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
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The basic island setup
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Lecture Notes: HO 00 Initial Set Up
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Lecture Notes: HO 01 Setup and Agg Production
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Handwritten Notes: Production, Prod Functions, Wages and MPL
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Problem Set 1 (HW 1; Due 2/14/2021): download
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Problem Set 2 (HW 2; Due 2/16/2021): download
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Individuals Choosing over Time (we skipped this in 2021)
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Lecture Notes: (skip) HO 02 Marginal Utility and Labor Leisure
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Optimal Allocations for Output: Linear Tech and a First Look at Growth
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Lecture Notes: (skip) HO 03 Linear Production and PPF
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Lecture Notes: HO 04 Comparative Advantage
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Note 1: Comp Adv in 3 Steps
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Note 2: Intuition and Optimal Allocation
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Note 3: Tech Growth and Labor in History
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1-Pager Summary for Part 1: Key Lessons
Part II: Adding Capital
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Adding Capital to productoin
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Optimal Allocations for Output: Concave Functions in Economics
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Utility and Production
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1 input, 1 output and Marginal Diminishing Returns
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2 inputs, 1 output
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1 input, 2 outputs, the law of one price
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2-sector labor market
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Lecture Notes: 18 Feb 2021 iPad Notes "Intro to Concave Functions"
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Transaction Costs and Institutions
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Lecture Notes: HO 05 Transaction Costs
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CURRENTLY everything below here is copied and pasted from 2020. I'll use most of the same material, but will update it soon and make new problem sets.
Spring 2021 - MODULE 2: The Solow Growth Model
Solow Model Basics
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Lecture Notes: Handwritten Class Notes on the Solow Model
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Solow Model Video 1: Review
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Solow Model Video 2: Review Golden Rule and max-Consumption Steady State
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Solow Model Video 3: Review change in Depreciation Rate (delta)
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Solow Model Video 4: Review change in Technology (A)
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Solow Model Video 5: Review Increase in the Savings Rate
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Evaluating Growth Video 1: Basic Solow Model
Solow Model with Population Growth
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Solow Model with Pop Video 1: Basics
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Solow Model with Pop Video 2: Basics Pt 2
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Evaluating Growth Video 2: Solow with Population Growth
Solow Model with Technological Progress
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Solow Model with Tech Video 1: Overview Pt. 1
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Solow Model with Tech Video 2: Overview Pt. 2
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Solow Model with Tech Video 3: Exogenous A-Growth
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Evaluating Growth 3 Video: Solow with Exogenous Tech
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Solow Model with Tech 4 Video: Labor-Augmenting Growth
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Evaluating Growth Video 4: Solow with Labor Augmenting Tech
Evalutating the Solow Models in terms of GDP per Capita
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Lecture Notes: Comparing Models
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)
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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?"
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NBER Working Paper on Minimum Wages (Historical Perspective): "THE RISE OF AMERICAN MINIMUM WAGES, 1912-1968"
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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"
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Financial Repression and the effects of high debt: "The Liquidation of Government Debt"
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IMF Website devoted to the debt crisis during/from COVID: "THE DEBT PANDEMIC"
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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)
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Robots and Jobs on VoxEU: "Automation and jobs: When technology boosts employment"
Additional Reading
Early Trade Structures
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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
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EconTalk interview with Daniel Hamermesh
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Practice Problems: Econ of Time and Interview
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Gary Becker's 1965 Classic (Optional)
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"A Theory of the Allocation of Time," by Gary Becker, The Economic Journal. September 1965.