ECO 2013 PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS

WINTER 2014 (20142) , Session 2

Reference Number 474814

BLENDED CLASS

The first class on Wednesday, January 8 includes an orientation to the course web site.

Your Professor

My name is Greg Lindeblom. I have been a professor at Broward College since January 2003. I have a Honours B.A. from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) and a M.A. in Economics from New School University in New York City. My academic specialties are: Macroeconomics, International Economics and Finance, Money and Banking, Economic Development, and the History of Economic Thought.

Prior to coming to BC, I worked in banking and finance for 23 years. Throughout my career, I have had some fascinating jobs in banking. I was on the trade floor in New York for 12 years -- six years in the foreign exchange markets and six years in charge of the techology on the trade floor. Later in my career, I was responsible for web development for all my bank's trading and brokerage departments. That was at the very inception of web application development -- so I'm either a pioneer or a dinosaur depending on your perspective.

During my years in banking, I lived in Toronto; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and New York City, prior to moving to Florida in 2001. Believe it or not, I moved into my house on 9/11/01! Since moving to Florida, I have done bank consulting work, in addition to my teaching. Some of my consulting assignments have been in Canada and Mexico.

During my tenure at BC, I have taught:

• Principles of Macroeconomics
• Principles of Microeconomics
• International Economics
• Money & Banking
• Introduction to Business
• Principles of Supervision
• Personal Finance
• Quantitative Methods for Business

I genuinely enjoy teaching here at BC. I find the students very personable and eager. I'm sure you'll find this course challenges you, but you'll also find it rewarding and relevant to your life.

Course Description

BC's course outline describes the course as: "An introductory course in macroeconomic principles covering basic economic problems and concepts. Topics discussed and analyzed include the role of government in various economic systems, aggregate measures of economic performance, aspects of economic instability, macro equilibrium, fiscal and monetary policies, and the imparct of both the public debt and international trade."

Over and over, I've had students tell me this is a course in which they learned a great deal. Principles of Macroeconomics is a challenging course that blends theoretical work with practical applications from the world around us. By obtaining a good grounding in economics, students can better understand the political, social, and financial issues that confront us and our society every day. An economic issue is on the front page of the newspaper most days of the week and it would be hard to find a televised newscast that doesn't include a key story on the economy. By the end of this course, you should be able to see through the political rhetoric and journalistic simplifications to make your own decisions about economic issues and the direction of our economy. On a personal level, understanding the economic issues of our day provides students with important tools to make financial decisions that affect their own lives.

A full description of course outcomes is on hard-copy reserve in the periodicals section of the library and may also be downloaded from BC's web site.

Methods of Instruction

This is a blended class. Normally, for a three-credit class, we would meet twice a week for 3 hours each meeting during an eight week session.. This class is designed to meet once a week, on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 9:15, with the remaining material being covered online. So this course is designed with 50% of our class work in a traditional face-to-face format and 50% is done through online discussions, readings, quizzes, and assignments. 

 

If you are a student who learns best over a longer period of time and with an instructor covering all aspects of the course, this is NOT the section for you. 

There will be four tests in the course, two taken in-class and two taken online. The remainder of our in-class time will be spent covering the most challenging parts of the material in the course. The rest of the course material is your responsibility.

During the periods where you will be engaging in online learning, there will be two discussion topics that will require you to read the relevant chapter(s) of the text, watch some videos, and apply the principles to the topic at hand. Further, there is an assigned group project. The final components of your grade will be comprised of assigned homework or an individual paper.

Any student who earns a grade of C in this course will earn writing credit as well. Therefore, you will have to verify that your wiriting skills are at a college level during the course. You will accomplish that through the online discussions during the semester.

Learning Outcomes

This is an introduction to Macroeconomics.

BC's course outline for ECO2013 indicates the following general course outcomes:

"Course Overview -- Upon successful completion of this course, the students should be able to describe macroeconomic principles and concepts, the impact of fiscal and monetary policies, and macro-equilibrium; calculate measures of aggregate economic performance; a discuss elements of international trade.

Unit 1: The students should be able to explain the fundamentals of economic analysis, as well as the role and functions of government in the modern mixed economy.

Unit 2: The students should be able to list the various types of fluctuations (seasonal, cyclical, trend) and their impact on variou groups in society; describe and analyze how equilibrium levels of national income and output are determined, as well as their expected impact on the price-level.

Unit 3: The students should be able to evaluate methods of demand management, their shortcomings, and their impact on the deficit.

Unit 4: The students should be able to define the importance of the U.S. monetary and banking system.

Unit 5: The students should be able to evaluate alternative macroeconomic theories and policies."

 

Practically speaking, the course can be logically divided into the following sections:

• Introduction to Economics
• Fundamentals of Economics
• Fundamentals of Macroeconomics
• Macroeconomic Models
• Fiscal Policy
• Monetary Macroeconomics

By the end of the course you should understand the following basic economic principles:

• The definition of economics and the economics perspective
• The production possibilities model
• The circular flow model
• The laws of demand and supply
• A brief economic history to illustrate some current debates in economics
• Market and market systems
• The role of government in the economy
• Key measures of national income accounting, such as GDP, CPI, unemployment, etc.
• The significance of unemployment and inflation
• The Aggregate Expenditure Model
• Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply Model
• Fiscal policy and its resulting deficits or surpluses
• Money and banking
• Monetary policy

The general outcomes from this course are also available from the BC website (BC course outlines).

Course Requirements

There are no special requirements or admission criteria for this course. 

The student must have regular access to a computer and be comfortable working online.

 

All email in this course must be sent within our online learning system, BCOnline. Students must be able to open/save files, surf the internet, send and receive email, and post to discussion topics.

Course Technology Requirements

The only unique software you require for this course is a PowerPoint viewer, which can be uploaded at no cost. Refer to the Blackboard Plug-ins document to get find the link for the viewer.

 

Some discussions require you to watch and make a report on videos. Your PC must have speakers or headphones that allow you to hear the videos.

Course Materials

The required text for the course is Miller, Roger Leroy, ECONOMICS TODAY, 16th edition, Boston: Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2011

 

If you plan to take both ECO 2013 and ECO 2023, purchase the full version hard cover text (ISBN: TBD) or a loose-leaf "a la carte edition" (ISBN: TBD). As an alternative, you can also purchase an eBook that is good for both ECO 2013 and ECO 2023 (ISBN: TBD). You must take ECO 2013 and ECO 2023 in successive semesters if you purchase the eBook. Please note, the bookstore will buy back the hard cover text, but WILL NOT buy back the a la carte or eBook versions.

If you are just taking ECO 2013 at Broward College, you can purchase ECONOMICS TODAY -- THE MACRO VIEW, 16th edition in an "a la carte" edition (ISBN: TBD).

You are NOT required to purchase access to MyEconLab. You can choose to do so and you will be have access to excellent online homework.  My course syllabus gives you an option of doing the online homework or doing a research paper. 

 

Within our course website, you will have access to the professor's lecture notes, homework, practice quizzes, videos and additional information. The lecture notes are in PowerPoint, and you can print them in handout format (3 or 4 slides to a page), so you can print them out prior to class and make your own notes right on the slides themselves.

I am confident you will have the tools you need to succeed in this course. Of course, resources are only valuable when they are utilized. One of the key premises of economics is that resources must be allocated (used) efficiently to maximize satisfaction (your grade).

How to Register for this Course

To enroll for the course, please refer to BC's Student Online System. Students must be paid before they will be able to log into the course. If you register late, it may take 36 hours for you to gain access to the course after paying.

Information Contact

Students can reach me at glindebl@broward.edu to obtain more information about this course. If you wish to meet with me prior to enrolling in the course, please send an email to make an appointment with me.

How to Access the Course once you are Enrolled in this Course

Once you are enrolled and have paid, access to the course will begin on the first class on Wednesday, January 8, 2014. During the orientation, we will review login and access procedures, requirements for the course, and begin our study of economic principles.

In the meantime, refer to the BC Flexible Learning page for email lookup and login instructions.

All students must obtain and use a BC email address for this course, so please obtain a user ID and PIN code before attempting to login to BCOnline.