This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Recitations: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session
This subject considers three topics of macroeconomics that are alive and controversial for policy today. The goal is to take a fairly deep look at them, using the tools of macroeconomic theory that are explained in 14.02.
The topics are: economic growth - the roles of capital accumulation, increased education, and technological progress in determining economic growth; savings - the effect of government and private debt on economic growth; and exchange-rate regimes - their role in the Great Depression and today.
The text for the course is:
Romer, David. Advanced Macroeconomics. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2001. ISBN: 0072318554.
Temin, Peter. Lessons from the Great Depression. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991, paperback. ISBN: 0262700441. (Also should be purchased.)
The reading list is given by sessions. A few other resources for the paper are listed in the assignments section.
This course is a communications intensive subject, and there is a 20-page paper required; it is worth 25% of the grade. Other requirements for the course are 6 problem sets (15% credit), and three exams, two in-class and one in the final-exam period. Each exam is worth 20% credit and comes after completion of each topic, starting early in the term.
| activities | percentages |
|---|---|
| 20-page Paper | 25% |
| Six Problem Sets | 15% |
| Three Exams | 20% each |
Some credit also will be given for class-room participation (e.g., intelligent questions or intelligent answers).
Students may work together on the problem sets, but each student must submit his or her own problem-set answers. Problem sets are available in the assignments section and are due in the lecture sessions given in the calendar section. Late problem sets will not be accepted. Using "bibles" of past problems will be dysfunctional, as problem sets are the best practice for exams you can find.
The paper is due in session 20, a week after the second exam. A rough draft or an outline of the paper is due two weeks earlier, in session 14. Credit will be given for both the outline and the paper. It is very important to meet the first of these deadlines if you want to meet the second with a decent paper. The first two TAs will help with problem sets and exams. The second two will help with the required paper. You are advised to submit a rough draft well before session 20, so that a revised version can be submitted on that date. More details about the paper can be found in the assignments section.
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