Economics 247

Class News: Final exam

aldonayr — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:01:18 +0000

I have finished grading your exams. Overall, you guys did well. Here are some statistics about the final exam. You can pick them up before 6pm today, Monday, or let me know if you want me to keep it for you to get it later at some point. Otherwise, I will get ride of them late next week. Solutions to the final exam are posted under class material.

Your final grades for the course are very good. You can look at some statistics for the final course grades here. These are the thresholds I used to assign lettered grades:

94.5 – 100                                         A+
89.5 - 94.4                                         A
84.5 – 89.4                                        A-
79.5 – 84.4                                        B+

I have uploaded your grades to WebStac, so you should be able to see them there already. Please, take a few minutes of your time to fill out the class evaluation. It will be helpful to look at your feedback.

I really enjoyed teaching this course. You are a pretty smart class. Hopefully, you guys got something out of it. I’m not sure I convinced anyone to major in Economics, but then maybe who knows : P. I had some people asking whether I will keep posting things on the blog. I do not think I will, but if you ever have any questions about school, in general, or economics, in particular, feel free to email me and ask anything you’d like. I’ll be happy to help in whatever way I can.

Hope you celebrate tonight and do something fun, you deserve it! Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Posted by LD at 5:34 pm

Class News: Exam information update

aldonayr — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:09:46 +0000

I have finished writing up the exam. Here is some updated information. There are 25 multiple choice questions, worth 2 points each. The rest of the exam consists of 3 questions. One is related to the loanable funds/foreign currency market; the other one is about the AD-SRAS-LRAS model and one last question involves the calculation of output (Y), given the consumption function, investment function, government expenditures and net exports, as in the last slide from the additional material (and calculation of the multiplier).

There are still 15 extra multiple choice questions that will add up to your problem set and exam averages. Remember to bring your calculators. We will start at 11 o’clock (sharp), so make sure you’re there on time.

I have finished grading the last problem set. In general, they are good. Some people seem to have problems with the loanable funds/foreign currency models. Make sure you understand those for tomorrow’s exam. I’ll return the problem sets in class tomorrow and you’ll be able to see your grades before exam 3/bonus/participation after the exam.

Posted by LD at 10:12 pm

Class News: Solutions to practice questions, office hours, exam, etc, etc, etc…

aldonayr — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:33:51 +0000

I have posted solutions to the practice questions under class material. Recall that I will hold extra office hours today, from 5 to 6 ( a bit before 6, I’ll leave by 6) and tomorrow 9 to 10. Feel free to stop by if you have any questions. I will be around so if I’m not in my office I’ll be back right away. As always, feel free to email me.

Again, the exam will cover chapters 18 through 22, inclusive. And the additional material about the components of aggregate demand. There will be 30 (very easy, I think) multiple choice questions, 1 question about the loanable funds/foreign currency markets (chapter 19), 1 question about the AD-SRAS-LRAS curves (chapters 20-21) and one last question, probably about solving for Y, given the mathematical model for output (from the additional material). I will comment on this last question later tonight when I have it more clear. At the end of the exam, there will be 15 extra multiple choice questions that you can answer to get 15 more points in your exam and problem set averages.

If you know what you should know for tomorrow’s exam, you should do fairly well. I think the exam is straightforward. I wouldn’t worry too much about the grade. I think this is a great class and you’re all pretty smart kids, so your grade will surely reflect that. I had fun teaching this class and hopefully you got to learn a bit more about macroeconomics.

I hope to finish grading your problem set by tomorrow. In any case, I have to have everything graded by the end of the afternoon tomorrow. Some people were asking whether they will get their final exams back or not. Provided that I have to submit grades tomorrow night, I will finish grading your exams tomorrow afternoon. So, you can stop by between 5.30-6 tomorrow if you want to pick it up. Otherwise, you can pick them up Monday (I should be around 8-6, except for lunch). If you have to leave town and still want it, let me know. Otherwise, I will get rid of them by the end of next week.

Good luck tomorrow!

Posted by LD at 1:34 pm

Further Study: Is fiscal policy really going to help the economy?

aldonayr — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:53:12 +0000

Today in class, I mentioned that fiscal policy has had a very active role in trying to stabilize the economy during this recession, given the already low levels of the federal funds rate. I also said that this is a very special situation in the sense that fiscal policy has not really been the main policy tool that the government uses to try to boost the economy.

Even though traditional monetary policy is no longer an option, there are still several (classical) economists who do not agree with the fiscal stimulus plan that Obama has implemented. Most classical (i.e., non-Keynesian) economists are not very fond of changes in government expenditure nor tax reductions to increase output because they simply cause a redistribution of resources. Tomorrow, we will briefly talk about one of the leading economists these days, Robert Barro (Harvard), and his contribution to macroeconomics (the role of rational expectations). He was briefly interviewed by the tax foundation about his thoughts regarding Obama’s stimulus plan. It’s worth listening to. You can listen to the podcast here.

Posted by LD at 4:54 pm

Class News: Exam material

aldonayr — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:30:58 +0000

I have updated chapters 18 through 22 to include answers to the questions we do in class. Also, I have posted solutions to the last problem set. I probably won’t get to grade your problem sets until Friday, but you can take a look at the solutions.

Likewise, I have uploaded some practice questions for you to start studying/working. I will post solutions to those tomorrow afternoon. I suggest you try to work on those, as you can ask questions about them in class tomorrow. Likewise, here is the list of equations / formulae / relationships that you should be familiar with for the exam on Friday. Again, try to review the material so you know what you are comfortable with and what not and can ask questions tomorrow. Recall that there is a 10% component in your final grade that corresponds to class participation. And if you act interested in the class and ask questions, I’ll be more likely to bump your final course grade if it’s a borderline case.

Posted by LD at 4:32 pm

Class News: Slides for chapter 22

aldonayr — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:56:30 +0000

Uploaded.

Posted by LD at 9:56 am

Class News: Who said there is no free lunch?

aldonayr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:20:23 +0000

I was thinking about what we discussed in class earlier and I’ve made a few slight changes. You will still have the chance to improve your exam and problem set averages, and it will be a list of multiple choice questions (probably 10 or 15). However, they will be an additional (i.e., not mandatory) part of the exam on Friday. You can have an extra 15 minutes to work on those (so, in total, you would have from 11am until 1pm). That way, you will have studied for the exam and, thus, have a higher chance to get more points out of those extra questions.

Since I know you wanted to study from those questions, I will also post multiple choice questions for you to practice for the exam (probably later tonight or tomorrow). And to compensate for the roller-coaster that this extra credit opportunity has been, I will contradict Mankiw and show that, sometimes, there IS free lunch: pizza and drinks will be served during Thursday’s class.

Hopefully, this will be a win-win situation for everyone.

Posted by LD at 4:21 pm

Further Study: International Economics

aldonayr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:45:39 +0000

We were just talking about international economics and trade policies. You should read this article from the Washington Post.

Posted by LD at 8:42 am

Class News: Slides for Chapter 21

aldonayr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:38:03 +0000

Under class material.

Posted by LD at 8:38 am

Further Study: Is it a good time to increase the minimum wage?

aldonayr — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:36:53 +0000

On July 24th, the federal minimum wage will be increased to $7.25/hour. Most economists argue that this is not a good time to increase the minimum wage, as the job market is already weakened and this will only prolonged recovery. Moreover, this will hurt teenagers and low-skilled workers, as Mankiw points out in the book. However, others claim that it is necessary to raise the federal minimum wage because purchasing power needs to keep up with inflation.

This increase is the final step in a 3-step increase that would take place in 2007, 2008, and 2009. That is, the minimum wage would increase in small amounts in each of these three years, so firms knew about it and could prepare in advance. In any case, the Congress does not seem to be concerned about it or slowing down. You might want to read the article here.

Posted by LD at 8:37 am