JEB102 - Principles of Economics II

Credit: 6
Credit ETCS: 6
Hours weekly: 2/2
Status: Anglicky
Bakalářský - vše
BEF - core
Semestr - letní
Obligatory courses: JEB101 - Principles of Economics I
Recommended courses: JEB003 - Ekonomie I
JEB101 - Principles of Economics I
Course supervisors: Petr Janský M.Sc.
Teachers: Petr Janský M.Sc.
Assistants: PhDr. Tomáš Adam
Mgr. Jan Šolc
Mgr. Jan Soudek
Schedule:
Announcements:
Literature:
Description: Principles of Economics II
Summer Semester 2013, JEB102
Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences

This course introduces economic thinking and basic principles of macroeconomics for first-year economics students as well as for non-economists.

This is an introductory economics course with lectures and seminars for students of:
 Bachelor in Economics and Finance (mandatory course).
 Bachelor of Science in Economics (mandatory course, an alternative to Ekonomie II).
 International Economic and Political Studies (optional, Seminar 1 recommended).
 Any other degree at Charles University with interest in economics or economic policy.

The course begins with the first lecture on Wednesday, 20th February at 8 am in room no. 314. The location of all lecture and seminar rooms is at the Institute of Economic Studies.

Lectures and supervisor
Lecture Day Time Room Lecturer Contact
Principles II Wednesday 8:00-9:20 314 Petr Janský web, email

During the semester, there will be a number of guest lectures in addition to the standard lectures. The guest lecturers will provide insights on macroeconomic issues from their work in business, finance, research or the government.

Seminars and tutors
Seminar Day Time Room Tutor Contact
1 Wednesday 14:00-15:20 109 Jan Soudek web, email

2 Wednesday 15:30-16:50 105 Tomáš Adam web, email

3 Wednesday 17:00-18:20 105 Jan Šolc web, email

Readings
The course follows the material that is present in almost identical form in the following three textbooks (and also their earlier or later editions):
 Mankiw, N.G., Taylor, M.P.: Economics (2nd or 1st edition, the chapter numbers in the weekly schedule below relate to the 2nd edition of this textbook).
 Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Economics (6th edition or earlier edition).
 Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Macroeconomics (6th edition or earlier edition).

Students are encouraged to read the relevant chapters (listed in the weekly schedule below) in one of these textbooks. There are a number of copies of the Economics textbook available in the IES library (and some in the CERGE-EI library). Students can also buy their own textbooks. Also please note that a number of other introductory economics texts provide almost equivalent service to the student as the above mentioned textbooks.

The student hand outs and lecture presentation will be regularly updated at the SIS course page, to which all the students should sign up. The supporting web pages of this course include the official webpage of the textbook, which includes useful student hand outs and other student resources.

Requirements and assessment
Regular lectures and seminars are organised for the benefit of the students, who are encouraged to provide constructive feedback during the semester so that teaching can be altered accordingly for their greater benefit. Attendance at both lectures and seminars is voluntary, but highly recommended. Furthermore, experience shows that there is a strong positive correlation between attendance in class and good results in exams.

This course offers two alternatives for final examination. Students can decide either to fulfil assignments in an online Aplia system during the semester or to sit in for a written exam at the end of the semester. In both cases, a maximum of three attempts at passing the exam is allowed – if the student works with Aplia during the semester, the overall result counts as the first attempt at the final exam. .The student has the option of using her or his two further attempts by sitting in for the written test at the end of the semester Most of the questions in the written exam will be multiple choice, true or false or of a similar type. Aplia assignments include problem sets and readings to be submitted on a weekly basis - more on Aplia and how to purchase it is at the end of this syllabus.

For both Aplia and the written test, the grading follows this simple rule: the total number of points received is divided by the maximum number of points that could have been received (in either the written test or Aplia assignments). Values higher than 90% correspond to grade 1 (výborně in Czech), between 80% and 90% to grade 2 (chvalitebně), between 70% and 80% to grade 3 (dobře).

Weekly schedule
Week (Winter) Day (2012) Themes Economics chapters
1 20th February Measuring a Nation’s Income and course introduction (objectives, requirements, information sources); a guest lecture by Tomáš Baďura
23
2 27th February Measuring the Cost of Living; a guest lecture by Jana Chvalkovská
24
3 6th March Production and Growth; a guest lecture by Jan Straka
25
4 13th March Saving, Investment and the Financial System and the Basic Tools of Finance; a guest lecture by Petra Kolouchová
26 + 27
5 20th March Unemployment and Its Natural Rate; a guest lecture by Matěj Bajgar
28
6 27th March The Monetary System; Money Growth and Inflation; a guest lecture by Jiří Skuhrovec
29 + 30
7 3rd April Open-Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts; A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Economy; a guest lecture by Pavel Hait
31 + 32
8 10th April Keynes and IS-LM Analysis; Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply; a guest lecture by Jaromír Baxa
33 + 34
9 17th April The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy; The Short Run Tradeoff between inflation and Unemployment; a guest lecture by Boril Šopov
35 + 36
10 24th April The Financial Crisis, Common Currency Areas and European Monetary Union, Five Debates over Macroeconomic Policy; a guest lecture by Jan Libich
37 + 38 + 39

Aplia on-line assignments
Aplia is an online assignment system that provides students with the opportunity to fulfil their course requirements gradually during the semester on a weekly basis. Students choosing the Aplia examination option pay the Aplia supplier GBP 13.42 for this course (around 420 Czech Crowns). Aplia offers a grace period of unlimited access to this course till March 10th so that students can try it out before paying. . The results from Aplia are evaluated at the end of the semester. If students fail Aplia at the end of the semester, they can sit in for the written test.
Instructions on how to register for the course in Aplia:
1. Go to www.aplia.com and log in (or if you are new to Aplia, click on “Create a new account” and then “Student account”.)
2. Enrol in a new course in “My courses” and fill in the course key: CKKJ-THT6-52LM.
3. Confirm course information (Principles of Economics II, Summer 2013, Charles University, Instructor Petr Janský) and pay now or later.
Then every week log in Aplia and complete your assignments.
Academic honesty is expected from all the students.
Content:
Seminar:
Examination dates:
Course requirements:
Downloadable: Syllabus - Principles of Economics II Summer Semester 2012-13, JEB102