Principles of Macroeconomics 2014

We talked about purchasing power parity, the Big Mac index, how central banks can affect the exchange rates, pegging exchange rates and the current account deficit.

We finished up talking about the AD-AS model and Professor Stevens went through a number of examples and took questions. They we started talking about money, banks, the role of the Federal Reserve, and monetary policy.

We went over a number of examples of how to use the ASAD model. We then introduced the multiplier. We defined it, talked about the logic behind it, and talked about how large it is likely to be.

We went over the aggregate demand, aggregate supply model. We covered why the aggregate demand curve slopes downward, why the long run aggregate supply curve is a vertical line, and why the short run aggregate supply curve is upward sloping. We also went over curve shifters and equilibrium.

We finished up inequality and started the aggregate demand, aggregate supply model. First we addressed causes of inequality and we talked about how to measure inequality. We also discussed the question of whether or not inequality affects economic growth. We went over some debates surrounding inequality and some of the causes of increased inequality. Then we stared the AD-AS model.

We finished up inflation by talking about the difference between expected and unexpected inflation, how you measure price changes with the CPI, the difference between the GDP deflator and the CPI, what a market basket is, and issues with bias in the CPI. Then we introduced inequality and talked about how to measure inequality.

We finished up unemployment and covered sticky wages, changes to the unemployment rate, types of unemployment, unemployment and the Great Recession, government policies and unemployment, and unemployment insurance. We then started on inflation, discussing what inflation is, why we care, and what a price index is.

Today we finished talked about economic growth and went over both convergence and how growth and debt are related. We then moved on to unemployment. We defined unemployment, talked about some basic unemployment facts, whether or not unemployment is an accurate measure, why unemployment exists, and how government policy can affect unemployment.

Today we continued our examination of GDP and economic growth. We learned to adjust GDP for changes in prices over time and and between countries. We also talked about how to measure economic growth and concluded with a discussion of what causes economic growth.

Today we went over what Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures and how to calculate GDP. We also went over the GDP deflator. And we talked about how GDP can be used to measure economic growth.