Macroeconomics and Japan

Fall 2006

Syllabus

2007/01/09

Ryoichi Imai

International Student Center, Kyushu University

http://homepage3.nifty.com/ronten/JTWhome.htm

Contents

  1. Course Outline

  2. Organization, Attendance, and Other Requirements

  3. Prerequisite

  4. Assessment Details

  5. Schedule and Readings

Course Outline

This course is designed to provide some background knowledge to help understanding the Japanese economy. The course attendants will learn the essence of macroeconomics, and study how to apply the economic theory to the real economy.

Topics covered by this course: National accounting and value added, price index, consumption, saving, and investment, money and inflation, closed economy and open economy, unemployment, growth and fluctuations, aggregate supply and demand, Keynesian Cross and IS-LM analysis.

Organization, Attendance, and Other Requirements

Lecture notes are to be provided by the instructor. However the following book is used for reference.

Mankiw, Gregory [2006] Macroeconomics, 6th ed.  Worth Publishers.

The class starts with a series of lecture given by the instructor. Later the students present some selected chapters of the textbook in the class. Each course attendant is required to make at least ONE oral presentation of one chapter of the textbook. The presenter must make a set of PowerPoint Slides. There is one midterm examination, but no written homework.

Prerequisite

None.

Assessment Details

Class Attendance and Discussion 10%

Presentation 40%

Midterm Examination 50%

Schedule and Readings (subject to Change)

1. Lecture: Intoriduction

2. Lecture: GDP and National Income (pdf) - Ch.1 and Ch.2 of Mankiw

3. Lecture: Consumption, Saving, and Investment - Ch.3 of Mankiw

4. Lecture: Money (pdf)- Ch.4 of Mankiw

5. Lecture: Open Economy (pdf)  - Ch.5 of Mankiw

Foreign Reserves (pdf)

6. Lecture: Unemployment (pdf) - Ch.6 of Mankiw

7: Lecture: Economic Fluctuations (pdf) - Ch.9 of Mankiw

8. Lecture: Aggregate Demand I (pdf) - Ch.10 of Mankiw

9. (12/5) Lecture: Aggregate Demand I (pdf) - Ch.10 of Mankiw

10. (12/12) Lecture: Aggregate Demand II (pdf) - Ch.11 of Mankiw

11: (12/19) Special Lecture by Professor Pollack, broadcast by NHK.

12. (1/9). Lecture: Aggregate Demand II (pdf) - Ch.11 of Mankiw

13: (1/16) Lecture: Aggregate Demand II (pdf) - Ch.11 of Mankiw

14. (1/23) Students' Presentation: Aggregate Demand in the Open Economy - Ch.12 of Mankiw (Part 1)

Shanjun, Shengyi, Tim

15. (1/30) Students' Presentation: Aggregate Demand in the Open Economy - Ch.12 of Mankiw (Part 2)

Gahyun, Seunghyun, Fuji

16: (2/6) Students' Presentation: Aggregate Supply - Ch.13 of Mankiw

Luiza, Amanda, Come, Pokky

17. (2/13) Report Due. No class meets.