Economics 312 

Intermediate Macroeconomics: Advanced Treatment

Spring 2014  Professor:  Noah Williams

 Course Objectives:
To develop a thorough understanding of how the economy works at aggregate level and how total output, employment, prices, interest rates and exchange rates are determined. To explore the factors underlying economic growth, business cycles, inflation, and unemployment. To acquire the ability to assess rigorously the effects of various government policies and outside shocks on these features of the economy.
The course makes extensive use of mathematics, mainly differential calculus. This allows both a deeper analysis of the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic theory, and a more quantitative analysis of the models presented. Undergraduate students who do not find a quantitative approach to the material appealing should take Economics 302 instead, which covers similar topics with a less mathematical focus.

Textbook and Materials:
(W) Wickens, Michael. Macroeconomic Theory. 2nd Ed., 2011. Princeton University Press.
Also useful for background are:
• Williamson, Stephen D. Macroeconomics. 4th Ed., 2011. Pearson.
• Romer, David. Advanced Macroeconomics. 4th Ed., 2012. McGraw-Hill