POM 4

Course Syllabus

Course Description

Surveys important macroeconomic concepts such as gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, and inflation. Students learn how to determine the overall levels of output, unemployment, and prices. Students examine the concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost, explore the framework of supply and demand, and review factors that impact the overall economic activity and macroeconomic stability. Finally, students are introduced to selected topics related to international trade and finance and investigate government fiscal and monetary policy and their influence on the level of economic activity.

Course Textbook(s)

McEachern, W. A. (2019). Macro ECON6: Principles of macroeconomics (6th ed.). Cengage Learning. https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337671804

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Recognize the sources of the central economic problem. 2. Define the role of supply and demand in determining prices and quantities of goods and services. 3. Discuss how various national economic indicators relate to economic growth. 4. Discuss the effects of unemployment and inflation on the economy. 5. Differentiate the aggregate expenditure and demand model of the macro economy from the supply and demand

model at the micro level. 6. Discuss the interaction of the federal government and the Federal Reserve Bank in controlling the U.S. economy. 7. Illustrate monetary theory using the supply and demand model. 8. Interpret the international economy through trade interdependences and financial interactions.

Academic Integrity

Honesty and integrity are taken very seriously at Waldorf University. All students should be familiar with the Waldorf University Academic Integrity Policy (found in the current Student Handbook) and the consequences that will result from breaches of this policy.

Credits

Upon completion of this course, the students will earn 3.00 hours of college credit.

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Course Structure

1. Study Guide: Course units contain a Study Guide that provides students with the learning outcomes, unit lesson, required unit resources, assignments, and supplemental resources.

2. Learning Outcomes: Each unit contains Learning Outcomes that specify the measurable skills and knowledge students should gain upon completion of the unit.

3. Unit Lesson: Unit Lessons, which are located in the Study Guide, discuss lesson material. 4. Required Unit Resources: Units contain Required Unit Resources from one or more chapters from the textbook

and/or outside resources. 5. Suggested Unit Resources: Suggested Unit Resources are listed within the Study Guide. Students are encouraged

to read the resources listed if the opportunity arises, but they will not be tested on their knowledge of the Suggested Unit Resources.

6. Discussion Boards: Students are required to submit Discussion Board posts in Units I-VIII. Discussion Boards provide students the opportunity for student-to-student and professor-to-student interaction based on relevant course concepts and ideas. Specific information about accessing the Discussion Board rubric is provided below.

7. Unit Assessments: This course contains Unit Assessments, which test student knowledge on important aspects of the course. These tests may come in many different forms, ranging from multiple choice to written response questions.

8. Unit Assignments: Students are required to submit for grading Unit Assignments. Specific information and instructions regarding these assignments are provided below. Grading rubrics are included with each assignment. Specific information about accessing these rubrics is provided below.

9. Ask the Professor: This communication forum provides students with an opportunity to ask their professor general questions or questions related to course content.

10. Student Break Room: This communication forum allows for casual conversation with other classmates.

Unit Assignments

Unit II Essay

This assignment focuses on demand, supply, and equilibrium. Let’s start with the basics. Begin your essay by providing the following information.

Explain the difference between a movement along demand and supply curves and a shift of demand and supply curves. What can cause the above situations? Provide an example for each. Describe how equilibrium is found. Describe how a shift of the demand or supply curve can affect equilibrium.

Now, select an industry with which you are familiar or one you would like to study. This industry will also be used in future assignments for this course.

After selecting your industry, identify a product or service that your chosen industry produces. Add the following information.

Define the current status of supply and demand for the product or service you identified. Identify at least one factor that has caused the supply curve to shift for that product or service. Identify at least one factor that has caused the demand curve to shift for that product or service.

Your essay must be a minimum of two pages, not counting the reference page. Be sure to include an introduction. Use a minimum of three peer-reviewed scholarly sources; at least one of these must come from the Waldorf Online Library. Information regarding peer-reviewed articles can be found in the tutorial Peer-Reviewed Articles.

All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

For information concerning what an introduction is and includes, view the brief tutorial Introductions and Conclusions.

Unit IV PowerPoint Presentation

For this assignment, you will continue with the industry you selected in Unit II. You will create a PowerPoint presentation in which you will be looking at historical, current, and forecasted measures of the unemployment rate, inflation rate, and labor force participation rate for the United States as a whole. You must utilize the Notes or Audio Narration feature of PowerPoint

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to explain each slide in detail.

Please address the following in your presentation.

Provide a minimum of a 3-year history of the following:

unemployment rate in the United States, inflation rate in the United States, and labor force participation rate in the United States.

Indicate how these historical measures impacted your selected industry.

Provide a current evaluation of the status of the following:

unemployment rate in the United States, inflation rate in the United States, and labor force participation rate in the United States.

Indicate how the current status of these economic indicators are impacting your selected industry.

Provide a forecast (projecting at least 3 years into the future) of the following:

unemployment rate in the United States, inflation rate in the United States, and labor force participation rate in the United States.

Indicate how the forecast of these economic indicators will impact your selected industry if the forecast is correct.

Your PowerPoint presentation must be a minimum of 15 slides in length (including the title slide and reference slide). Please present your content using the following format.

Slide 1: Title slide Slide 2: Introduction Slide 3: A 3-year history (minimum) of the U.S. unemployment rate Slide 4: A 3-year history (minimum) of the U.S. inflation rate Slide 5: A 3-year history (minimum) of the U.S. labor force participation rate Slide 6: How the historical measures impacted your selected industry Slide 7: Current status of the U.S. unemployment rate Slide 8: Current status of the U.S. inflation rate Slide 9: Current status of the U.S. labor force participation rate Slide 10: How the current status of the economic indicators are impacting your selected industry Slide 11: Forecast (3-year minimum) of the U.S. unemployment rate Slide 12: Forecast (3-year minimum) of the U.S. inflation rate Slide 13: Forecast (3-year minimum) of the U.S. labor force participation rate Slide 14: How the forecasts of the economic indicators are going to impact your selected industry. Slide 15: References

Ensure that the presentation you create is your own authentic work. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website is helpful for finding data for this assignment.

If you wish to review how to create a PowerPoint presentation, view this Success Center tutorial PowerPoint Basics.

For additional guidance concerning narrating PowerPoint slides, access Adding Audio to a PowerPoint Presentation.

Unit VI Assignment

For this Unit VI Assignment, continue with the industry you selected in Unit II.

The annual association meeting of your selected industry will take place soon. You have been asked to present a report regarding the current status of the federal budget and fiscal policies in place in the United States. For your presentation, write a report (in essay form) in which you consider and explain how the current status of the federal budget and fiscal policy will impact your chosen industry over the next 2 years, using economic theory to support the conclusions you draw.

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Do not write your report based just on textbook theory—address current policy and how it will impact your industry, based on theory.

Address the following in your report as appropriate:

expansionary and contractionary fiscal policy, fiscal policies used to close a recessionary gap and an expansionary gap, and the rationale for budget deficits.

Your report must be a minimum of four pages (1,000 words, double-spaced). You have already completed assignments concerning your selected industry in Units II and IV. Reviewing the information you gathered for those assignments should help you when completing this one.

Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

The United States Government Publishing Office website is a helpful website for finding information for this assignment.

Unit VII Assignment

Interview Script

Continue with the industry you selected in Unit II for this assignment. For this Unit VII Assignment, write a script for a radio/television show as if you were interviewing an expert concerning topics discussed in this unit.

Include input from both the interviewer and interviewee standpoint. What questions would you ask as the interviewer? What answers would you give to those questions as the interviewee? When writing your questions and answers, keep in mind that you have already learned a lot about your industry through earlier assignments in this course. It is suggested that you review your responses to those assignments before beginning this one.

In your interview script, address the following topics:

the structure of the Federal Reserve, the functions of money, six qualities of ideal money, the tools of monetary policy used by the Federal Reserve to manipulate the money supply in the United States, the current status of monetary policy regarding a contractionary or expansionary stance in the United States, and the potential impacts on your selected industry over the next 2 years of this monetary policy stance.

Your script must be a minimum of four pages (1,000 words, double-spaced). Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

Unit VIII Final Project

Create a final report for the industry you selected detailing the impacts of the United States/China trade war. This report should address the following topics:

major issues of the trade war; the tactics and measures taken by the United States and China during the trade war; the impacts of the trade war on

the central economic problem of allocating scarce resources, unemployment and inflation rates in the United States, fiscal and/or monetary policy decisions, the determination of foreign exchange rates based on supply and demand, international trade between the United States and nations other than China, and the long-range (5-year) potential impacts of the trade war on your selected industry.

You have compiled information on your selected industry in several earlier assignments. Review these and use their information as appropriate when completing this assignment.

Your paper must be a minimum of four pages, not counting the references page. Be sure to include an introduction. Use a minimum of three peer-reviewed scholarly sources. Information regarding peer-reviewed articles can be found in the tutorial Peer-Reviewed Articles.

All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references

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for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

For information concerning what an introduction is and includes, view the brief tutorial Introductions and Conclusions.

Submitting Course Papers/Projects

Once you have completed your papers/projects, submit your completed papers/projects by uploading through the Assignment tab in each unit. Do not e-mail your paper directly to your professor. By using the Assignment tab, your record will automatically be updated to indicate you have submitted your papers/projects, and the assignment will be provided to your professor for grading. Instructions for submitting your assignment can be found under the Assignment tab in each unit.

APA Guidelines

Waldorf University requires that students use the APA style for papers and projects. Therefore, the APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. Information about using APA style can be found in APA Style Help in the Course Menu. This area provides links to Internet sites, tutorials, and guides that provide comprehensive information on APA formatting, including examples and sample papers.

Grading Rubrics

This course utilizes analytic grading rubrics as tools for your professor in assigning grades for all learning activities. Each rubric serves as a guide that communicates the expectations of the learning activity and describes the criteria for each level of achievement. In addition, a rubric is a reference tool that lists evaluation criteria and can help you organize your efforts to meet the requirements of that learning activity. It is imperative for you to familiarize yourself with these rubrics because these are the primary tools your professor uses for assessing learning activities.

Rubric categories include (1) Discussion Board, (2) Assessment (Written Response), and (3) Assignment. However, it is possible that not all of the listed rubric types will be used in a single course (e.g., some courses may not have Assessments).

The Discussion Board rubric can be found within Unit I’s Discussion Board submission instructions.

The Assessment (Written Response) rubric can be found embedded in a link within the directions for each Unit Assessment. However, these rubrics will only be used when written-response questions appear within the Assessment.

Each Assignment type (e.g., article critique, case study, research paper) will have its own rubric. The Assignment rubrics are built into Blackboard, allowing students to review them prior to beginning the Assignment and again once the Assignment has been scored. This rubric can be accessed via the Assignment link located within the unit where it is to be submitted. Students may also access the rubric through the course menu by selecting the “Grades” link.

Again, it is vitally important for you to become familiar with these rubrics because their application to your Discussion Boards, Assessments, and Assignments is the method by which your instructor assigns all grades.

Communication Forums

These are non-graded discussion forums that allow you to communicate with your professor and other students. Participation in these discussion forums is encouraged, but not required. You can access these forums with the buttons in the Course Menu. Instructions for subscribing/unsubscribing to these forums are provided below.

Click here for instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe and post to the Communication Forums.

Ask the Professor

This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content questions. Questions may focus on Blackboard locations of online course components, textbook or course content elaboration,

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additional guidance on assessment requirements, or general advice from other students.

Questions that are specific in nature, such as inquiries regarding assessment/assignment grades or personal accommodation requests, are NOT to be posted on this forum. If you have questions, comments, or concerns of a non- public nature, please feel free to email your professor. Responses to your post will be addressed or emailed by the professor within 48 hours.

Before posting, please ensure that you have read all relevant course documentation, including the syllabus, assessment/assignment instructions, faculty feedback, and other important information.

Student Break Room

This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. Communication on this forum should always maintain a standard of appropriateness and respect for your fellow classmates. This forum should NOT be used to share assessment answers.

Schedule/Grading

The following pages contain a printable Course Schedule to assist you through this course. By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted.

Unit I Economics and Economics Decisions [ Weight: 10% ]

Read/View: Unit I Study Guide Chapter 1: The Art and Science of Economic Analysis Chapter 2: Economic Tools and Economic Systems Unit Resources (2 articles): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit I Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit I Assessment 8%

Unit II Supply, Demand, and Equilibrium [ Weight: 12% ]

Read/View: Unit II Study Guide Chapter 3: Economic Decision Makers Chapter 4: Demand, Supply, and Markets Unit Resource (1 article): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit II Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit II Essay 10%

Unit III Macroeconomics and the U.S. Economy [ Weight: 10% ]

Read/View: Unit III Study Guide Chapter 5: Introduction to Macroeconomics Chapter 6: Tracking the U.S. Economy

Discuss: Unit III Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit III Assessment 8%

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Unit IV Unemployment and Inflation [ Weight: 12% ]

Read/View: Unit IV Study Guide Chapter 7: Unemployment and Inflation Chapter 8: Productivity and Growth Unit Resources (4 articles): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit IV Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit IV PowerPoint Presentation 10%

Unit V Aggregate Demand and Supply [ Weight: 11% ]

Read/View: Unit V Study Guide Chapter 9: Aggregate Demand Chapter 10: Aggregate Supply Unit Resources (3 articles): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit V Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit V Assessment 9%

Unit VI Fiscal Policy and the Federal Budget [ Weight: 14% ]

Read/View: Unit VI Study Guide Chapter 11: Fiscal Policy Chapter 12: Federal Budgets and Public Policy Unit Resources (2 articles): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit VI Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit VI Assignment 12%

Unit VII Monetary Policy and Banking [ Weight: 14% ]

Read/View: Unit VII Study Guide Chapter 13: Money and the Financial System Chapter 14: Banking and the Money Supply Chapter 15: Monetary Theory and Policy

Discuss: Unit VII Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit VII Assignment 12%

Unit VIII International Trade and Finance [ Weight: 17% ]

Read/View: Unit VIII Study Guide Chapter 17: International Trade Chapter 18: International Finance Unit Resource (1 article): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit VIII Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit VIII Final Project 15%

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