Intermediate Macroeconomics

Spring 2021

Assoc. Prof. Chris Ball

Economics Department

Email:

Office phone: +1 203 582 8745

Office Location: 4th Floor Rocky Top Student Center

QU Course Number: EC 212

Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Time:  12:30 - 1:45 PM

Location:  TH 318

Office Hours: TBD and As Needed

QU Covid Message: play the linked video

Spring 2021 - MODULE 1: The Basic Island Economy

​

Part I: Introducing the Island

• The basic island setup

  • Lecture Notes: HO 00 Initial Set Up

  • Lecture Notes: HO 01 Setup and Agg Production

  • Handwritten Notes: Production, Prod Functions, Wages and MPL

  • Problem Set 1 (HW 1; Due 2/14/2021): download

  • Problem Set 2 (HW 2; Due 2/16/2021): download

• Individuals Choosing over Time (we skipped this in 2021)​

  • Lecture Notes: (skip) HO 02 Marginal Utility and Labor Leisure

• Optimal Allocations for Output: Linear Tech and a First Look at Growth

  • Lecture Notes: (skip) HO 03 Linear Production and PPF

  • Lecture Notes: HO 04 Comparative Advantage

    • Note 1: Comp Adv in 3 Steps​

    • Note 2: Intuition and Optimal Allocation

    • Note 3: Tech Growth and Labor in History

  • Problem Set 3 (HW 3; Due 2/28/2021): Word or PDF

​

1-Pager Summary for Part 1: Key Lessons​

​

​Part II: Adding Capital

​

• Adding Capital to productoin

• Optimal Allocations for Output: Concave Functions in Economics

  • Utility and Production

  • 1 input, 1 output and Marginal Diminishing Returns

  • 2 inputs, 1 output

  • 1 input, 2 outputs​, the law of one price

    • 2-sector labor market​

  • Lecture Notes: 18 Feb 2021 iPad Notes "Intro to Concave Functions"

​

• Problem Set 4 (HW 4; Due 3/21/2021): Word or PDF

​

• Transaction Costs and Institutions

  • Lecture Notes: HO 05 Transaction Costs​

​

Spring 2021 - MODULE 2: The Solow Growth Model

​

Solow Model Basics

• Lecture Notes : Handwritten Class Notes on the Solow Model (you'll see this are similar to what I did in 2021, but some minor modifications... I think now I motivate the model better and make the intro math easier... I think : - )

• THESE ARE MY VIDEOS. Enjoy!!  I recommend you watch them in order and SKIP "Evaluating Growth" videos at first. After you finish all the Solow Model stuff, you can return to them. I just organized them with each section so you can easily go back and check the videos when you look at the Evaluation Stuff.​

  • Solow Model Video 1: Review

  • Solow Model Video 2: Review Golden Rule and max-Consumption Steady State​

  • Solow Model Video 3: Review change in Depreciation Rate (delta)

  • Solow Model Video 4: Review change in Technology (A)

  • Solow Model Video 5: Review Increase in the Savings Rate

  • Evaluating Growth Video 1: Basic Solow Model​

​

Solow Model with Population Growth

• Solow Model with Pop Video 1: Basics

• Solow Model with Pop Video 2: Basics Pt 2

• Evaluating Growth Video 2: Solow with Population Growth 

​

• Problem Set 5 (HW 5; Due 4/11/2021): Word or PDF

​

Solow Model with Technological Progress

• Solow Model with Tech Video 1: Overview Pt. 1 

• Solow Model with Tech Video 2: Overview Pt. 2

• Solow Model with Tech Video 3: Exogenous A-Growth

• Evaluating Growth 3 Video: Solow with Exogenous Tech

• Solow Model with Tech 4 Video: Labor-Augmenting Growth

• Evaluating Growth Video 4: Solow with Labor Augmenting Tech

​

Evalutating the Solow Models in terms of GDP per Capita

• Lecture Notes: Comparing Models​

Evaluation Videos all in One Place
(best if you download the "Comparing Models" Notes and go through these with those notes and AFTER we did it in class.)

• Evaluating Growth Video 1: Basic Solow Model​

• Evaluating Growth Video 2: Solow with Population Growth 

• Evaluating Growth 3 Video: Solow with Exogenous Tech

• Evaluating Growth Video 4: Solow with Labor Augmenting Tech​

​

• Simulate Solow Models in R (optional for those interested in data science and grad school):

  • Simulation-only link (recommended for first time)

  • Data, Estimation and Simulation link (requires a little econometric knowledge and more R familiarity)

  • Solow-specific R script

• Simulate Solow Models in Python (optional for those interested in data science and grad school):

  • Brad DeLong's 2020 Version (more sophisticated)

​

Spring 2021 - MODULE 3: Monetary and Fiscal Policy

​

Monetary Policy: An Evolutionary and Conceptual History of Money from Stones to 2021 FED Policy​

• READINGS

  1. READING 1: The Island of Yap (Chap 1 in Milton Friedman's Money Mischief)

  2. READING 2: The Mystery of Money (First pages of Chap 2 in Friedman's Money Mischief)

  3. BBC Article on YAP today (2018)

  4. Wikipedia's YAP page

• NOTES

  1. NOTES 1: The Birth of Money (2021v) Part 1: From Commodities to Digital​

  2. NOTES 2: The Birth of Money (2021v) Part 2: The Great Depression

  3. NOTES 3: The Birth of Money (2021v) Part 3: The Great Recession and Beyond

• TYPED NOTES linking The Birth of Money to other Topics

• Interest Rate Policy​

​

Fiscal Policy

• TYPED NOTES Government Budget Constraints Pt. 1

• TYPED NOTES Government Budget Constraints Pt. 2

• US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections for debts and deficits: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56977#section

• US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections for GDP growth: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56965

​

HW 6 (Due Thurs Midnight 4/29/21 ): Word or PDF

​

AS-AD and Other Topics

TYPED NOTES: Review of AS-AD Basic

​

​

Syllabus and Other Material

​

EC 212 Spring 2021 Syllabus: download

​

Textbook for the course: Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 10th Edition by MacMillan Press

​

Side Readings for Fun

(related to topics asked about in class)

• NBER Working Paper on Minimum Wages (Literature Review): "Myth or Measurement: What Does the New Minimum Wage Research Say about Minimum Wages and Job Loss in the United States?"

• NBER Working Paper on Minimum Wages (Historical Perspective): "THE RISE OF AMERICAN MINIMUM WAGES, 1912-1968"

• One More on Min Wages (Aggregate Effects). These authors try to get the aggregate effect (if wages are higher, prices are higher, but demand rises too): "The Local Aggregate Effects of Minimum Wage Increases"

• Financial Repression and the effects of high debt: "The Liquidation of Government Debt"

• IMF Website devoted to the debt crisis during/from COVID: "THE DEBT PANDEMIC"

• Robots and Labor on VoxEU: "Robots and labour in the service sector" (follow the links for more readings. Voxeu is non-political and written by real economists)

• Robots and Jobs on VoxEU: "Automation and jobs: When technology boosts employment"

​

​

Additional Reading

​

Early Trade Structures

• Avner Greif, Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders, The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 857-882​

The Economics of TIME

• EconTalk interview with Daniel Hamermesh

  • Practice Problems:  Econ of Time and Interview

Gary Becker's 1965 Classic (Optional)

• "A Theory of the Allocation of Time," by Gary Becker, The Economic Journal. September 1965.​

​