Course Description
After an introduction to the nature of economics and scarcity, this course examines the elementary concepts of demand and supply. There follows a look at the diseases of the business cycle, unemployment and inflation, and the measurement of overall economic activity in GDP. Next we develop the Keynesian aggregate expensditure equilibrium income model, and add in government and trade. The price level is integrated into the system with the development of the aggregate demand/supply model.

Normative or policy economics begins with the role of government in the economy, fiscal policy, and extends to the role of money and banking, and how the Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy. Next the unemployment rate is introduced with the Phillips Curve, and we review Keynesian versus Classical macro debates, economic growth and the impact of deficits on debt. The course concludes with a look at trade and protectionism, international finance and exchange rates, and the problems of poor countries.

This page has been viewed 1868 times since August 8, 2001.