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Course Objective
This is a practical
course that will prepare students to better comprehend the current
economic environment, where the forces of globalization interact with
technology. Needless to say, understanding the economic consequences of
these changes is critical to the success of the firm and its manager.
Both economic theory and common sense will be used to demonstrate how
business professionals can interpret information about the economy and
use it in their working environment. The goal is for EMBA graduates to
understand how things work in a modern economy by interpreting data
signals and the interaction of different “micro” sectors that make up the
“macro” or big picture. This is expected to help the executive make
intelligent business decisions in the rapidly-changing business cycle
environment. A secondary objective of the course is to provide students
with the tools to critically evaluate and interpret articles in the
popular financial press, such as The
Wall Street Journal, The Economist and Business Week.
The first part of
this course (first 2 lectures) establishes the important concepts from
microeconomics that are essential for understanding the macroeconomic
issues. The focus is on production functions, profit and cost structure,
all of which are illustrated with by an industry analysis exercise. The
second part of the course (lectures 3) introduces basics of
macroeconomics, which are demonstrated with the help of a simple
macroeconomic forecasting model (lectures 4, 5) developed specifically
for this course. The course ends
with the group presentations on specific industry/firm scheduled on
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 (lecture 6). The Final Exam is a take home and is
due on Friday, February 15th 2008. You also have an opportunity to
earn bonus points by attending
the Economic
Forecasting Center’s Quarterly Conference to
observe real-life application of economics on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008, and doing an
assignment based on that conference presentations.
Instructor Information
Prof. Rajeev Dhawan
Director of Economic Forecasting Center
Associate Professor of Managerial Sciences
J. Mack
Robinson College
of Business
E-mail: rdhawan@gsu.edu
Phone:
(404)413-7261
Teaching Assistant Information
Harold A. Vảsquez-Rhuỉz
Ph.D. Student of
Economics
Office Hours :
by email or appointment
Email : hav@gsu.edu
Phone :
(404)200-5523
Course
Materials
Assigned chapters and articles should be read before coming
to class each week.
Text book: Principles of Economics, by N. Gregory Mankiw, 4th
Edition, 2007
Reading Packet: Guide
to the Macroeconomic Model by Rajeev Dhawan (mimeo), plus
relevant
pieces published in magazines and newspapers such as
Business Week, Fortune, Financial Times, Newsweek, The
Economist,
The Wall Street Journal, etc. will also be utilized
Lecture Notes: Lecture Notes (PowerPoint
slides) will be available on the course
website:
http://www.rdhawan.com/emba
Grading
Policy:
Grades for this course will be based on 2 quizzes, group
presentations and a final exam. The distribution of weights will be as
follows:
50% 2 Quizzes* (in class)- Download Quiz Sample
· Multiple choice and short answer questions.
*Chapters & schedule:
Quiz #1: (Lecture #3) Fri., Jan 18
- Chapters 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 13 and 14
Quiz #2:
(Lecture #5) Fri., Feb 1 -
Chapters 23, 24, 26, 28, 29 and 30
25% Group
Presentations on a Selected Industry
·
Details of the group presentation will be
given out in Lecture 1 (Fri., Jan 4)
·
In-class presentations on Lecture 6
(Sat., Feb 2)
25% Final Exam (take home – due
Friday, Feb 15)
Macroeconomic
Model Exercises
The model is introduced in Lecture 5 (Fri., Feb 2). Exercises
based on real life
experiments will be given in the following weeks
.
25% Bonus
Attendance at the Robinson Economic
Forecasting Center’s Quarterly
Conference on
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008.
Please make plans in advance
to attend.
Academic Honesty: I will adhere to Georgia State University's
policy on academic honesty as published in the Faculty Handbook and in On
Campus: The Student Handbook. "Both the ideals of scholarship and
the need for fairness require that all dishonest work be rejected as a
basis for academic credit. They also require that students refrain from
any and all forms of dishonorable or unethical conduct related to their
academic work."
For details refer this link: http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/sec409.html
COURSE
OUTLINE
MICROECONOMICS
LECTURE 1 (Friday, Jan. 4th, 2008. From 8:00 A.M. to 12:15
P.M.)
Topic: Basics of Economics & Elasticity
·
10 Principles of economics (Ch.1)
·
Review the concepts of fixed cost and
opportunity cost (Ch. 1)
·
Demand and Supply (Ch. 4)
.
Concept of elasticity and their applications (Ch. 5)
Readings: Chapters: 1, 4, 5 and articles for
the week
Download Lecture 1 new & updated!
LECTURE 2 (Saturday, Jan. 5th, 2008. From 8:00
A.M. to 12:15 P.M.)
Topic: Control
on prices, Production & Profits
·
Controls on prices (Ch. 6)
·
Production functions & productivity
(Ch. 2)
.
Measurement of costs & profits (Ch. 13 & 14)
·
Applications to the Airline Industry with
special emphasis on 9/11 (lecture
notes)
Readings: Chapters: 2, 6, 13 & 14 and articles for the
week
Download Lecture 2 new & updated!
MACROECONOMICS
LECTURE 3 (Friday, Jan. 18th, 2008. From 1:15
P.M. to 5:30 P.M.)
>> Quiz #1: First 30 mins of Class
(Based on Lecture 1&2: Microeconomic Topics)
Topic: Basics of Macroeconomics – I
·
Definition of GDP and basics of NIPA
accounting (Ch.
23)
·
Measurement of Business Cycles (lecture
notes)
·
How / where to get data and what does it
means (lecture notes)
·
Consumer price index & inflation (Ch.
24)
Readings: Chapters: 23, 24 and articles for
the week
Download Lecture 3 new & updated!
LECTURE 4 (Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008. From 1:15 P.M. to 5:30
P.M.)
>>
Distribution of Final Exam <<
Topic: Basics of Macroeconomics – II &
Economic Forecasting I
· Savings, Investment & Deficits (Ch. 26)
· Modern labor market behavior and movement of labor (Ch. 28
& Lecture notes)
· Monetary System: meaning of money, Alan Greenspan, Money
Multiplier (Ch.
29)
· Money, Growth and Inflation (Ch. 30)
. Basics principles of
forecasting: What is it and why we need it
. Develop and analyze
the basic model’s behavioral sectors
. Macroeconomic Model – Demo
·
About
·
Instructions
to use
·
Exercises
Readings: Chapters: 26, 28, 29, 30 and
articles for this week
&
Guides to Macroeconomic Model
(mimeo) and articles for the week
Download Lecture 4 new & updated!
LECTURE 5 (Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. From 8:00 A.M. to 12:15
P.M. )
>> Quiz #2: First 30 mins of Class
(Based on lectures 3&4: Basics of Macroeconomics & Economic
Forecasting Principles)
Topic: Economic Forecasting II
·
Macroeconomic Model – Exercises
. Policy
Experiments
Ø
Inflation Policy
Ø Fiscal-Stimulus Policy
Ø Neutral-Budget
Ø Stop and Go Experiment
. Additional Simulation exercises
. Group Exercises using the
macroeconomic model
. Limitations
related to used of model
Readings: Guide to Macroeconomic Model (mimeo) and articles for
the week
Download Lecture 5
LECTURE 6 (Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. From 1;15 P.M. to 5:30
P.M.)
>> Group presentations in class << 20 mins group
presentation, followed by 7 mins
Q&A
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008(From 1:15 P.M. to 5:30 P.M.)
>> Final Take – Home Exam Due <<
FIELD TRIP (Wednesday, February 27, 2008)
Location: GSU Student
Center Auditorium
Time: 8:00 am–12:00 pm
For more information and
directions, please visit:
http://robinson.gsu.edu/efc/conferences/index.html
____________________________
* Prior arrangements must be made if you
cannot attend the conference. Please see the Graduate Research Assistant
or me as early as possible if you cannot attend.
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