Help

Textbooks

Access to the Aplia web site for the course, payable at the Cengage Aplia web site. This includes access to an electronic version of the textbook for the course:
 
Mankiw, N. Gregory. Brief Principles of Macroeconomics, 8th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. 2018. ISBN: 978-1-337-10806-5
 
Aplia Access with a Looseleaf edition of the book: ISBN: 978-1-337-37928-1
  • The student may purchase a hard copy of the textbook from the Aplia web site if desired, or students may buy a used copy of the book. 
  • Students using a book voucher may purchase Aplia access from MBS. 
  • Students who are not using textbook vouchers may purchase Aplia access directly from Cengage Brain. 

ONCE YOU PURCHASE THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE BOOK, YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN APLIA ACCESS CODE . Access to Aplia is critically important, as the Aplia exercises account for a major part  of the course grade.

 
 Uploaded image

Course Description

Following an initial introduction to important general economic concepts, including demand and supply, the course examines the U.S. economy from a macroeconomic perspective.  It includes an analysis of (1) how unemployment, inflation, and Gross Domestic Product are measured (2) different theories of why the economy goes through cyclical fluctuations (recessions and booms) in the short-run (3) long-run economic growth, and (4) the use of monetary and fiscal policies to stabilize the economy.   Prerequisite: MA103 (or ACT Math subscore ≥22).

Course Objectives

  1. To introduce students with the basic economic approach to analyzing the world, including the supply and demand model.
  2. To familiarize students with the basic measures of macroeconomic performance, including Gross Domestic Product, the aggregate price level, the unemployment and inflation rates, labor productivity, and economic growth.
  3. To help students understand the different models that have been developed for explaining the behavior of the American economy in both the long-run and in the short-run.
  4. To analyze different public policies that have been proposed or adopted for influencing the behavior of the economy in both the short-run and the long-run.
  5. To help students learn to think like economists.