ECN 120 - Principles of Macroeconomics

Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
Practicum Hours: 0
Work Experience: 0
Course Type: Core

This course is an introduction to macroeconomic principles related to the economy as a whole. Topics covered include: analyzing the supply and demand model; defining and measuring GDP and price indices; studying the relationship between measures of output, employment, prices, and interest rates; analyzing unemployment and inflation; understanding money, banking, and monetary policy; explaining fiscal policy; and examining elements of international finance in the open economy. ECN 130 is not a prerequisite for ECN120.
Competencies

Analyze key economic concepts related to personal and societal decision-making
1. Define scarcity, choice, and incentives
2. Analyze the concepts of opportunity costs, efficiency, and growth through the Production Possibilities Frontier model
3. Explain marginal analysis by computing marginal costs and marginal benefits
4. Identify characteristics of a market economy
Judge supply and demand graphs to illustrate changes in price and non-price factors
1. Examine price and non-price influences on buyer and seller behaviors
2. Predict quantity movements and shifts in supply and demand by analyzing buyers’ and sellers’ interactions in the marketplace
Appraise economic measures used to report aggregate activity
1. Examine and calculate US output (GDP) and national income using the expenditure approach
2. Analyze price indices to compare changes in price level over time
3. Categorize and calculate measures of unemployment in the United States
4. Explain factors that affect economic growth and productivity
Assess macroeconomic theories using the AD/AS model
1. Evaluate economic fluctuations using the AD/AS model
2. Compare and contrast major economic theories
Explain the role of money, banking, and the Federal Reserve System
1. Summarize the definition, function, and role of money
2. Define the role banks in the Federal Reserve System
3. Explain the Federal Reserve’s use of monetary tools to adjust the money supply
Compare monetary and fiscal policy
1. Explain the difference between expansionary and contractionary fiscal policy
2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of implementing monetary and fiscal policies
3. Assess the macro economic effects of using monetary and fiscal policies
4. Analyze implications of government budgeting and cash flows in the macro economy
Analyze how global trade is affected by the flow of goods and services, capital flows, and currency exchange rates
1. Examine comparative advantage and its relation to international trade
2. Demonstrate how to calculate prices using currency exchange rates
3. Examine how exchange rates are connected to the trade balance and international capital flows

Competencies Revised Date: AY2022