I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Principles of Economics-Macroeconomics

2. Course Prefix & Number:
ECON 2401

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course provides the basic principles behind the economic process, nature of the free-enterprise system, money and banking, national income, monetary and fiscal policy, and other macroeconomic concepts. Although not required, it is recommended that students complete ECON 1450 prior to taking this course.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

Reading College Level CLC or Reading College Level

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

St. Cloud State University, ECON 205 Principles of Macroeconomics, 3 credits
University of MN Duluth, ECON 1022 Principles of Macroeconomics, 3 credits
Winona State University, ECON 202 Principles of Macroeconomics, 3 credits

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

 This course is required as part of the Economics Transfer Pathway AA

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
Goal 5 – History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Apply macroeconomic theories to understand the structure and process of the World Economy.
Demonstrate reading and listening skills	Read assigned material, listen and take notes using a study-guide in lectures, and listen to classmates during class discussion and economic topic debate.
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations	Create and interpret a graph to describe a given economic situation.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Explain the basic economic problem (scarcity, opportunity cost, choice) (MnTC Goal 5);
• Explain markets and price determination (determinants of supply and demand) (MnTC Goal 5);
• Explain measurements of aggregate economic performance (GDP and its components, real vs. nominal values, unemployment, inflation, income and expenditure approaches to GDP, and limitations) (MnTC Goal 5);
• Apply the model of aggregate supply and aggregate demand. (potential GDP, economic growth and productivity, determinants and components of AS and AD, the multiplier effect);
• Explain money and financial markets (money, money creation, financial institutions, financial instruments);
• Explain monetary and fiscal policies (tools of monetary policy, automatic and discretionary fiscal policies, public debt);
• Explain policy debates (policy lags and limitations, rules vs. discretion, long run vs. short run, expectations, sources of macroeconomic instability); and
• Explain elements of International Economics (balance of payments, exchange rate systems, open-economy macroeconomics)

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. What is the Economic Way of Thinking?
•   Scarcity and opportunity cost
•   Micro and macro economics
•   Normative vs. positive economics
•   Factors of production
2. Labor Markets and Income Distribution
•   Marginal revenue product (MRP)
•   Demand curve for labor
•   Derived demand
•   Supply curve for labor
•   Human capital
•   Collective bargaining
•   Poverty line
•   Comparable worth
•   In-kind transfers
3. Gross Domestic Product
•   Expenditure approach
•   Transfer payment
•   Final goods
•   Circular flow model
•   Disposable personal income
•   National income
•   Real GDP
•   Personal income
•   Nominal GDP
4. Business Cycles and Unemployment
•   Recession
•   Recovery
•   Economic growth
•   Leading indicators
•   Coincident indicators
•   Lagging indicators
•   Unemployment rate
•   Civilian labor force
•   Discouraged worker
•   Types of unemployment: frictional, structural, and cyclical
•   Full Employment
•   Trough
•   Peak
5. Inflation
•   Consumer price index (CPI)
•   Base year
•   Deflation
•   Disinflation
•   Nominal income
•   Real Income
•   Wealth
•   Real interest rate
•   Nominal interest rate
•   Demand-pull inflation
•   Cost-push inflation
•   Hyperinflation
6. Aggregate Demand and Supply and Fiscal Policy
•   Aggregate demand curve (AD)
•   Real balances or wealth effect
•   Interest-rate effect
•   Net exports effect
•   Aggregate supply curve (AS)
•   Classical economists
•   Keynesian range
•   Intermediate range
•   Classical range
•   Stagflation
•   Discretionary fiscal policy
•   Spending multiplier
•   Marginal propensity to consume
•   Tax multiplier
•  Automatic stabilizers
•   Budget surplus
•   Budget deficit
•   Supply-side fiscal policy
•   Laffer curve
7. The Public Sector
•   Government expenditures
•   Benefits-received principle
•   Ability-to-pay principle
•   Average tax rates
•   Marginal tax rate
•   Regressive tax
•   Proportional or flat tax
•   Public choice theory
•   Benefit-cost analysis
•   Rational ignorance
•   National debt
•   Net public debt
•   Debt ceiling
•   Internal national debt
•   External national debt
•   Crowding-out effect
•   Crowding-in effect
8. Money, The Federal Reserve System, and Monetary Policy
•   Barter
•   Medium of exchange
•   Unit of account
•   Store of value
•   Commodity money
•   Fiat money
•   M1 and M2
•   Currency
•   Checkable Deposits
•   Federal Reserve System
•   Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
•   Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
•   Board of Governors
•   Required reserves
•   Excess reserves
•   Money multiplier
•   Open market operations
•   Discount rate
•   Federal funds market
•   Federal funds rate
•   Transactions demand for money
•   Precautionary demand for money
•   Speculative demand for money
•   Demand for money curve
•   Monetarism
•   Velocity of money
9. International Trade and Finance
•   Comparative advantage
•   Absolute advantage
•   Free trade
•   Protectionism
•   World Trade Organization (WTO)
•   Embargo
•   Tariff
•   Quota
•   Balance of payments
•   Balance of trade
•   Exchange rate
•   Depreciation of currency
•   Appreciation of currency