  How does the homework work?

A: I will post questions and you will submit answers through Canvas. The computational problems will be graded by Canvas, and you will get three chances to get them right.  You can collaborate with your peers on these and ask us questions through the Canvas discussion forum (anonymously if you wish).  Some of the homework will involve you submitting hand-drawn graphs or summaries of the lecture contents.

Q:  How will the Friday quizzes and exams work?

A:  They will be in person in class.  They will have computational problems like from the homework, some graph drawing, and some short essays.   The Friday quizzes will be mini-exams covering the material from the previous week.  The final exam will be cumulative.  

Q:  Will this class be recorded?

A:  “Portions of this class will be recorded by the instructor for educational purposes. These recordings will be shared only with students enrolled in the course and will be deleted at the end of the Quarter.”  You are not allowed to make recordings of the class.  For more information about this, look here:  https://www.registrar.northwestern.edu/faculty-staff/syllabi.html  

Q:  What are the “learning objectives” for this class?  

A:  This course should give students frameworks and economic reasoning for understanding short and long-run macroeconomic phenomena, and the possibilities and limits of macroeconomic policy.

Q:  I am not now nor have I ever taken the prerequisites.  Am I in trouble in here?

A:  Probably; this class uses the tools of Econ 201 Introduction to Macroeconomics and Econ 202 Introduction to Microeconomics, as well as some algebra, natural logs, and differential calculus.    

Q:  What’s the deal with the assigned readings and videos?  

A:  There are a variety of readings and videos for this class and you can find them linked from my syllabus. Other relevant readings may be assigned as the quarter goes forward.  

Q:  What are the basic work expectations for the class?

A:  I hope that you will do about two hours of study for every hour of lecture, and that you will read the material assigned for the lecture before class (and yes, you’ll have to catch up on the first lecture assigned reading too).  

Q:  What is your electronics communication policy?  

A: (1)  I expect you to have your preferred e-mail address entered into Canvas so that I can send messages to the class, and I expect you to check that e-mail on a daily basis.  (2)   Use Canvas’s discussion forum to post questions that would be of general use to your classmates.  (Yes:  “What does MR stand for?”  No:  “I got 11 points on the exam; does that mean I’m going to flunk the class?”)   (3)  Watch all the videos we record and get the work done.  

Q:  What about asking questions in class?  

A:  If I haven’t been clear about a definition or abbreviation or something, it is a Kantian imperative that you raise your hand and get me to fix it!  Otherwise, I’m just wasting everyone’s time.  Seriously, if you’re puzzled by something, then probably everyone else is as well, so you’d be serving Northwestern’s educational mission by getting it cleared up.  If you’ve got a question about something related to what we’re doing, but not directly part of the lecture, that’s good too, but raise it in office hours or the Canvas discussion forum.  Thanks!

Q:  Can I expect any leniency if I'm caught cheating or engaging in any unethical behavior?

A:  No.  I will probably give you a grade of "F" for the class and I will certainly notify the Dean who will be asked to pursue further action. It’s not fun for anyone involved.  

Q:  In studying for the tests, should I stress studying the notes or the readings?

A:  Well, both, but particularly the notes.  I'll make sure that I don’t inflict any math problems on the exams that I haven't already given you on a homework.  Note however, that not everything that is important for the class, or that I cover in lecture or the readings will make it onto the test.  Some material is important for you to learn, but does not lend itself to good test questions.  I’m also inclined to have you do math on homework to build that level of understanding there, and then use graphs on exam questions so as to minimize the chance of algebra mistakes causing you to miss points on something where you had a good level of understanding.  

Q:  What are the math requirements for this class?

A:  You will need to be able to do really simple calculus, graphing, algebra, logs and exponentials.  I will do some more complicated math for the purposes of exposition but I will not ask you to reproduce it on the exams although you should understand the underlying ideas.  As a guide, I will try to preview any math or exposition you might need in a homework.  

Q:  This syllabus is pretty long; do you think that anyone is still reading?  

A:  We’re about to find out!

Q:  What is the First Homework?   

A:  Your first Canvas Homework is to go onto the Canvas discussion forum and post the name of the greatest movie of all time.  Then post it again as the answer to the Canvas homework question.  (See...you’re getting practice with the discussion forum and the Canvas homework system!)  

Q:  What happens if I fall suddenly ill and am unable to make it to a test?

A:  For the Friday quizzes, you are out of luck; no make-ups.  If you must miss a Friday quiz, be sure to e-mail me in advance or your misfortune will be doubled.  If I don’t hear from you in advance, you will get a zero on the test for a grade of F, which cannot be made up.  Don't make this mistake.  If you can’t make it to a Friday quiz and you do let me know (and can document your reason), you won’t get a zero on the quiz.  However, there will be no make-up exams; instead, the weight of the final exam score will be increased to make up for the missed quiz.

Q:  What do economists read to learn about what’s going on in macro?

A:  https://marginalrevolution.com/ I check them every morning.  Also, this guy is pretty great; you can sign up to get his column e-mailed to you for free.    https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/ARbTQlRLRjE/matthew-s-levine  

Q:  What if I have concerns about accessibility for this class?

A:  Any student with a documented disability needing accommodations is requested to speak directly to the AccessibleNU ([email protected], 847-467-5530) and to me, as early as possible in the quarter (preferably within the first two weeks of class).  All discussions will remain confidential.  

Q:  What is the most important thing?

A:  Most importantly, please be assured that I want students to learn and to receive the good grades they deserve.  So please make an appointment with me should you need help with your work in the course.