Economics 314

Macroeconomic Theory

Spring 2013

Jeffrey Parker, Reed College

Assignments

Daily Questions

1. January 30: Scientist-engineer roles
2. February 1: Growth rates
3. February 4: Nature of k
4. February 6: Taylor-series approximation
5. February 8: Romer's model of resources and growth
6. February 11: Household budget constraints
7. February 13: Slopes of indifference curves
8. February 15: Basic analysis of parameter changes in Ramsey growth model
9. February 18: Dynamics of parameter changes in Ramsey growth model
10. February 20: Saving in the overlapping-generations model
11. February 22: Romer's R&D model without physical capital
12. February 25: Endogenous growth
13. February 27: Knowledge production
14. March 27: IS, LM, and MP curves
15. March 28: Zero lower bounds on interest rates
16. March 29: Phillips curves
17. April 1: Utility maximization in autarchy
18. April 3: Dixit-Stiglitz price index
19. April 5: Cooper and John on coordination failure
20. April 8: Ball and Romer model
21. April 10: Lucas model
22. April 12: Dynamic optimal price setting
23. April 15: Models and adjustment costs
24. April 17: Inflation inertia
25. April 18: State-dependent pricing
26. April 22: Natural unemployment
27. April 24: Efficiency wages
28. April 25: No-shirking condition
29. April 26: Matching function
30. May 1: Tobin's q
31. May 2: K-dot = 0 curve

Projects

• Project 1: Exploring economic growth in one country (Due: February 7)
  • Project Assignment
  • Project Data Sets
  • In-class summary slides
• Project 2: Solow model problems (Due: February 14)
• Project 3: More Solow model problems (Due: February 21)
• Project 4: Problems on Ramsey and Diamond models (Due: February 28)
• Project 5: Endogenous growth models (Due: March 6)
• Project 6: Simulating a DSGE model (Due: March 29)
• Project 7: Fun with IS/LM (Due: April 4)
• Project 8: Price and wage adjustment and AS (Due: April 11)
• Project 9: Empirical evidence on price/wage stickiness (Presentations in class on April 19)
• Project 10: Unemployment and investment questions (Due: May 2)

Papers of the week

• February 11: Mankiw, N. Gregory, David Romer, and David N. Weil. 1992. A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 107 (2):407-37.
• February 18: Barro, Robert J., and Xavier Sala-i-Martin. 1992. Convergence. Journal of Political Economy 100 (2):223-51.
• February 25: Barro, Robert J. 1987. Government Spending, Interest Rates, Prices, and Budget Deficits in the United Kingdom, 1701-1918. Journal of Monetary Economics 20 (2):221-47.
• March 4: Abramovitz, Moses. 1986. Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind. Journal of Economic History 46 (2):385-406.
• March 11: No paper due to in-class midterm exam.
• March 25: Keynes, John Maynard. 1936. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Chapters 8-10. (On reserve.)
• April 1: Phillips, A.W. 1958. The Relation Between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom, 1862-1957. Economica 25 (100):283-299.
• April 8: Friedman, Milton. 1968. The Role of Monetary Policy. American Economic Review 58 (1):1-17.
• April 15: Ball, Laurence. 1994. What Determines the Sacrifice Ratio? In Monetary Policy, edited by N. G. Mankiw. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
• April 22: Sargent, Thomas J. 1982. The Ends of Four Big Inflations. In Inflation: Causes and Effects, edited by R. E. Hall. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• April 29: Akerlof, George A. 2007. The Missing Motivation in Macroeconomics. American Economic Review 97 (1):5-36.