ECON 4710: A GGREGATE E CONOMIC A NALYSIS

Fall 2020

Section 2 (online)

Instructor: Professor Areendam Chanda1

Email: achanda@lsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:30-2:30 PM, and by appointment. Office hours
are held online only via Zoom. Please note you will be kept in the waiting room if there
is someone ahead of you.

COVID-19: Unexpected Changes to Courses: Due to the unpredictable nature of the

situation, the format of the course and/or requirements laid out below may be forced to
change. If this is the case, students will be given appropriate notification.

Course Page: Please visit the Moodle page for course information and announcements.

Course Description: This course introduces you to the world of macroeconomics. Upon
successful completion of the course, you are expected to demonstrate a basic understand-
ing of economic problems and successes from around the world. In particular, you should
be able to explain economy-wide phenomena related to inflation, unemployment, the
monetary system, economic growth, international trade, and finance.

Prerequisites:
1. ECON 2035 or equivalent. I will assume prior knowledge of macroeconomics that
you have seen from ECON 2010 (2011) and ECON 2035. In other words, you should
be familiar with basic macro concepts – nominal vs real GDP, GDP deflator vs Con-
sumer Price Index, Growth Rate formulas, Components of GDP, income vs expen-
diture method, Labor force concepts (unemployment rates, LFPR, etc), Quantity
Theory of Money etc. I will refresh your memory, but not go over them in detail.
2. You should be familiar with high school level differential calculus and algebra (tak-
ing derivatives of simple functions, solving two equations with two unknowns, etc).
More importantly, if you are uncomfortable with mathematics you should recon-
sider enrolling in this course. While we will not be using advanced calculus, solving
simple equation systems, drawing graphs, and elementary differential calculus will
form the bread and butter of this course.
Required Materials:
1. Textbook: Macroeconomics (5th edition) by Charles Jones, Published by WW Nor-
ton. This is the primary textbook for the course. You have various purchase/rental
options. I suggest you visit the WW Norton and the Amazon websites to figure
what is best for you. The e-book sells for $70 on the Norton Website. Hard copies
should also be on sale at the LSU Bookstore.
1 Pronounced: ur-een-dum chuhn-da.

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 2. Additional Materials:

(a) Additional supplementary material will be made available on Moodle.

(b) I also recommend setting up a free account at FRED: Federal Reserve Economic
Data website, if you have not already.
(c) Please ensure your LSU Wall Street Journal account is activated: https://
guides.lib.lsu.edu/wallstreet

Method of Instruction and Assessment: Since this is a web-based course, the following
rules will apply:

1. This is a synchronous online class. Please use the zoom link on Moodle to join.

2. There is no attendance requirement. However, in-class assignments and polls constitute

10% of the grade.

3. Recorded online lectures will be made available as soon as possible on Moodle.

4. Homework assignments will be completed online, or require electronic submissions

(i.e. file uploads) via Moodle

5. Since we remain under COVID-19 conditions, exacerbation of the pandemic might

entail further changes to methods of assessment and evaluation.

Grading Policy: The course total grade will be calculated as described in Table 1

Table 1: Course Grading Scheme

Homework Assignments 20%

In-class assignments, polls, etc 10%

Moodle Forum participation 5%

Exam 1 20%

Exam 2 20%

Draft of Term Paper 5%

Final Term Paper 20%

1. In-class assignments will involve solving questions via Moodle, voting on zoom
polls, etc.

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 2. Missed Homework Policy: You are allowed one missed homework assignment.
The grade will be based on the remaining homework assignments.

3. I will provide details about the term paper in a separate document.

4. Important Dates: Refer to Table 2.

Table 2: Important Dates

Exam 1 (Tentative Date) Tuesday, October 6th, 2020, during class time

Exam 2 (Tentative Date) Thursday, November 19th, 2020, during class time

Draft Due Noon, Tuesday, December 1st, 2020,

Term Paper Due Noon, Wednesday, Dec 9, 2020

Please refer to LSU calendar for other important dates such as adding/dropping
courses.

5. Letter Grading: Letter grades will be assigned on the basis of the standard univer-
sity scale.

Table 3: Point to Letter Grade Conversion

≥ 97 A+ ≥ 87 B+ ≥ 77 C+ ≥ 67 D+ < 60 F

≥ 93 A ≥ 83 B ≥ 73 C ≥ 63 D

≥ 90 A- ≥ 80 B- ≥ 70 C- ≥ 60 D-

Missed Exam Policy: Excuses must be submitted prior to the exam or within three days
after the missed exam. Unless the excuse is an officially approved, fully documented, and
independently verifiable one, the missed exam will earn zero points. Officially approved
is defined in LSU policy statement PS-22.

COVID-19 Statement on Physical Attendance:

We remain under pandemic conditions and expect to be in this state for the entire semester.
In order to consistently provide the highest quality LSU education, all students should
follow current LSU guidelines. These include the following:2
2 These are for physical presence at LSU, and not specific to this course.

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 1. If you have any signs of illness, do not come to school.

2. In order to protect all campus community members, the University requires every-
one to wear facemasks/cloths on campus. Failure to do so is a violation of the code
of student conduct.

3. Wash hands with soap and water or clean with sanitizer frequently, and refrain from
touching your face.

4. If you have to cough or sneeze unexpectedly, please be mindful of others nearby

and cough or sneeze into your elbow or shield yourself the best you can.

5. If you have been exposed to others who have tested positive for COVID-19, self-
quarantine consistent with current CDC guidelines.

Academic Misconduct:
To uphold high standards of academic integrity, procedures have been established to
address academic misconduct. Cases of academic misconduct, as designed in Section
10.1 of the LSU Code of Student Conduct, which occur in this course will be prosecuted
vigorously and fully. For a complete list of activities that constitute academic and non-
academic misconduct, and the possible sanctions, please refer to the Code:
http://students.lsu.edu/saa/students/code.

Daily Symptom Checker:

You are required to respond to a daily symptom check request sent via email or text
message each morning. Completing the symptom checker will take approximately one
to two minutes. Once you have provided information about your symptoms, you will be
given feedback on whether or not you are certified to return to campus and attend your
classes. Additionally, if you test positive for COVID-19, you are required to report it in
your daily symptom checker application.

Covid 19: Resources for Students

Your health and safety are LSU’s top priority. If you are feeling ill or overwhelmed with
anxiety, please contact the LSU Student Health Center for medical advice and mental
health support. General health care and mental health support are available for all en-
rolled students through telehealth appointments.

Special Needs: The University abides by The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Section 504. Students who are registered
with ODS should present the course instructor a copy of the accommodation Letter as
early during the semester as possible but no later than three business days prior to the
examination date. ODS policy also states accommodations are not retroactive. Accom-
modations for otherwise qualified students with disabilities do not take effect until you
have completed registration with ODS and have provided the faculty member with your
Semester Accommodation Letter.
Students who have emergency medical information to share with the instructor or for

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whom special arrangements must be made in the case of the emergency evacuation of
the building should inform the instructor of such needs immediately. To ensure complete
confidentiality, it is preferred that all meetings and discussions take place during office
hours.

Course Outline: The lectures in the course will be related to chapters in the book in
the following chronological pattern (however this is not watertight-you can expect me to
mess around a little with the sequence)

Course Outline

Part One – Preliminaries .

Chapters 1 & 2: I will assume you have knowledge of most of this material.
Part Two – The Long Run.
Chapter 3 An Overview of Long Run Economic Growth
Chapter 4 A Model of Production
Chapter 5 The Solow Growth Model
Chapter 6 Growth and Ideas
Chapter 7 The Labor Market, Wages, and Unemployment
Chapter 8 Inflation
Part Three – The Short Run.
Chapter 9 An Overview of the Short Run
Chapter 10 The Great Recession: A First Look
Chapter 11 The IS Curve
Chapter 12 Monetary Policy and the Phillips Curve
Chapter 13 Stabilization Policy and the AS/AD Framework
Chapter 14 The Great Recession and the Short-Run Model
Part Four – Applications and Micro foundations.
Chapter 18 The Government and the Macroeconomy
Chapter 16 Consumption
Chapter 17 Investment
Chapter 19 International Trade
Chapter 20 Exchange Rates and International Finance
Chapter 21 Parting Thoughts