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Department of Economics |
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ECON 4100 MONETARY ECONOMICS |
WILLIAM D. LASTRAPES Fall 2008 |
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“Money, which represents the prose of life, and which is hardly spoken of in parlors without an apology, is, in its effects and laws, as beautiful as roses.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nominalist and Realist, 1844) “There is nothing about money that cannot be understood by the person of reasonable curiosity, diligence and intelligence.” -- John Kenneth Galbraith (Money: Whence it Came, Where it Went, 1975) ________________________________________ Introduction: Of all the institutions that have evolved to facilitate human interactions, money is certainly one of the most important. Throughout history, money has made it easy for people to specialize, produce, trade and prosper in the face of scarcity; without money, the world would be a very different (and poorer) place. Yet, the concept of money, Galbraith notwithstanding, is often misunderstood. This course is an introduction to the economics of money
and monetary institutions. We will carefully define money and explain its
functions, examine its history and evolution, and use the common theoretical
tools of economics to understand its importance and influence on our everyday
lives. And because governments are now essential players in the monetary
system (for good or bad), we will cover the basics of monetary policy: the
attempts by the government to manipulate the quantity of money to solve
macroeconomic problems. Our focus will be on monetary policy in the Required reading: You are required to have access to the following two books: R. Glenn Hubbard. Money,
the Financial System, and the Economy, Sixth Edition, Pearson/Addison
Wesley, 2008. This book is available on-line through CourseSmart.
To subscribe, visit this site: http://www.coursesmart.com/9780321548641?_instructoruserid=1139761 Milton Friedman. Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994. I recommend purchasing the paperback edition through amazon.com. The relevant chapters from these books are given in the course outline. The outline also lists, and provides on-line access to, other required readings for each section of the course. You are responsible for all material covered in the lectures and the required reading. Some readings are listed as ‘optional’ and can be read for a deeper understanding of the material, although you will be responsible for these readings only to the extent that they are discussed in the lectures. Class attendance and participation: I expect regular class attendance. Much of the material that we will cover is not contained in the texts or readings, so attending the lectures and participating in class – listening, asking questions, making comments – is essential. I do not formally grade classroom participation, but see below… Grading: Your final numerical course grade will be a weighted average of your performance on a mid-term exam, a comprehensive final exam, two team homework assignments, and a team research project. The weights are 45% for the final, 25% for the mid-term, 20% for the team project and 10% for the homework (5% each). Exams will consist of multiple/choice, true/false/explain, and short answer type questions. Coverage of the mid-term, as well as the date, will depend on how fast we get through the material and will be determined later. There will be no make-ups of the mid-term exam; if you miss this exam for any reason without prior notification, its 25% weight will be added to the weight of the final exam. In some special circumstances, I may allow you to take the mid-term exam prior to its scheduled date. To consider this option, I must be fully convinced of the necessity of your absence from the exam. You must take the final exam when it is scheduled; otherwise, you will earn a zero on the exam. The only exception to this rule is for documented personal illness or family emergencies, or final exam conflicts. I will follow university policy closely with respect to such conflicts; that policy can be found here. Early in the semester I will divide the class into teams of four to five students. Each team is responsible for completing the homework assignments and the research project. There will be two homework assignments, one before the mid-term and one before the final exam. After your work on them is completed and submitted, we will discuss them in class as a review for the exams. Homework and other material will be made available at the ‘homework’ link to the right. The team project entails a research paper and classroom presentation. Details on teams and the project are given at the ‘team project’ link to the right. I do not have a fixed point grading scale for letter grades, but will assign such grades based on your rank in the distribution of final numerical course grades. I will also rely on plus/minus grades to distinguish performance and rank within the basic letter grade categories. In determining your grade, students at the margins of the letter grade categories will benefit from class attendance and participation. I need not – but will – emphasize that your grade will be based on performance, not need. There is no extra credit ex ante or ex post, and once I assign grades, they are final. Class listserv: I have set up an e-mail list for this class, to facilitate course communications. All students in the class are required to subscribe to the list. To do so, visit the listserv web site at the address to the right, and follow the directions under “Join or leave the list.” This site also provides instructions on how to post e-mail to the list and links to an archive of past postings. Since e-mail sent to the list will be seen by all members, be sure to send confidential communications to me at my personal e-mail address. Policy on academic honesty: I expect all students in this course to fully understand and comply with UGA’s codes of academic honesty. If you are not familiar with UGA’s culture of academic honesty, please refer to this web site: http://www.uga.edu/honesty/ |
E-mail: last@terry.uga.edu Phone:
706 542 3569 Office:
505 Brooks Hall Web: terry.uga.edu/~last/personal/ Listserv: econ4100-f08 Class
period: 9:30 to 10:45 TT Classroom:
348 SLC Office
hours: 10:00 to 11:00 MWF Final
exam: Tues. 16 Dec., 8 to 11AM |
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