UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

ECON 105A: INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMIC THEORY
Fall 2014

Instructor: Tasneem Raihan
Lectures: MWF 4:10-5 pm
Office: Sproul 3104
Email: tasneem.raihan@email.ucr.edu
Office hours: M 5:10- 6:10 pm
W 3-4 pm

Description: This course sequence explores recent developments in
macroeconomic theory that deals with income, employment and the price level.
Particular emphasis has been given on models that explain business cycle
fluctuations and economic growth. Students should gain a basic understanding of
the empirical relevance and policy implications of the models from this course. This
course at times may use slightly involved mathematics but its no rocket science.

Teaching Assistants: Shreya Bhattacharjee (sbhat005@ucr.edu)
Jing Huang (jhuan043@ucr.edu)


Textbooks: No one textbook contains everything I want to teach. Therefore, I will
be using multiple textbooks and may also provide you with supplemental materials.
All supplemental materials will be posted on iLearn. One book that you must have is
Macroeconomics (7th or 8th edition, does not matter) by N. Gregory Mankiw.
Macroeconomics by Charles I. Jones is also pretty good which I will refer to for
topics (4 & 5) on growth models. This book is on reserve at Rivera Library, so you
do not need to buy it. Later in the course, I will be drawing materials from
Macroeconomics (11th Edition) by Rudiger Dornbusch, Stanley Fischer and
Richard Startz. This book is good for its use of mathematics and available in Rivera
library. Other than these, Mishkins Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial
Markets would be referred to for the topic on Financial Crises. I will make the relevant
portions from this book available on iLearn.

Prerequisites: You should have taken either ECON002 or ECON002H to be enrolled
in this course. As it is a UCR requirement that all students complete algebra and
geometry before entering the University, the course will be taught assuming you are
comfortable with this material. In addition, you are expected to know basic
derivatives and their applications. Do not worry if you do not remember calculus,
your TA will walk you through a refresher class on it.



Discussion section: There is a regular weekly discussion section scheduled for this
course. In these discussion sections, your teaching assistants (TA) will provide
supplementary lectures, respond to questions posed by students and conduct 5 pop
quizzes without any prior warning. Of the 5 quizzes, best 4 will count toward your
grade. Pop quiz may take place anytime during the discussion class and will usually
contain multiple-choice questions from topics covered in the previous weeks
discussion section. Remember there is no make up for pop quiz. Therefore, it is
critically important that you attend every TA session well prepared.

Classroom Decorum & Email: To avoid distracting others in the classroom, please
arrive on time and do not leave early unless given prior permission. When class is in
session, please respect others in the room and refrain from sending or receiving
phone calls, or text messages. If you really have to text, please do it under the
desk so that I cannot see. Please be sure audible signals are turned off before class
begins. Your first point of contact is your TA. If your TA cannot solve the issue,
he/she will forward it to me. Please put your full name at the end of email messages
and the course name and number in the subject heading.


Grading: 4 Pop quizzes 10%
2 Problem sets 20%
Midterm Exam 30% (Will take place in the 5th week. Multiple choice



questions only.)
Final Exam 40%


Tentative Schedule of Topics (Subject to Change):

M, J and DFS in parenthesis refer to books respectively by Mankiw, Jones and
Dornbusch. Numbers refer to chapter numbers in the corresponding book.

1. Introduction (M Ch. 1)
2. The Data of Macroeconomics (M Ch. 2)
3. Inflation (M Ch. 5)
4. Unemployment (M Ch. 7)
5. A Model of Production (J Ch. 4)
6. The Solow Growth Model (J Ch. 5)
7. Introduction to Economic Fluctuations (M Ch. 10 + J Ch. 9 )
8. Aggregate Demand I: Building the IS-LM Model (M Ch. 11 + DFS Ch 10)
9. Aggregate Demand II: Applying the IS-LM Model (M Ch. 12)
10. Aggregate Supply (M Ch. 14)
11. Consumption (M Ch. 16 + J Ch. 20)
12. Financial Crises (Mishkin Ch. 9 will be made available on iLean)