102B2 - University of Alberta

Department of Economics 

ECONOMICS 102-B2 

Introduction to Macroeconomics 

INSTRUCTOR: Andrew Wong 

OFFICE: 

7-13 Tory Building 

PHONE: 780-492-2049 

E-MAIL: 

akwong@ualberta.ca 

OFFICE HOURS: T 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. or by appointment 

LECTURES: TR 8:00 – 9:20 a.m. (TL 11) 

WINTER 2013 

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

Employment, inflation, international payments, monetary policy, and fiscal policy, all in the 

Canadian economy. 

PREREQUISITES 

ECON 101 or consent of Department of Economics. Department may cancel the registrations of 

students in courses offered who do not meet the prerequisite requirements as stated in the 

course descriptions in the University Calendar (“§22.1(4)). Deciding to remain in the course 

without the prerequisite may result in financial penalty because you will be responsible for any 

tuition costs associated with the course up to the date of the withdrawal. 

REQUIRED TEXT 

Principle text: Mankiw, Kneebone and McKenzie (2011) Principles of Macroeconomics, 

Fifth Canadian Edition, Nelson Thomson. 

Student Instructional Support Fees (as per Exec 04 December 2006): 

All problem sets and lecture notes are found in Aplia. Weekly assignments, which made 

up 15% of the final grade, are also done and submitted using Aplia. Therefore, it is 

strongly recommended that students puchase the Aplia package (please note that the 

Aplia package can be purchased separately from the text by contacting the Aplia provider 

directly for USD 62.95). 

MARK DISTRIBUTION 

Assignment 15% Due every Sunday (see below) 

Term Exam I 20% February 12, 2013 (Tuesday) 

Term Exam II 20% March 14, 2013 (Thursday) 

Final Exam 45% April 25, 2013 (9:00-11:00 a.m.) 

No term exams can be written other than the scheduled exam day. If you miss a term exam you 

will not receive a mark unless you provide me with a "Medical Declaration Form" (available on the 

Faculty of Arts USS forms page). In that event, the marks for the term exam missed will be 

transferred to the final exam.

GRADE DETERMINATION 

“Grades reflect judgments of student achievement made by instructors. These judgments are 

based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance in a class. The 

instructor should mark in terms of raw scores, rank the assignments in order of merit, and, with 

due attention to the verbal descriptions of the various grades, assign an appropriate letter grade 

to each assignment.” see Calendar §23.4(4). The official grading system at the University is the 

4-point letter grade system. While instructors may use percentages to aid in their grade 

development, percentages are not part of the University’s official grading system. For more 

information, please go to www.grades.ualberta.ca. 

COURSE OUTLINE 

1. Introduction to Economics 

Ten Principles of Economics Chapter 1* 

Thinking Like an Economist Chapter 2* 

Interdependence and the Gain from Trade Chapter 3* 

The Market Forces of Supply and Demand Chapter 4* 

2. The Data of Macroeconomics 

Measuring a Nation’s Income Chapter 5 

Measuring the Cost of Living Chapter 6 

3. The Real Economy in the Long Run 

Production and Growth Chapter 7 

Saving, Investment, and the Financial System Chapter 8 

Unemployment and Its Natural Rate Chapter 9 

4. Money and Prices in the Long Run 

The Monetary System Chapter 10 

Money Growth and Inflation Chapter 11 

5. The Macroeconomics of Open Economies 

Open Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts Chapter 12 

A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Economy Chapter 13* 

6. Short Run Economic Fluctuations 

Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply Chapter 14 

The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on AD Chapter 15 

The Short-Run Tradeoff between Inflation and Unemployment Chapter 16 

ASSIGNMENTS and APLIA 

Assignments (total of 10) will be done weekly starting with the week of January 20, 2013. 

There will be two exceptions to this: the weeks of the two midterms: Week of February 10 th and 

Week of March 10 th . Assignments will count for 15% of the final grade, and will be due according 

to the following schedule. 

Sunday, January 20 by 10 pm

Sunday, January 27 by 10 pm 

Sunday, February 3 by 10 pm 



Sunday, March 3 by 10 pm 




Friday, April 12 by 10 pm 

You will notice that assignments are due Sunday nights by 10p.m (except the last one). The 

assignments are completed online in Aplia. At the end of the term, I will drop the lowest 2 

assignment and use your 8 best. 

Aplia is the e-learning tool in this class. In order to use Aplia, you must register, using the 

following instructions: 

1. Connect to http://www.aplia.com 

2. Complete the Configuration Test. You must have JaveScript and Flash 6 or later to use 

the site. If you don’t, the configuration test will tell you and instructions will follow. 

3. Return to the Sign-In page and click “Register here.” 

4. You will be prompted to enter your University of Alberta email address and password. 

5. You will then asked to enter your course key: 5KNC-Q4RW-DACN. 

6. You will have received an Aplia Payment Code for this course. Please remember that 

once used, payment codes are not refundable. 

7. You only need to register once. After the registration process is complete, you will not 

need to enter the course key or the payment code again. You will just log in with your 

University of Alberta email address and password. 

If you have any questions about registering or using the Aplia website, please contact Aplia by 

clicking the Aplia Support Link at the bottom of any Aplia page or by emailing support@aplia.com. 

Representative Evaluative Course Materials (GFC Feb 2007) 

Sample examination questions can be found at the Moodle website. It gives a fair representation of length, 

nature and level of difficulty of an actual examination in the course. (GFC 52.8.1) 

CODE OF CONDUCT 

“The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and 

honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty 

and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to 

familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at 

www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm and see attached) and avoid any behaviour which could 

potentially result in suspicions of cheating , plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or 

participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in 

suspension or explusion from the University.” (GFC 29 SEP 2003) 

NOTES 

1. It is strongly advisable that the appropriate chapters are read prior to each lecture since it is 

generally considered to be an important and helpful approach to the study of economics. 

2. Regular class attendance is expected. Familiarize yourself with the policy on attendance and 

other academic regulations as explained in the Calendar. Students who choose not to attend 

lectures must assume whatever risks are involved (see Calendar §23.3 and 23.5.6)

3. Term exam will be written during regularly scheduled classes – duration 45 minutes. Final 

exam will be a two-hour long exam. 

4. Term exams are not cumulative. Term exams consist of multiple choice, problem solving 

and short answer questions. No programmable calculators are allowed. The final exam will 

be on the whole term’s work. The final exam is scheduled by the University. You may not 

write this exam at any other time unless you receive permission from your home faculty to 

write a deferred exam. It is your responsibility to find out the date, time and place for the 

exam. Exam schedules are no longer posted and should be available under Bear Tracks. 

5. Students are encouraged to contact the instructor regarding any questions pertaining to 

course materials or their performance in the course 

6. Supplemental exercises are not permitted in this course. This policy is designed to prevent 

students from asking for a make-up assignment to compensate for poor performance on an 

exam. 

7. Cell phones are to be turned off during lectures except under exceptional circumstances in 

which approval has been given by the instructor. 

8. Dept of Economics General Office is CLOSED FROM 12-1 PM. 

9. Policy about course outlines can be found in “§23.4(2) of the University Calendar.” (GFC 29 

SEP 2003).

102B2 - University of Alberta

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?