WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY
Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics

Summer Scholars 2006

Principles of Macroeconomics

Professor Jim Casey

Rm. 205A, Ext. 8102

Email: Caseyj

Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to gain an understanding and appreciation for the basic principles of macroeconomics.  Macroeconomics is the study of economy-wide behavior.  The framework for this course is based on three questions.  First, how should we measure economy-wide economic performance?  Second, what causes fluctuations in inflation, unemployment, and economic growth?   And third, can government policies help reduce these fluctuations and stimulate growth in the economy?

Text:   Baumol, William J., and Alan S. Blinder.  Macroeconomics : Principles and Policy.10^th Edition.  New York: The Dryden Press, 2006.

Outline for the course

           Week 1:

Monday: Introduction 

Tuesday: July 4th Parade

Wednesday: Chapters 1 and 2

Thursday: Chapter 3

Friday: Chapters 4 and 5

            Week 2:

Monday: chapter 6

Tuesday: chapter 7

Wednesday: chapter  8 

Thursday: Chapter 9

Friday: Exam # 1

Week 3:

Monday: chapter 10

Tuesday: Chapter 11

Wednesday: Chapter 13

Thursday: Chapter 14

Friday: RFFClimate

Week 4:

Monday: global warming

 Tuesday: Review session

Wednesday: Exam # 2

Thursday: Final Discussion

Friday:  Individual Meetings