Economics 311 Money and Income Introduction Spring 2002 Department of Economics College of Business and Economics California State University-Northridge Professor Kenneth Ng

Administrative Details (2) Textbook: Robert Barro, Macroeconomics, 5e. Course will follow Barro closely.  Subject matter, notation, etc.

Administrative Details (1) Adding and dropping.  All sections currently full.  TTR drop/add during the first two weeks.  Will add up to the enrollment limit as spaces become available on Tuesday of the 3 rd and 4 th week of class.  Concurrent Enrollment and Open University Students will be added on the Thursday of the 3rd week of class—space permitting.

Administrative Details (3) Class website: ng.csun.edu.  Reading List.  Exam Archive.  Assignments.  Slides from lectures. Slides will be updated immediately following class.  Grade Roster.

Grading Grade is based on 2 exams plus a final.  Weighting: Exams 25% each. Final 50%. The final will be comprehensive. Before each exam there will be at least two homework or other types of exercise.  The assignments will be worth 10 points each.  Points will be added to the next exam before computing the curve.  5 points deducted for not completing assignment.

The Curve Grades in the class will be mean based.  Letter grade is determined by how well each student performs relative to the average performance of all students in the class.  Roughly speaking, 1/3 rd of the class will receive an A or B, 1/3 rd a C, and 1/3 rd (including those who do not complete the class) a D or F. Scores on the three exams including homework will be averaged into a course score using the formula:

The Curve (2) Each exam’s normalized course score measures how far a score is from the mean score of all students taking the exam and is computed using the formula: A Normalized Exam Score of 0 is the mean. A positive Normalized Exam Score is a score above the mean. A negative Normalized Exam Score is a score below the mean.

How to get a good grade in this class Follow a cycle of preparation and review.  Before each new section of material give Barro a quick read.  Attend lecture.  After each lecture download the Powerpoint slides and review. Make sure that you understand everything discussed in class.  Somewhere in the middle of a section of material download the sample exams. Choose a few questions and try to answer them under exam like conditions. Complete all assignments.  Scoring 10 points from homework assignments prior to each exam is equivalent to improving one letter grade.  Missing both assignments prior to an exam is equivalent to lowering you grade by 1+ letter.

Course Objective (1) Will develop a general purpose macro-economics model of an economy. Concentrate on 3 key decisions made by economic agents:  Work/Leisure-Chapter 2  Consumption Now vs. Consumption Later-Chapter 3  Money-Chapter 4 Combining these 3 decisions generates the Basic Market Clearing Market -Chapter 5.

Course Objectives (2) Use the Basic Market Clearing Model to engage in economic analysis.  If there is a change in the world what effect will it have on the economy. Changes in the world. Government Policy-Taxes, Money Supply, and Regulation. Natural Disaster-Earthquake, Terrorist Attack. Effect on the Economy. Output-GNP, GNP per capita. Employment/Unemployment. Prices-Inflation/Deflation.

Reading Assignment for Thursday Chapter 1 in Barro. No Class on Thursday.