University of British Columbia

Vancouver School of Economics

Econ 102(004) Principles of Macroeconomics
Course Outline

Instructor: Dr. Ratna K. Shrestha Class Room: Buchanan A101

Office Room # Buch E 175 Class Time: T/Th: 12.30-2.00 PM
Email: shrestha@mail.ubc.ca Office Hours: M/W: 10.00-11.30 AM
Tel: 604-827-0012

Objective: This course introduces the major issues facing the world's economies and the basic
principles and tools of Macroeconomics used to study or address those issues. The topics
covered include national income, money and banking, unemployment and business cycle,
economic growth, fiscal and monetary policies, inflation, and expenditure multiplier. The course
will also cover international trade and finance with a particular focus on Canadian economy.

Required Text: Macroeconomics: Ragan, 14th Canadian Edition with MyEconLab, Pearson.

Weekly Quizzes
You are required to do weekly Quizzes from Pearson's MyEconLab site:
(http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/).
You can do your quiz at any time before the deadline. However, once you begin your quiz, it
must be finished within the allocated time (which is set depending on the number of questions
contained and difficulty level). Since two attempts are allowed for each quiz, your report with
correct answers will be revealed only after the deadline.

Date/Week Chapter Topics

Week 1: What is Economics?
Chapter 1: Economic Issues and Concepts
Chapter 2: Economic Theories, Data and Graphs

Week 2: Introduction to Macroeconomics

Chapter 3: Demand and Supply
Chapter 19: Key Macroeconomic Variables

Week 3: Economy in the Short Run

Chapter 20: Measurement of National Income
Chapter 21: Simplest Short-run Macro Model

Week 4:
Chapter 22: Adding Govt and Trade to the Simple Macro Model
Chapter 23: Output and Prices in the Short Run
Week 5: Economy in the Long Run
Chapter 24: From short to Long Run
Chapter 25: The Difference Between Short and Long Run

Week 6: Review
Feb 09 (Monday): family Day (No Class)
Review of the materials Learned so far

Week 7: February 16-20 Reading/Midterm Break

Week 8: Economy in the Long Run

Chapter 26: Long Run Economic Growth

Week 8: Money Banking and Monetary Policy

Chapter 27: Money and Banking

Midterm March 02 Week

(exact day to be determined depending on the availability of a large classroom)

Week 9: Money Banking and Monetary Policy

Chapter 28: Money, Interest Rate and Economic Activity
Chapter 29: Monetary Policy in Canada

Week 10: Macroeconomic Problems

Chapter 30: Inflation and Disinflation

Week 11: Macroeconomic Problems

Chapter 31: Unemployment
Review of the materials

Week 12: Canada in the Global Economy

Chapter 33: The Gains from International Trade
Chapter 34: Trade Policy

Week 13: Canada in the Global Economy

Chapter 35: Exchange Rate and Balance of Payments
April 03: Easter Friday (No Class)

Week 14: Review

April 06: Easter Monday (No Class)
April 08/10: Last day of classes: Review for the Final Exam
Grading Policy
MyEconLab Quizzes 20%
Midterm 30% (March 02 week)
Final 50% (See SSC site for date and location)

Bonus Mark/Class Attendance

There will be 1 bonus mark for class attendance and participation (based on 2 or 3 random
attendances). Your active class participation can substitute for one missed attendance. If you
miss a class/attendance for some genuine reason, you must provide a valid document to get a
credit for that missed attendance.

Other Policies
1) There will be NO makeup midterm; however if you miss it for a genuine reason, your final
will be graded out of 80% (upon furnishing supporting documents).
2) If you see any inconsistency with the marking of your midterm (or final), you may request for
remarking. However the grade will be corrected only if there are obvious errors or the marking
does not conform with the marking guide. In such a case of remarking request, the whole exam
will be remarked (not only the particular question at issue).
3) If you miss the deadline for a Quiz, it can be reset only if a) you missed it for a genuine reason
such as family emergency or medical conditions. Medical conditions such as seasonal flu or
other similar sickness will not be considered as genuine.
4) If you do better in the final than the midterm, your final will be weighted more (the actual
weight allocation will be decided based on the overall class performance).
5) If you could not write the final exam for some reason, please see Arts Advising and get your
exam deferred. There is NO need for you to email or inform me. Arts Advising will do it.
Connect Site
1) All the announcement for this course will be made at the connect site.
2) If you have any question related to Quizzes or other course materials, please post them on
this site's discussion board (don't email me).
3) Solutions for even-numbered questions from the text can be found at Pearson site (to which
you will have an access once you sign up for MyEconLab).
4) The focus is on learning the concepts and being creative (not reading and memorizing the
posted solutions). Even one conceptual tool learned is worth more than 100 posted solutions
memorized !
Prerequisites
No prerequisite but a good knowledge of high school (Linear) Algebra is helpful. The
mathematics used may be slightly more advanced than what you will find in the text.